The first immigrants to America traveled by ship from Europe. They landed on Ellis Island near New York in 1892.  They could only bring so many suitcases because there wasn’t enough room. The immigrants had to do a lot of things when they came to America. Some of the things were learning to read English and to make sure they weren’t sick.Most of the immigrants had large families.  They lived in small apartments with only one room. This is where they would eat, have their privacy and have to sleep. Sometimes the kids would have to sleep in the fire exit outside with their brothers and sisters. 

The kids had to work hard like carrying gallons of water, plates of food and drinks back to their family.  Some of them sold food, toys and newspapers to earn money.

The immigrant kids usually were bored after school, so they played games with their friends. One of the very popular games was baseball. You would see them playing baseball on the street.

My mom is an immigrant from the Philippines. She was only four-years-old when she came to America. She said it was hard being an immigrant when she was young because she looked different from everybody else, she ate different foods and spoke a different language. My mom is 41 now.  She says she’s proud to be a Filipino living in the United States, a country with so much freedom to be able to live your dream and more importantly, exercise your faith.