d examinations. It is amazing that 80% of immigrants were allowed passage and despite the number withheld pending further exam, only 8% of those wishing to enter were prohibited and deported to their native lands. (Lecture: 07 Feb 00)Fortunately for the immigrants, most had been prepared for the notorious experience of Ellis Island from family already in the United States. They were generally instructed on what questions would be asked and what the proper responses were so that despite the intimidation of Ellis Island’s grandeur impression, the new arrivals had some a small amount of comfort in it’s predictability. Once the hours of examinations were completed and passage was granted, immigrants generally had friends or relatives to meet their arrival. Many times, those immigrating were the wives and children of a husband that had previously immigrated and had already established residency. For a lot of immigrant groups, the husband emigrated first in order to create a secure environment for which the rest of the family can adjust to. In other cases, friends and family welcomed the immigrants and immediately took them under their wings. These networks of close- knit ties provided the arrivals with a secure feeling and aided in their adjustment to the new world. Often times, these networks consisted of groups and relationships that existed in old world neighborhoods and so the development of concentrated areas of groups formed in large cities in America. These areas provided the familiarity of the old world in a place so completely strange to the immigrants.Most immigrants found homes in large apartment buildings that lined the inner streets of numerous large cities. New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles were just a few of the major cities that immigrants inhabited. The large tenements, as the apartment buildings were called, were packed compactly in urban ghettos and housed hundreds of families in small li...
