Aaryaman: Dr. Kraut, you are a distinguished member
of the American Historical community and have been
an advocate for immigrants over the course of your ca-
reer. Please tell us a little about yourself.
Dr. Kraut: I am currently a Professor of History at
American University and alongside my career as an edu-
cator I am an author of 9 books, primarily in the realm
of ethnicity, immigration and health including “Silent
Travelers: Germs, Genes and the “Immigrant Menace”
which has received a few awards but more importantly
it was the book that put me on the scene as somebody
worth listening to in the immigration community. Fol-
lowing Silent Travelers and the success of my subsequent
books, I served as the president of the prestigious Orga-
nization of American Historian until 2014 which was a
tremendous honor for me and I was delighted to be able
to speak about issues of general concern like the Refu-
gee crisis and Immigrant culture to scholars are leaders
in the field through this platform. In addition to this or-
ganization, I have been involved in American Immigra-
tion policy through my position as a Fellow of the Mi-
gration Policy Institute which is the largest immigration
think-tank in the United States. The Institute is active in
the DC diplomatic community and continues to debate
and research the impact of immigration.
Aaryaman: You have spoken about Ellis Island and it’s
influence on immigration to the US, have you been in-
volved with any projects surrounding it?
Dr. Kraut: Absolutely, as a New Yorker I always wanted
to get involved with it. In the early 1980s having pub-
lished my first book, Huddled Masses, I was approached
to lead a committee of renown engineers, academics and
architects to restore the Statue of Liberty and construct
a museum of immigration as testament to the thousands
of people who arrived at the Port of Ellis Island, which
was the flagship immigration depot where new arriv-
als would have their immigration papers checked before
legally entering New York to begin their journey in this
great nation. To most immigrants, this was their first ex-
perience of the United States and served as a symbol of
acceptance and opportunity that the U.S prides itself on.
The government was very concerned about immigrants
becoming burdens and adding to public costs so the re-
quirements for immigration were set in place to reflect
this, yet an approximate of 97% of those who arrived
were admitted so we can clearly see the need for labor
and economic revitalization was met with the appro-
priate migration policies. If not for Ellis Island, America
would not have had the influx of much-needed labor it
needed during this time. These people didn’t come to
steal jobs and become parasites, they came to the land of
opportunity for precisely that- opportunity. In addition
to the Museum of Immigration, now I am heading an-
other committee to build the Statue of Liberty Museum
which is set to be built by 2019.
Aaryaman: How do you feel about the current attitude
towards immigrants in America?
Dr. Kraut: In recent years, especially under the current
administration we have seen a rise in anti-immigrant,
anti-refugee sentiments and Islamophobia which is in-
dicative the duality of American culture over the past
couple of centuries where certain ethnic groups includ-
ing Arab, Japanese and Irish immigrants have faced re-
sistance from American society yet, they have gone on
to be invaluable members of that this very society. The
phrase “ America beckons, Americans repel” still holds
true in some capacity because the profound benefits of
multiculturalism and immigration are rooted in the his-
tory of the United States, yet there have always been
patterns of discrimination and prejudice. By no means is
this a critique of all American people, but it is a general-
ization of a pertinent issue which is turning its ugly head
once again. That said, we are seeing tremendous levels
of support and social activism for refugees and immi-
grants from the American youth which is encouraging.
Contemporary immigrants are the most educated and
skilled in history with a high percentage of them already
holding college degrees which is highly beneficial for
businesses in the US, especially in the technology in-
dustry as seen in the Silicon Valley boom where 52% of
startups were founded or co-founded by immigrant and
produced over $50 Billion in sales, employing almost half
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