November 23, 2011 | 11:03 AM | By

Are Pilgrims the First Undocumented Immigrants?

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and no doubt that children around the country have been learning the traditional Thanksgiving story of how pilgrims broke bread with Native Americans. These early settlers are celebrated in American culture, from school plays to Charlie Brown specials. But how do early European pilgrims differ from today’s undocumented immigrants? That’s the provocative question raised by this week’s New Yorker cover, which depicts a group of early pilgrims illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.


“Too often in politics, very complex subjects are being turned into sound bites, so it’s easy to take them apart,” says Christoph Niemann, this week’s cover artist. In “Promised Land,” he says, “I draw a parallel between current immigrants and early settlers—the hope is that it will provide context, to help keep things in perspective. Cartoonists, not politicians, should be the ones who condense political discussions into simple images.”

Read more at: www.newyorker.com

  • http://twitter.com/SeanGNet Sean Gallagher

    I love the title of this and I think it’s such an interesting question. 

  • http://twitter.com/SeanGNet Sean Gallagher

    I love the title of this and I think it’s such an interesting question. 

  • MeinDC

    My people weren’t immigrants, they were conquerors.

  • Exportlaw

    It should be remembered that the Pilgrims in Massachusetts were preceded in what is now the United States by the settlers in Virginia, as well as the Spanish and French Huguenots (who were massacred by the Spanish) in Florida.  The Spanish and Portuguese had been busy conquering Mexico, Central and South America, and massacreing and suppressing non-Catholics (both indigenous and European) for over a century before either the Pilgrims or Jamestown.  The Hispanic invasion of the United States is simply a continuation of Catholic aspirations to dominate all of the Western Hemisphere.  That’s why the US Catholic Bishops conference so strongly opposes immigration enforcement and so dearly loves immigration liberalization masquerading as immigration reform. 

  • Exportlaw

    It should be remembered that the Pilgrims in Massachusetts were preceded in what is now the United States by the settlers in Virginia, as well as the Spanish and French Huguenots (who were massacred by the Spanish) in Florida.  The Spanish and Portuguese had been busy conquering Mexico, Central and South America, and massacreing and suppressing non-Catholics (both indigenous and European) for over a century before either the Pilgrims or Jamestown.  The Hispanic invasion of the United States is simply a continuation of Catholic aspirations to dominate all of the Western Hemisphere.  That’s why the US Catholic Bishops conference so strongly opposes immigration enforcement and so dearly loves immigration liberalization masquerading as immigration reform.