Happy Thanksgiving – Wood Immigration Law

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday, combining copious amounts of food, football, and family members into a one day celebration of gratitude and togetherness. Cutting across religious, racial, and cultural divisions, the holiday has been celebrated since the famed 1621 Plymouth feast between Native Americans and passengers of the Mayflower who had arrived in an unknown land. The feast celebrated a successful harvest and collaboration between the Natives and immigrant Europeans. The day was celebrated on all different days until President Franklin Roosevelt decreed that the fourth Thursday of November was Thanksgiving in 1939.

The Macy’s Parade and bottomless buffets of football and food boost the holiday’s fun qualities, but there is a deeper significance buttressing the holiday’s purpose and meaning. The story of Thanksgiving, even if slightly apocryphal, has multiple dimensions of resonance for us today, even a full four centuries later. Colonial America was rife with conflicts between the newly arriving Europeans and established Native Americans, who had created civilizations of their own for hundreds of years. Thanksgiving symbolizes harmonious interchange between the Native Americans and immigrant Europeans. As elementary schoolchildren are taught every year, the immigrant Europeans

had come from England via Holland, escaping religious persecution and an oppressive government. Their story resembles a modern day asylum, as they were fleeing extreme stress and strife to a country where they would be safe (and religion is a protected ground for asylum). The overall history of European immigration, settling, and expansion throughout the continent boded poorly for Native Americans, who were overwhelmed by settlement, wars, and diseases. However, the day of feasting that we now celebrate as Thanksgiving represents the promise of a bright, harmonious future between the various groups that make up the United States of America – whether they are generations of Americans whose grandparents entered through Ellis Island or newly minted Americans who are recent immigrants, lawful permanent residents, and citizens.

The Law Offices of Andrew Wood wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving.