re: #188 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

So until then, all you had to do was show up, register your name at Ellis Island or San Francisco and you were good to go, right?

Ellis Island didn’t open until 1892. It was only of interest to the authorities because NY was already a big city, and lots of ships landed there. Same with Boston. On the West Coast, or the northern or southern borders, you didn’t even have to register your name. You just walked in.