Immigrants and foreigners have always been an indispensable part of our country including its great record in scientific research.
When I read this quote, immediately Albert Einstein came to mind. He was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. He was the greatest physicist of the twentieth century. His theoretical work on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, quantum energy, light, gravity, relativity of space and time and the conversion of matter into energy (E=MC2) transformed modern science and he became a symbol of scientific genius.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. His fame brought not only lectureships throughout the world, but also negative attention from Nazi Germany. As a result, he and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1933 where he accepted a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey.
Einstein took his citizenship test and was naturalized on October 1, 1940.
At the same time as he took his citizenship test, he gave a talk for the government’s “I Am an American” radio series. In that broadcast he said,” Immigration increases consumption as much as it does demand labor. Immigration strengthens not only the internal economy of a sparsely populated country, but also its defensive power.” It is something to think about.