The Irish Were Unwanted Immigrants, Too

An estimated 6 million Irish people have emigrated to the US since 1820. The peak of Irish emigration resulted from the Great Famine of 1845-1852.

And you know what? They were not met with open arms. And the suspicion and prejudice lasted a long time.

In the 1840s, ginned up by rumors that the Irish Catholics were demanding the St. James Bible used in the public schools be replaced with the Catholic bible, Catholic neighborhoods and churches were burned in Philadelphia:

In 1844, the Bible controversy intensified in the district of Kensington, a suburb to the northeast of Philadelphia City and home to many Irish immigrants, both Protestant and Catholic. In February, Hugh Clark (1796-1862), a Catholic school director there, suggested suspending Bible reading until the school board could devise a policy acceptable to Catholics and Protestants alike. Nativists saw this as a threat to their liberty and as a chance to mobilize voters, and they rallied by the thousands in Independence Square. On May 3, 1844 they rallied in Kensington itself but were chased away.

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