I thought one of the conditions of immigrating to the USA was that you would not be dependent on the state or federal government for support, but rather, they themselves were to make sure that they would not be a burden on the tax paying USA citizens, both natural and naturalized.
Am I missing something here?
When my Wife got her green card, I had to sign an agreement with the government that my Wife would not be a Public Charge for 10 years or they took my money and assets to pay for it.
When my grandpa came from Denmark in 1899 that was how it worked. He had to have someone here to guarantee he would not become dependent on government support.
The things you are missing is back then the government actually followed its own rules. And that most immigrants came from Europe with a culture somewhat similar to our own. Teddy Kennedy changed the rules for the latter. Yet another gift from the ‘Lion of the Senate’.