Irish American anyone? The Irish came to America to get out of Ireland. Until recently Ireland was one of the poorest places in Western Europe. The greatest emigration happened during the Great Famine (1845-1850), where people would emigrate to foreign shores in an attempt to survive and better their lives, while escaping from extreme poverty and workhouses. America was seen as the land of opportunity (to many, it is still seen that way). This is why most people came to America, not just the Irish. There were about 500,000 Irish immigrants in 1900. Poor people from rural areas whose only skills were farming and fishing. Uneducated and poor people. People fleeing famine and poverty.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
It doesn't say "as long as you are white and Christian.'