The ethnic faces of America continually change as immigrants seek new opportunities. Even Omaha has experienced a changing racial landscape since its founding more than 150 years ago, from the Irish hired to work on the transcontinental railroad to today's influx of Sudanese immigrants. 

"Immigration has been a defining force to American history," said Maria Arriaga, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Latino Affairs. "Every generation has contributed to the growth, the culture, the economy and the identity of this country today. Immigration continues to be one of the most discussed and debated topics in our society. Yet, beyond the headlines and the political discussions are the real stories, the workers, the students, the entrepreneurs and the communities whose experiences are deeply woven into the American story." 

As Nebraskans observe the nation's 250th celebration, the commission hosted a panel featuring professors from the University of Nebraska-Omaha to discuss the history of American immigration and its impact on society. About 50 people attended the June 29 event at Omaha's central library. 

In its earliest days as a nation, the United States experienced European immigration, including Germans, Italians and Irish. Irish immigrants were once discriminated against, said Danielle Battisti, an associate professor of history at UNO, specializing in immigration and ethnic history. She is also the author of a book about immigration, "Whom Shall We Welcome." 

What does it mean to be an American? Battisti said. 

"You've probably seen some kind of imagery that incorporates the Statue of Liberty, both for its connotations with immigration and because it represents something about Enlightenment ideals about democracy and liberalism and the values of the nation." The idea of the United States as a nation of immigrants needs to move beyond images of ships arriving on its shores, inventions and westward settlement, she said. 

"This is a really common theme, or trope, or mythology for us to think about the nation in the 21st century," Battisti said. "It's important that we think about these narratives that we create, because nations aren't found in states of nature, like a mouse or something.

These are things that we create. Benedict Anderson long ago said they are imagined communities that we socially construct, and we create cultural mythologies around, and for better or worse, the United States has adopted a nation of immigrant trope for about the past 100 years." 

Virtual maps of the country's growth introduce people to settler colonialism, she said. Colonialism celebrates the European influence over others, Battisti said. 

"There's a reason that the Native American has been removed from the map, and so this is a narrative that is in some ways inclusive, because it is relatively inclusive for a lot of immigrant groups that are showing up on this map, but it's not perfect," she said. "It is very much writing people out of the story of America." 

Today, immigrants face challenges of deportation, whether they're documented or undocumented. 

Attempts by President Donald Trump to ban the 14th Amendment's birthright citizenship - people born in the United States are considered citizens regardless of their parents' citizenship status - were rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States in a 6-3 ruling on June 30. 

Efforts by immigration opponents delay the inevitable, as the country's economic future centers in the need for immigrants, said Cristian Doña-Reveco, who formerly served as the director of the Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS) at UNO. 

The Midwest has experienced less than 1% overall population growth in the last decade, while the Latino population in the region grew by about 30%, Doña-Reveco said. The region has the smallest Hispanic population in the United States, he said. "There's no population growth in the Midwest if it's not immigrant populations," Doña-Reveco said. 

Immigration is slowing in the region, though, he said. In 2014, the Midwest had about 2.1 million naturalized citizens and 2.75 million non-naturalized residents, Doña-Reveco said. By 2024, the numbers flipped, with naturalized citizens outnumbering non-naturalized ones 2.75 million to 2.62 million, he said. 

"This is important in that there is a group of people who are not only coming and working here in the Midwest, but they are becoming citizens," Doña-Reveco said. "They are getting engaged in the social, political aspects of what it means to live in the Midwest."

The growth among Latinos, who have been in the country for more than five years, is coming from children being born in the United States, he said. 

The growth of children from immigrants may have led to the birthright challenge, Doña-Reveco said. 

"I think that there is this construction of a white nation that is, it might have to do with migration, it might not have to do with migration, because there is this new refugee status for Afrikaans (Caucasian Africans), so there are good and bad immigrant stories there," he said. 

If the goal is to eliminate Latino growth, it won't work, said Thomas Sanchez, a professor in UNO's Latin American Studies department. The discussion of Latino immigration came up during a recent conference in Lincoln, he said. 

"(A) demographer was saying that it doesn't matter if immigration from Latin America stopped today, Hispanic population will continue to grow, because a lot of that growth is from people who are born in the United States and whose parents are citizens of the United States," Sanchez said. "I think they're deluding themselves, thinking that they're going to whiten the country, because you can't put the genie back in the bottle." 

Sanchez, who grew up in Scottsbluff, discussed the growth of the Latino population in his hometown, as well as in Schuyler. 

Schuyler, with a reported Latino population of about 64%, likely has seen that growth because of the meatpacking facility there, he said. Schuyler is an interesting community to review, as America's recent immigrants became the dominant group, replacing European immigrants, Sanchez said. 

There's a misnomer, fueled by immigration opponents, that immigrants come to the United States to take advantage of public assistance, Sanchez said. 

"They came here to work, they didn't come here to collect welfare, steal jobs, or any of those kinds of things," he said. "Wherever there's work, that's where people go." 

As Latino immigration slows, African migration increases, Doña-Reveco said. Sudanese immigrants are settling in rural communities, opening businesses, as well as working for others, he said. 

Immigrants have contributed to America's food scene over the centuries, Sanchez said.

As Italian immigration grew, Americans tasted spaghetti and pizza for the first time. 

"Can you imagine kids in the United States growing up today without tacos, spaghetti or pizza?" Sanchez said. "Immigrants are Americans. They do contribute to the culture." 

As immigration has changed the face of the United States over the last 250 years, Doña-Reveco said he's intrigued by what it will look like when the country celebrates its 300th birthday. 

"We're going to be talking about a completely different kind of immigration, completely different kinds of groups of people that are coming," he said. "And that makes it really, really interesting to start thinking about 2076."

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.