Interesting Perspective on Today’s Problem

Aliens, legal and otherwise, long have been an issue of concern in the news.

But it didn’t start yesterday, nor at the southern border.

Many people brag about the “legal” entry of their ancestors with only folklore knowledge of how they actually came and limited knowledge of the history of the naturalization process.

In fact, for much of the 18th and 19th centuries, naturalization required only residency and an oath of allegiance with no test for knowledge of civics or American history. It wasn’t until 1875 that regulation of immigration became a federal responsibility. Ability to speak and understand English wasn’t even required until 1906.

I was aware mine operators in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region utilized agencies to recruit labor in eastern Europe in the 19th Century. This was not an altruistic attempt to help the poor but rather a means of finding cheap labor to compete with the rise of unions on the domestic scene. When I discovered these same agencies were also used to recruit women to work in other industries it planted the germ of the story that became By Strangers Mourned.

As still happens today, aliens seeking a better life in the United States often become victims rather than a threat.

Human trafficking continues to be a complex global issue. Statistics show 66 percent of profits derive from exploitation of women and children in the sex trades, though it only accounts for 10 percent of human trafficking. Imagine how much worse it may have been without all the watchdog agencies fighting against it today?

Here’s the blurb for By Strangers Mourned:

Spring is usually heralded as a time of renewal, not murder.

Preparations are underway in the spring of 1899 for the wedding of Deputy Cyrus Gutshall. Sheriff Tilghman is hopeful this will put his sweetheart Lydia Longlow in the marital mood.

But then a woman is found drowned in a local creek.

Doc Mariner’s autopsy reveals the woman is a victim of foul play. The sheriff’s investigation soon puts him on the trail of a mysterious man named Bauer and a gang preying on young immigrant women.

One of the women escapes her captors and comes to their small town in search of help. A coal miner she encounters, a fellow Pole, brings her to Tilghman and helps translate the story of her ordeal. The girl is befriended and sheltered by a coworker of Lydia’s, an act of kindness that puts both young women in danger.

Sylvester Tilghman will need all his detecting skills and the help of his friends to unravel the many skeins of the case before he can dream again of marriage.

By Strangers Mourned is available in print and electronic formats from the publisher https://www.sunburypress.com/collections/all-books/products/by-strangers-mourned?variant=40045793575005

From Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09Z7GCX49/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

J.R. Lindermuth

J. R. Lindermuth lives and writes in central Pennsylvania. A retired newspaper editor, he currently serves as librarian of his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. He’s the author of 18 novels and two regional histories. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a past vice president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Please leave a comment either on this history of aliens, or the book By Strangers Mourned.

Thanks,  jim

 

2 thoughts on “Interesting Perspective on Today’s Problem

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.