NYT publishes free 'Gift Article' 'How a Nation of Immigrants Traces Its Roots'

newsJul 2, 2026271,247

The New York Times is offering the interactive feature How a Nation of Immigrants Traces Its Roots as a free Gift Article. The piece maps where people told the Census Bureau they come from using U.S. Census Bureau 2019-2024 American Community Survey data and displays nearly 200 distinct ancestry identities and a blended picture reflecting about 340 million Americans. It highlights concrete local histories: Greeks who settled in Tarpon Springs, Florida after Dodecanese sponge divers transformed the sponge industry; Portuguese and Cape Verdean pockets in New Bedford tied to 19th century whaling links to the Azores and Cape Verde; Basque settlers in Boise who shifted from gold to sheep herding; Yemeni families recruited by Ford to work in Detroit; and Vietnamese refugees resettled near New Orleans and Houston who continued shrimping. The article traces long-run population shifts, noting at least 1.5 million Native people and about three million Europeans and enslaved Africans in the late 1700s, more than five million immigrants from 1820 to 1860, and that over 250 years the country absorbed more than 100 million people. It also notes newer patterns: a larger share of the country was born abroad than ever before, Chinese settlement spreading beyond historic Chinatowns, many people identifying simply as American, and Native descendants of groups such as the Iroquois, Navajo, Inupiat, and Chickasaw living across the country. The piece argues that exclusionary policies past and present, including recent immigration bans, shaped who was accepted into the national story and that current efforts to limit immigration will similarly influence how future Americans understand their heritage.

Clara Jeffery

@clarajeffery.bsky.social

A nation of immigrants. This interactive map lets you zoom in by census track on which countries of origin are most prominent where. Super cool. Happy 4th. Gift link 🎁 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

47645d ago

Clara Jeffery46

Here for example is a medium zoom of LA

Oh No!14

Native Americans are not immigrants!

scaredykathy48.bsky.social2

On my mother’s side: English, French and Swiss. On my father’s side: German and Polish. His grandparents spoke what he called Low German, but I only heard them speak English.

AKgrrrl1

These are great & to center your awareness/knowledge of US First People, can't recommend these resources enough: 1) Tribal Nations Maps by Aaron Carapella & 2) native-land.ca + their mapping app to ID whose land you are on worldwide--educational tools I've used w kinders to elders & ppl love them 🙌🏼

Almightrex1

the melting pot or the salad bowl, that was how I learned about you guys when I was at school

luckysitsinback1

I would like to reply in Gaelic, but it's beyond my pay grade. My ancestors were Scots, then resided in Ireland, emigrated to Pennsylvania, thence to Georgia via North Carolina, thence to Hunt County - from Georgia by FOOT, and stayed and farmed that good good Ukranian-type soil and grew family.

Quoting this

Ned Resnikoff159

America is the world's foremost experiment in creating a nation through creed instead of ethnic lineage, and MAGA is celebrating its 250th anniversary by claiming you "won't even have a country" without racial homogeneity, even as they wrap themselves in the flag.

nobody™️58

black people were not immigrants

Amanda Katz43

Love this. What a beautiful place

April Wolfe13

Now to zoom in to my old Grand Rapids neighborhood to see what is— Yup, Polish. Still Polish.

Kevin12

👀 well there goes my afternoon

PodKATT10

More Cajuns in Houston than New Orleans actually feels about right nowadays.

Martha Smith9

This is super duper cool.

Roberto Baldwin6

I live at the crossroads of African American, Filipino, and Mexican. Which tracks (looks across the bay at Marin county) yup.

Use Alt Text not A.I.4

Slavery and genocide isn't immigration but watch whiteness work

Blake Smith4

Love my international port city!

Joanne Freeman

@jbf1755.bsky.social

He's been indicted for vandalism--destruction of public property--for touching a piece of sealant DJT wants to prove there were vandals--so he won't be blamed for the mess So they're creating them For Hearn's version: www.google.com/search?q=vid... www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/u... [Gift article]

21545d ago

Texas Krusty19

Another case that will be tossed and a settlement later on. The next 2 1/2 years are going to get worse and worse. He has to be removed.

Janet Forgione12

can we see the transcript of the grand jury indictment i want to know exactly how this was presented to them and if the prosecutors followed the law Also is there a fund to contribute to his legal fees

Richard Impossible7

side note, that is some offensively milquetoast reporting from NYT.

Jim Treanor6

It's the guy sitting at the Resolute Desk who's the vandal.

LHSechrist2

Proving once again you can indict a ham sammie. The case will be thrown out once it goes to court, but legality doesn’t matter to this administration. The intent is to intimidate & traumatize.

Resist Tyranny1

Shameful! Does the DOJ have anything else they could be doing with their time?!

Quoting this

Joanne Freeman434

Someone being accused of a crime to soothe the president’s ego. That’s where we are.

John Sipher

@johnsipher.bsky.social

Insane we live in a country where journalists can report this and legislators and investigators do nothing about it. (Gift Article). History will not be kind! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

14845d ago

Cassandra of America8

The Coup is ongoing and only a few of us seem to see it. Nightmarish

Really?6

Trump makes them the kind of money that boring Biden never did bsky.app/profile/scar...

Synchronizing5

Been reading Federalist Papers & writing of Adams, Jefferson, Washington. Hamilton, Madison & Jay assumed leaders will at some point try to seize more power & self deal, they stressed other 2 branches MUST keep other in check. Funny how so called originalists and patriots are ignoring all of that.

Jerome Ludwig3

The present will not be kind.

LastGreatAct 🇺🇦🇻🇪🇬🇱2

Project 2025 They said they would do it & put it in writing. Now watch Pulte partially declassify info on voter interference to back Trump. It’s fucking genius because the only way to prove Pulte is not releasing the whole truth is to release classified info illegally. Secession vs. Civil war?

Sue 🇫🇮🇨🇦🇫🇷1

It almost seems irreversible at this point.

Quoting this

Khashoggi's Ghost89

Though the DOJ "has yet to win a single lawsuit — it has lost at least 10 so far, as well as one federal appeal — election officials and Democrats fear the battle over voting records may be used in a post-election effort to challenge, discredit or spread disinformation about midterm results."

Bill Kristol

@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

"Ford celebrated America as a land of immigrants. He wasn’t defensive. He made the case for immigration. He argued we were “richly rewarded” for being a nation of immigrants...Reagan saw as immigration as 'one of the most important sources of America’s greatness.'" open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

20145d ago

Thomas [DARK MODE], DO5

Gerald Ford opened up our borders to 135,000 Southeast Asian refugees that had been displaced by the Vietnam War. Found them homes, sponsors, and helped them settle into their new lives: immigrationhistory.org/item/1975-in...

snowmein.bsky.social1

For a minute I thought you were talking about Henry.

JD Eames

@peaceablewriter.com

bell hooks book sales went up thx to JD Vance. Gift article NYT: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/b...

3945d ago

Ernesto Castañeda

@drernestocast.bsky.social

NYT: "Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down. The agency has doubled its daily arrest numbers without the fanfare of last year’s large urban operations, sowing fear in immigrant communities." Discussed w N+Univision News. Video in previous post. Gift article in first comment.

1644d ago

DJ "Jo" NoneYa 🟧

@djnoneya.bsky.social

Now do Dumpy Pants and the rest of the Epstein Client List Gift Article

2744d ago

Cheryl Rofer

@cherylrofer.bsky.social

Look at the graph in this gift article and ask yourself who was president from 2021 through 2024.

2345d ago

Stardust 🌏🎬

@stardustbluepr.com

Gift Article 💥 “Ukraine says the goal is to take the war to Russia and to get Mr. Putin to agree to end the conflict. But Mr. Putin, even as his ability to isolate Russian society from the war’s effect has diminished, has expressed defiance and dug in.”

1645d ago

Yonette Joseph

@sugarcane99.bsky.social

How a Nation of Immigrants Traces Its Roots Melting pot, tapestry, mosaic, kaleidoscope, salad bowl. Every cliché is true. 🎁 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

945d ago

Quoting this

Bring Back The Twin Star Rocket5

will never be over how stark the segregation line in Austin still is

lorem ipsum 🇧🇷🇺🇸4

My old neighborhood: refugees from Burma joining what was a bunch of German Americans.

Manohla Dargis

@manohladargis.bsky.social

gift article The Many Ways Trump Is Trying to Tip the Scales for the Midterms www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

645d ago

Elizabeth

@invisiblebetty.bsky.social

In case you haven't seen this -- the administration seems to be going all out on their attacks on immigrants -- just in time for the 4th of July. Note that "ICE officers have arrested people at check-ins, with immigration authorities" Gift article-- read for free.

545d ago

saltyv.bsky.social

@saltyv.bsky.social

Another gift article for you ! This guy is amazing and I say that after listening to him in conversation with Jonathan Fink on a podcast. See a link to it in a post below. “ I spent my life fighting Russian spies. They haven’t been this reckless for years” www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/e82e0af...

645d ago