Number of illegal immigrants per year

She emigrated as a child with her parents to the United States and lived in the immigrant neighborhood of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her family emigrated to America around , following in the footsteps of her eldest brother, who had arrived in the States six years prior. Her family was Jewish, and assumed the surname, Mayer, while Anzia took Harriet or Hattie as her first name.

She later reclaimed her original name, Anzia Yezierska, in her late twenties. Her father was a scholar of Torah and sacred texts. Anzia Yezierska's parents encouraged her brothers to pursue higher education but believed she and her sisters had to support their husbands and families. After 6 months, the marriage was annulled. Shortly after, she married Arnold Levitas in a religious ceremony to avoid legal complications.

Arnold was the father of her only child, Louise, born May 29, Around , Yezierska left Levitas and moved with her daughter to San Francisco.

U.s. immigration statistics by year graph

She worked as a social worker. Overwhelmed with the chores and responsibilities of raising her daughter, she gave up her maternal rights and transferred them to Levitas. In , she and Levitas officially divorced. She then moved back to New York City. Starting in , she had a romantic relationship with philosopher John Dewey , a professor at Columbia University.

Both Dewey and Yezierska wrote about one another, alluding to the relationship.