Immigration, racial tension, and violence are something that is experienced today and back in the 1860's. In the movie "Gangs of New York", it portrays the same way the immigrants were treated in the 1860's as well as today. In the movie the racial tension and violence was toward the Irish immigrants whereas today, it is shown and portrayed by all racial minorities. However, compared to the 1860's all three of those aspects improved both positively and negatively to today.
             Immigration has improved over the last 140 years because now instead of having to go through Ellis Island to be considered a US citizen you can go through the Naturalization process. The Naturalization process includes many simple things you need to do to be allowing permanent residency. For example, you need to live in the states for at least 5 years, be present in the US for 30 months out of the 5 years, and live in a state or district for at least 3 months. You also need to pass the test given on the basic information about the United States and the state you live in. Additionally, the Customs service doesn't make you have to change your name like the workers on Ellis Island did if your name was too hard to pronounce. An example from the movie of positive immigration would be when Bill the Butcher accepted Amsterdam as a "native" to New York after Priest Vallon was murdered also by Bill the Butcher.
             On the other hand, immigration is also handled extremely negatively in today's society. In today's day in age, it is much, much easier to sneak across the borders into the states than it was back in the 1860's. There are a significant amount of illegal "aliens" in the country compared to the 1860's. We also need more security around the borders for people who try to sneak in. There are a lot of criminals who also try to get across the borders into other states as well as people who try to smuggle...