Emigrated To The US - - Because Of A Volcano

There are many reasons that a person would emigrate to the US; most will come for an opportunity to succeed that isn't available in the home country; some emigrate to escape oppression, as in the case of the Florida Cubans; some flee famine, such as the Irish.

Others, like the population of Faial in the Azores, emigrated because of a volcano.

When in 1957 a volcano in the Azores ruined the farming economy of Faial, the US passed the Azorean Refugee Act, which allowed 175,000 Azorean Portuguese to emigrate to this country. Why haven't they been heard of? Because it was a small emigration compared to others, and the Azoreans settled down quickly, worked hard, and became productive US citizens, not sponging off of government handouts. They made an example of self-reliance and hard work that should be the envy of any immigrant population.