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The Irish immigrated to the United States of America with promises of a better life. That was not the case upon arrival for the Irish settlers. They faced prejudice, segregation, and many other forms of discrimination. Their treatment was very poor and unwelcoming to say the least. The moment they stepped off the ships from Ireland, they were segregated into the most impoverished areas to seek shelter in slums and attempted to fit their entire families into rooms no bigger than today's average bedroom. As a group, the Irish were shunned and turned away from many job opportunities being confronted by signs which stated "Irish need not apply". Being that the British still dominated the “New World”, the Irish was also prosecuted because of their Catholic religion.
The Irish Americans were subjected to a dual labor market. During the late 1800's, after the first large Irish immigration into America, Irish immigrants were considered to be the poorest of all the immigrants coming into the United States. Because of the constant prejudice against Irish, they were kept at this poor standing by only being offered the lowest paying, and the most backbreaking jobs available, leaving the higher paying jobs for natural American citizens. “During the 1850's there was no group who seemed lower than the Irish. Some of this was due to poverty but the Irish were also considered bad for the neighborhood. The term Redlining did not come into use until after the Fair Housing Act of 1934. During the 1800's you could easily say the Irish were redlined. During the mid-1850's there was the Know Nothing movement. This movement was designed to keep Irish Catholics from holding public office; the opposition was by Irish Protestants.” (Kinsella, 1996)