Newly arrived immigrants in some ways caused a lot of trouble to the economy. Especially for people who already lived in the area. One example of this is that immigrants created a lot of competition for jobs. Not to mention we didn't have t he money to fully support the ever growing amount of immigrants as well ( that why as many as 12 lived in 1 home).
They worked on railroads, raised agricultural production, machinists, carpenters, sailors, and took any job they could find. They were paid less than what was usually paid, worked for less.
