In this lesson, students will consider and propose various factors that can be used to make decisions regarding prospective immigrants to the United States of America. Students will conduct public opinion research to determine which factors should be used, and the relative weighting that each of these factors should receive, in creating an Immigrant Scorecard.

Juxtaposing the architecture of Ellis island with that of the proposed Trump Wall creates many opportunities for mathematical analysis and frames a discussion of how our nation’s attitude toward immigration has changed