This series explores the remarkable mass migration to the United States. Each episode features the experiences of specific immigrants - individuals and families - placing their stories in a larger and important historical context: the world the immigrants left behind, the new world they encountered, the places from which they came, the roots that defined them as individuals, the frustrations, hardships, discontent and ambition that made - and make - America their destination. Blair Brown narrates.

The Golden Door (7/4)
From the beginning, most immigrants to America have come looking for a better life for themselves and their families.

• Manuel, a Mexican migrant worker, is one of millions of Mexicans who illegally cross America's borders every year. It is a dangerous journey, but for most, America is their best, possibly their only, opportunity for economic survival.
• Manuel's story is put into historical perspective by looking at the sweep of immigration across more than 350 years of American history, focusing on the early history of Mexican immigration, the Norwegian immigrants to the Midwest and the Irish famine.

The Art of Departure (7/11)
Creative spirits have come to America from all over the world, drawn to the possibilities of a free society, but it has never been easy to leave home.

• Fang-Yi Sheu always loved to dance, but the island of Taiwan was too small for her ambition. She wanted to dance on the world stage - which meant she had to leave her uncomprehending parents behind and go to New York City, the capital of dance. It has been a long and difficult journey, but today she is the star of the Martha Graham Dance Company.
• After Russia's most famous artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov fled the oppression of the Soviet Union, they never thought they would return - until they were offered the chance to exhibit their work at the Hermitage, Russia's greatest museum. The exhibition was an extraordinary success, but it brought back memories of why they fled.
• The Art of Departure also tells the story of the unprecedented array of scientists, artists and intellectuals who fled fascism in the 1930s, focusing on renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini, the maestro who defied both Mussolini and Hitler.

The Earth Is the Lord's (7/18)
Ever since the Mayflower pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, immigrants have come to America to escape religious persecution: Amish and Mennonites, Jews and evangelical Christians, Huguenots from France, Baha'is from Iran, Chinese practicing their esoteric Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists. The idea of America as a haven for those seeking freedom to worship looms large in the American imagination.

• Tsering fled Tibet in the year 2000, a victim of religious persecution by the Chinese communists. Her escape is a harrowing tale, like that of Gehlek Rimpoche, the Tibetan leader who escaped in the 1950s with the Dalai Lama.
• Jews have found a haven in America since 1654, but D'vorah and Hirsch Spira never wanted to come here. Even as Hitler rose to power in Germany, they wanted to stay in Europe. They are Hasidic Jews who feared their religious traditions would be destroyed in America.
• John Ruth is a Mennonite minister and historian. He tells the story of his ancestor, Hans Landis, the last of the Anabapist martyrs, and how his death is connected to the immigration of the Amish and Mennonite people to America more than 300 years ago.

Breaking Free: A Woman's Journey (7/25)
In the world they left behind, women were second-class citizens, subservient to men by law and custom. Some feared for their lives. Others were searching for new opportunities.

• Guatemala native Rodi Alvarado fled after a decade of beatings by her husband. Her petition for political asylum may become a landmark case. If she wins, it will be the first time the American government has ever granted asylum to a woman fleeing domestic violence.
• Rosa Cavalleri, a simple woman married to a brutal husband, left Italy in 1887. Today, she is celebrated in her home town as a woman who challenged tradition, broke away and made a new life for herself in America.
• Ferdows Naficy and her two daughters, Mahnaz and Farah, became independent women in America. The story of why and how they left Iran is a chilling, instructive tale of what it takes to break free.

Tuesdays, 7/4-25 from 5-6 a.m. ET