Week 5 Reading Response

Portes and Wilson theorize that immigrants, rather than them coming empty handed to the United States, actually came with an entire network of immigrants, which aids in their economic development in the new country. Based on their theory, the network of immigrants provides a safety net for each individual, but I do not believe this is the case. Each immigrant comes to America hoping for a better life, and even though being around people of the same ethnicity may provide a small sense of unity, the immigrants are still strangers to each other. A network is built on trust, and trust does not just come from those that share the same ethnicity, but is formed from a personal relationship. Immigrants are always looking for new jobs, and the competition of jobs does not promote trust between ethnicities or networks, but rather limits an individual to itself, by only trusting oneself. An example of this exists between Guatemalans and Mexicans. Both groups are of the same ethnicity, but are constantly fighting for jobs, and restrict each other’s social development by competing to offer lower prices. Portes and Wilson may believe that immigrants are handed a large network and safety net, but that is not the case, as each individual has to fight for oneself.