As Chapter 3 explains, emigration patterns are quite various, differing based on both country of origin and the time period. While the Chinese have had the tendency to immigrate to the United States with plans of remaining here permanently, Hispanics’ initial plan was often to make some money and then go back home. I feel genuine sympathy for the Mexican woman who had to leave her eighteen-month-old child in order to be able to provide her daughter with a better life. I couldn’t stand to read how the mother said that she cried for three months after leaving. It’s very unfortunate that Mexican immigrants can’t bring their families over more easily, as can the Chinese. The 1989 massacre of Tiananmen Square, jointly with the Immigration Act of 1965, allows the Chinese to apply for refuge to come to the U.S. legally. These legal immigrants can then apply to bring their families over.

Unfortunately, the Hispanic don’t have this relative luxury as the tiny immigration quota for their home countries hasn’t allowed for enough legal immigrants to accumulate for a large number of families to be brought over. I understand that increasing quotas would lead to more unwanted competition on the job market and for budget housing, such as that provided by the housing projects in NY. However, I believe that there is likely a way to work something out so that more foreigners could immigrate to the U.S. without leaving members of families who have been here for generations, jobless. Perhaps I am biased because I’m an immigrant myself, but is there really no way to accommodate for more Mexicans and other Hispanics coming to the U.S legally? Many make the trek to come here illegally anyway, occupying jobs that we try to deny them by having a low immigrant quota. So what exactly does the quota actually end up achieving besides allowing employers to pay some Mexican immigrants below minimum wage because they are illegals and won’t be able to complain?