I particularly liked the following lines “The reasons why millions have left their homelands to come to America are complex and multifaceted. It has always been too simple to see immigration to this country as a quest for liberty and freedom. Nor is the move inevitably an escape from hunger and want, as the occupational backgrounds of many of today’s newcomers make clear” (9). I have always wondered at the American stance on those who emigrate to here because as we know from the past, and as Foner points out, those who came didn’t always (or even usually) find equality or freedom.

Foner discusses the different groups who have come to America, and their subgroups. This, I think, is an interesting and more correct way of looking at things as often times peoples who are vastly different are still lumped together when talking about American immigration. She mentions the variety in not only ethnicity, but also in socio-economic classes and occupations which has been discussed in various other readings this semester.

Foner discusses illegal immigration and states that the ratio of the undocumented to the legal foreign-born is low, even in New York City. She goes on to state that those immigrants who do come here, aren’t always the scum of their former countries as some may assume, often they have college degrees.