-Foner did a really good job dispelling many known misconceptions regarding trends in immigration. I felt as though it was really important for her to say that not all immigrants who come to the US are poor as the quote of the Statue of Liberty helps attest to. Such a belief lessens the great nation that the US is by essentially labeling America as the poor man’s country. America is just as prominent of a magnet for the intellectual, innovative classes of immigrants as for those without. As Foner states, “the ethnic diversity of today’s immigrant population is matched by the variety of their occupational and class backgrounds.” Not only are there the poor farmers but physicians and scientists as well.

-The section in which Foner depicts how most immigrants came was really an eye opener. The depiction of the immigrants on the steerage part of the ship was deplorable: un-mopped compartments, worm infestations, foul odor. It made me wonder how after such a traumatic experience did these immigrants manage to pass the health test to gain citizenship. Then, on the ship where the Immigration Commission sent out an agent to investigate these conditions, did the agent realize a large amount of immigrants present on these ships fail physical health test? If so what were the numbers?

-When I read that steamship companies had resorted to conducting their own test on immigrants, I felt as though who are they to judge who will get rejected citizenship. I understand that it cost money to return rejected immigrants but was it really that much of a burden. I find it very suspicious that the Italian ports rejected more than 35,000 intending emigrants compared to the much smaller number of 4,707 rejected at Ellis Island between 1904 and 1905.

-Ashley Haynes