-In this chapter, Foner focuses on where immigrants came from, why they came, and how they arrived. It was interesting to learn of the different reasons as to why immigrants left their home country. Some immigrants were escaping political and religious oppression while others were escaping a bad economy. It is interesting to note that many of these factors that influence immigrants to leave their hometown are similar to those of immigrants in the past, the Russian Jews and the Italians.

-Foner mentions that those that are highly educated and that held high professional jobs in their homeland sometimes come to this country and take jobs that they are overqualified for. Is this because their licenses from their home country do not work in this United States? If so, I don’t see why they cannot practice their profession in the U.S. if they are qualified. Is there a way for these immigrants to keep their high professional jobs in the United States instead of having to work up the “ladder?”

-I was surprised to learn that a Brazilian woman who worked as a nurse in her homeland was paid less than the salary she received as a babysitter in the United States. This shows how bad the economy is in their homelands and why the immigrants chose to leave their homeland for a better opportunity in the United States.

-I was appalled to learn of the immigrant journey to the United States. “Passengers were crammed together in dark, crowded, unsanitary, and foul-smelling quarters on tiers of iron bunks with straw mattresses.” They had to pick insects out of their food and were forced to use vile bathrooms. They were living like animals during a trip that lasted around two weeks. What was shocking was that they were not traveling illegally; it was a legal immigration process! This is a drastic comparison as to how people now travel to the United States by an airplane. It was mentioned that an undercover agent from the Immigration Commission was on one of these voyages. Did her report make a significant change to these unsanitary conditions?

-I found it ridiculous that people in the past were denied entry to the United States because they were illiterate or they had physical injury. I was shocked to learn that Matteo, an immigrant from Italy, was denied entry to the United States by Italy because he had an injured eye. Restrictions into the country shouldn’t be based on literacy or physical injury.

-Anissa Daimally