Chapter 1 of Nancy Foner’s From Ellis Island to JFK offered many valid points that I agreed with and was able to personally connect with. I found her discussion on the separate waves of immigration to be very elucidating, accurate, and necessary. While both waves of immigration came with people from foreign countries seeking a better life and more opportunities, the outcomes and expectations differed greatly between the two. Immigrants from the earlier wave came to America with very little specific expectations, but rather, a general hope to find a better life. They came here with very little, and thus, their ultimate goals were inevitably reached, some way or other. These immigrants were naturally more satisfied with their American experience and could probably boast of having achieved the American Dream.

In contrast to this, the second wave of immigration came with people from foreign countries with equally high hopes of having a better life, but with the difference being that many were already established and educated. They brought their talents, education, and skills here to America, and thus, they had specific goals and expectations to reach. I liked how Nancy Foner approached this idea and explained that while many of these immigrants are very well qualified, they find it hard to break through racial conflicts or long-held stereotypes. In consequence, they are left working at jobs that undermine their true skills and are left feeling like they did not achieve the American Dream. Ultimately, this is not their fault, but rather the impenetrable system that society has constructed. I connected with this well because my own father has suffered from the exact same situation that Foner described. My father was a doctor in Bangladesh and though he left behind his family and his friends, he brought with him his education, with hopes of becoming a doctor in America. He had no doubts at all and though he was afraid of how he would adjust to the new society, because of all the glamorized stories he’d heard of America, he was certain that one way or other, he would be able to achieve his goal. Now, 20 years later, after relentless studying, exams, and attempts, my father was unable to reach this goal, not because he was not qualified or educated enough, but because of the petty hindrances that came from a foreign country.

Despite this, though, my father states that although he was unable to achieve his goal, even though he had come here with such high hopes, he still believes that life in America has given him more opportunities and more stability than he could have hoped for back home. I think that this general conclusion is the same for most of the immigrants from this second wave of immigration, and this is the reason that people still want to come to America for that better life.

– Nadera Rahman