In chapter one of From Ellis Island to JFK, Foner describes who the immigrants were and why and how they came.  I liked how Foner began the chapter with a quote from Emma Lazarus’s poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty which says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  I think this helps the reader relate right away to what she is talking about because the Statue of Liberty is such an important symbol of our patriotism.  She also cleverly uses this to link to her point that in more recent times, not only poor and oppressed people are coming to America.  Now, people from all over the world are coming to America for different reasons.  For example, many people today come to America with degrees already earned.  Todays immigrants come from so many cultural and economic backgrounds.  People are still coming from Europe, but they are also arriving from the Caribbean.  People who are poor are still coming but so are doctors, lawyers, and engineers.

It is also interesting to see the reasons why people are coming to America.  One point Foner makes is that immigrants today come because they can.  In the past there were different immigration laws in America and other countries only allowing a certain number of people of specific races into America or out of their native countries.  Now, most people find it easier to emigrate from their countries of origin.  Other people come here to find jobs.  They may be trying to escape the governmental or economic conditions found in their homeland.  For example, people with higher degrees may not be able to find a job in their country so they come to America to seek out a place to work and make a living.  In Russia, Jewish people faced oppression making the anti-Semitism their ultimate reason for emigrating.  Whatever the reason for immigration may be, people look to America as a place where they will be able to survive and prosper.