It was very interesting to read about the new settlement locations of new immigrants. For the earlier European immigrants it made since for them to settle in metropolitan areas compared to more suburban ones. For example, by living in the city, the early European immigrants would be right in the heart of businesses through which they could get a job and not have to travel far to get there. However, now when one considers how modes of transportation have improved and the cost of living in the city has gone up compared to that of suburban areas, the opposite is true. It is now more sensible, overall, for immigrants to settle in more suburban areas due to the affordability.

Likewise, it was just as surprising to learn that immigrants are no longer settling in more established gateway locations as they did in the past. This was a bit of a shock because I had always figured that places like New York and California would always have a high immigration population. These two places would always be a strong magnet for subsequent generations of immigrants. In both New York and California, immigrants essentially have the best and most opportunities to be successful because of the established institutions already set up to accommodate them such as legal-aid bureaus, health clinics, social organizations, and bilingual services. However, I guess the pull factor from New York and California was far stronger than the push factors to stay there. For example, after reading about how legislation such as the Proposition 187 was passed in California, subsequently banning immigrants from accessing many publicly funded services, I didn’t blame immigrants for leaving.

My only hope is that in these settlement locations, immigrants can find a way to prosper as history has shown them doing in areas such as New York and California. The environments of new gateways are very conducive to assimilation as the article points out. In these new locations there is usually only “one high school, one public swimming pool, two large grocery stores, one YMCA, and one junior college.”  As a result, immigrants and native-born residents alike must share these few resources, impeding social isolation and facilitating interactions. Therefore, if only pre-established institutions in old gateways get set up in the newer locations, newer gateways should be even better than the older ones.

-Ashley Haynes