Immigration has always been a central topic of debate for many decades in numerous nations. In Rudolph J. Vecoli’s article, “The Significance of Immigration in the Formation of an American Identity”, Vecoli thoroughly analyzes the migration waves that have occurred in the United States of America over time, specifically noting the three main waves and their consequences. Vecoli makes it clear that ever since the early 1790s, the American population was a heterogeneous mix, containing many Germans, French, Scotts, English, and Irish immigrants. America was a conglomerate of different types of people ever since the beginning of America’s history. Multiple waves in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds quickly led to the resentment of immigrants and many other dilemmas. In the first wave, Germans, Irish, British, and Scandinavians were the main immigrants to move to America. The second wave brought Italian, Russian, and Austria-Hungarian immigrants to the States. The third and final main wave brought Mexican, South American, Asian, and Caribbean immigrants. Many native citizens of the States became cautious and weary of the immigrants, believing that the immigrants would not assimilate well into the culture and replace the white natives. These irrational fears eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Acts and other similar laws for protection to the citizens against the immigrants. In the article, Vecoli explains that the melting pot phrase is a way for all the people and cultures in America to intermix and assimilate with each other. However, in the process, the population will form “cultural half-breeds”, thus losing a sense of themselves and their culture. To this statement, I completely disagree with how Vecoli views the term “melting pot”. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always viewed the term “melting pot” in a positive light. A melting pot is a way for the community to blend all their cultures together to create a harmonious balance to coexist with each other. I never felt that in this process, people lose part of their culture. The melting pot is a way to bring diversity to America with equal importance to each culture. It seems that immigrants always create fear in society when there are large numbers of them arriving to certain countries. When will the citizens of countries become more welcoming to these immigrants who bring their cultures and amazing information with them? Vecoli ends the article with a new sense of hope concerning that American nationalism is changing to accommodate the immigrants.

There are many reasons why immigrants migrate from their countries to the United States of America. In Nancy Foner’s article, “Immigrants in New York City in the New Millennium”, Nancy explains the many reasons that motivate immigrants to move to different countries. Many immigrants came to America to escape oppressive governments back in their home countries. Some immigrants, mainly the Asians, arrived in influxes into the States after the emigration restrictions were removed in America. Many hear about the economic prosperities and the improved living standards in the community. Some immigrants also came to America because they have friends or family members who live in the country. Immigrants impact the society and get impacted by the society in many ways. New food from the immigrants are introduced into the cities while the immigrants accommodate their living style compared to the American citizens. Certain traditions even tend to change over time, such as South Asian parents having a semi-arranged marriage instead of a fully arranged marriage. Many factors impact how immigrant communities form. Their gender, age, population density, education levels, etc. all impact how the communities develop and what impact the communities have on America as a whole. Many cultural and diverse restaurants are opening up now in the communities, allowing the spread of different cultural cuisine. The culture of immigrants is ever-present in every part of the society. I completely agree with Nancy Foner’s point that immigrants have drastically changed the way the American society is presently. I live in Queens and it is amazing to see all the diverse and ethnic restaurants that line the streets on the way to my house. There are immigrants everywhere speaking in different languages. Now, students in classrooms are expected to learn a language, most likely Spanish. This is proof of the fact that immigrants and their cultures are becoming a major part in the lives of all the people living in America and that they are impacting us in many great ways, making us a true melting pot.

With immigration comes the sense of nationalism and fear sensed by the native citizens of America. In Philip Kasinitz, John H. Mollenkopf, and Mary C. Waters’ article, “The Next Generation Emerges”, the American citizens start to fear that the immigrants are assimilating too quickly into the community. They are taking up a lot of jobs and gaining high degrees for the work field, making them competitors with the citizens for the jobs. However, there are still many immigrants who are joining the labor force compared to white citizens, making the immigrant children more likely to join the labor force even if they try to avoid it. Many of the second- generation children tend to not be interested in politics of America. However, the young population is now slowly forming leaders of student groups and nonprofit organizations. In the article, the authors make a point that people who live in multiethnic neighborhoods like Jackson Heights and Queens are more comfortable with ethnic and racial diversity. In other areas of the city, people are more sensitive and cautious to ethnic diversity. I find this point to be very true. As a child, I was raised in Jackson Heights until I moved to Queens and lived the rest of my teenage years there. I always had very diverse neighbors that I lived near to and I always accepted racial diversity. Going to different areas outside of the Queens area, I become more aware of the change in attitude toward immigrants in a negative way. People seem more hesitant to approach immigrants even though meeting immigrants could help the citizens learn more about different cultures of the world. Even though immigrants are making great progress in assimilating into the culture of America, there are still many difficulties to overcome in American society.