Immigration into the city is still strong. However, it’s not exactly the same; the kinds of people immigrating into New York City are different, in their education levels for one thing. Foner points out that when Emma Lazarus first wrote the poem inscribed on the Statute of Liberty, the description of “wretched refuse of your teeming shore” didn’t exactly apply then, and it applies even less now. The immigrants of the Golden Age of Immigration included many skilled workers; Foner cites that two-thirds of Jewish immigrants to the United States were skilled workers, though conversely only sixteen percent of Italian immigrants were skilled. Regardless, the immigrants of this age were more skilled than many believe. The same is true of the current wave of immigrants. Many believe that this wave are even more unskilled than the previous one, and they are very wrong. Foner points out that one in five Chinese immigrants at a working age have a college degree, but she admits the same educational gap that happened then still happens now: immigrants from the Caribbean and South and Latin America have very low numbers of immigrants with college degrees.
So, if there’s a high number of college graduates in the current wave of immigrants, why is there a perception that these people don’t have any skills?
It may be certification. Certain jobs require tests to be passed and certain requirements be met. For example, working as a medical technologist (as my mom does) requires the employee have training to run certain tests. This training is given through seminars that the workplace, such as a hospital, pays to send the employee to. In another example, practicing law. I’m no expert in it, but to practice law in certain jurisdictions, one must pass the bar examination. These kinds of certifications aren’t always required in other countries, especially if the immigrants are coming in from non-European nations, and sometimes it is difficult for immigrants to meet these requirements. Sometimes there are language barriers. Sometimes it is too expensive for them to meet them. Instead, many of them take work where they can, working as taxi drivers or in corner stores so they can support their families. And that is what gives the impression that this new wave isn’t any better educated than the last.
