On From Ellis Island to JFK

This is a good comparative study of “old” immigration (pre-1924, especially the decades from 1890-1920) and “new” immigration (post-1965). Foner examines a host of different subjects, including education, prejudice, living conditions, etc. as she compares the two groups. In doing so, she uses both Italians and Eastern European Jews to represent “old” immigrants in her analysis (of which Jews rose much faster in the American social structure than did Italians, in large part due to dedicating themselves to education and experience in skilled trades while in the Pale), whereas a very large variety of experiences are discussed with the “new” immigrants, although Foner probably discusses Dominicans and the Chinese most often.

Foner’s original goal was to break the myths that fuel discrimination against immigrants today (“today” being in 2000). Essentially, the criticism and discrimination that old immigrants faced fell to the wayside as it was supplanted with a glorification of the past (both by them and their descendants). The reality, however, is that there are far more similarities between the two groups than there are differences. When differences do become apparent (for instance, in terms of wealth, occupation, rate of Americanization, etc.), it appears that newer immigrants are far better off. The United States receives far more middle class and wealthy immigrants than ever before. Many of today’s immigrants work in managerial and professional occupations, whereas many in the old wave were peasants or artisans. Moreover, Americanization appears to be proceeding at a much faster pace, thanks in large part to most of the world’s people having access to American culture before immigrants even arrive; Americanization takes place before immigrants even leave home.

The darker side, however, is the topic of illegal immigration. Before the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, illegal immigration may as well not have existed. Some individuals would have been turned away due to radical politics or having infectious disease, but those turned away hardly ever exceeded 1% of all those who arrived. However, the Johnson-Reed Act effectively invented illegal immigration by placing immigrant quotas based on national origins while wholly barring peoples of certain countries. The quota numbers were decided by the percentage of immigrants and their descendants living in the country in 1920 (plus some fudging the numbers; see Mae Ngai’s article, “The Architecture of Race in America” for a really good examination of quotes). Notably, those from the Western Hemisphere were not restricted by quotas—they were free to come and go as they chose, until the Great Depression and the 1950’s Bracero Program. With these events, illegal immigration became racialized, so immigrants now face discrimination of a very different sort.

Although the book can be a bit dense and slow at times, it’s a welcome contribution to understandings of the history of immigration in the United States. It’s important to put today’s wave of immigration in perspective, and Nancy Foner does an outstanding job of that.