I thought it was interesting to flip through and see the different contributions to our country from immigrants of different backgrounds. The chapter showed what types of influences the US has accumulated from different groups such as asian americans, african americans, hispanics/latinos, native americans and arab americans. Thanks to immigrants we use a lot of things in our daily lives, including music, that were brought to us or heavily influenced by immigrants.
However, the chapter also points out the exploitation of immigrants. I agree that this problem still exists today. It is also troubling to think of the poverty issues and the inadequate pay, without healthcare, inadequate housing, etc. I like that the chapter points out that being poor also entails many other things. This is important to keep in consideration when teaching children, especially those of high poverty. Instead of coming to a conclusion that their parents don't work, you may think twice and realize both parents may be working and their labors might be exploited. A child in this situation may face interferences in learning due to factors of social and political matters, lack of materials or even lack of nutrition. (I personally will keep snacks in the back of my classroom and inform my class at the beginning of the year that if someone didn't have time for breakfast or something like that, they can grab something quietly in the back.)
Lastly, the chapter touches on more about reasons for immigrants coming to the US (war, famine, economic factors, political factors, family unification, etc) but also goes over some of the US immigration laws. I remember having a friend from Romania, he was very intelligent and made excellent grades in high school. He went on to a really great university, but all through high school he couldnt get a job because he didn't have a green card (permanent resident card) and I remember the trouble this occasionally caused him.
I knew many of the things this chapter pointed out, but I enjoyed that it went into further detail and specifics. I especially liked the detail it went into about the contributions to the US from different immigrant groups, I think it is interesting to know where some things came from that we do in the US.
Picture from here (has interesting info on supporting immigrants).
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