Waves of Immigration

Waves of Immigration - Final Essay
Student Name
Institutional affiliation
Date
Waves of Immigration - Final Essay
Question 1
The latest wave of mass immigration started in the 1960s in the US. The wave was characterized by a change in immigration policy, which prompted a change in the composition of the immigrants. The wave was triggered by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Massey & Pren, 2012). The act abolished the national origins quota system, which had majorly favored immigrants from Western Europe. The act instead gave preference to employment skills and family reunification for the immigrants. The change in the immigration policy was critical in allowing immigrants from non-European countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The latest wave of mass immigration faced various issues of stratification. Firstly, since the policy change allowed more immigrants from non-Western Europe countries, immigrants faced language barrier issues. A majority of the immigrants now came from non-English speaking countries. As a result, it was challenging for a majority of the immigrants to understand the English language (Rumbaut & Massey, 2013). The challenges in speaking English meant that they needed to take more time to acquire a command of the English language before they could access job opportunities. Secondly, the immigrants faced a challenge with their educational qualifications not being recognized in the US. Some of the degrees obtained from their home countries were not often equivalent to those offered in the US. As a result, a majority of the latest wave of immigrants had challenges securing employment opportunities in line with their academic qualifications. Moreover, the immigrants faced more discrimination, especially in the job market. Being non-Europeans subjected them to limited employment opportunities.
However, despite the integration challenges, a majority of the immigrants belonging to the latest wave have managed to integrate well into American society. The process of assimilation has allowed a majority of the immigrants to fit into American society and participate in various fields including business, politics and scientific fields. Some of the immigrants have continued to maintain strong ties to their cultural heritage, often keeping in touch with members of their families in their home countries. Others have quickly assimilated into American society and become part of it.
Question 2
A comparison of the First Wave (1820s-1920s) and the Latest Wave (1960s-now) shows significant differences. The first wave included immigrants mostly from Europe. The European immigrants were of diverse origins including a significant number from Germany, Italy and Ireland. However, the latest wave included immigrants from non-European countries. The immigrants were more diverse and included people from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The causes of immigration were different for the two waves of immigration. For the first wave, the immigrants were looking for better opportunities in America. They wanted to secure better opportunities that were not available in Europe given that America promised more jobs and business activities. Religious freedom was also a major factor in immigration, ...