Conclusion: Old European immigrants are perceived as heroes and "noble sufferers" due to the hard and traumatic experiences they had to face in getting to New York. Today's immigrants aren't very poor and came to New York as middle class professionals. They had it relatively easy and the race/ethnicity of most undocumented immigrants now aren't from Europe which contributes to why they are perceived as dangerous and unwanted.
Why They Come
economic opportunities, fleeing persecution and violent political regimes and oppressions
Situational Ethnicity
Research Question
Why are undocumented/illegal immigrants stigmatized and maligned in contemporary America while European immigrants who came to the US illegally through Ellis Island in the turn of the century are regarded as "real" Americans and not perceived negatively?
Laws became more strict post 1960 as more non-Europeans flock to New York
US laws not stringent
Ellis Island welcoming
Who are the Immigrants
Asians, Latin Americans, Caribbean, Chinese, Jamaicans, Dominicans post 1964
lots of skilled professionals
Russian Jews, Italians 1900s
more laborers
Evolution of Immigration from Ellis Island to JFK
How They Got Here
From Boats through the Ocean to Jet Planes to JFK in New York
