Well, that's the point. The problem is not in immigration. It's in the pandering to the immigrants and their cultures. You cannot read a label, assembly instructions, or warning signs without having to wade through 2 or 3 different languages to find the one that you can understand. When I say you, I mean English speaking Americans. Schools have gone bilingual, lest the non English spealing students fall behind. Call a toll free number and you have to request the English version. Every large city has it's China Town, Korea Town, etc where the inhabitants may as well be living in the culture and "squalor" from whence they came. Hell, if you don't want to assimilate, stay where you are. Does Hong Kong have an AmericaTown? These cultural differences eventually cause division because the assimilated Americans appear to be more sucessful, thus are resented. The vast majority of mexican immigrants, legal and otherwise, truly want a better life and, from my experience, work hard to succeed. But, they'll never get there if they don't "do as the Romans do".
All of my sons brochures from school are in Spanish as well as English. My son is in the minority and most of the population is Mexican. http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fca34ed6c5a2fb5334fa0163a2fc49b1 http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=177171 I just wonder how long are we going to kiss Mexico's ass? Let us send some Americans to Mexico and see how they are treated! Anybody care to take a guess? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252344,00.html Duane 'Dog' Chapman Closer to Being Extradited to Face Charges in Mexico Then you have the bounty hunter and his story here. Lets not forget all the killings at the borders. I'm hoping when Tom Tancredo runs for president he will at least steer the candidates in the right direction if he doesn't win but I think the situation is about hopeless. Remember the riots by illegal aliens last summer? You guys are overlooking so many factors when comparing this Illegal immigration compared to legal immigration of the past. I'm not going to lie. I don't like the way things are between Mexico and this country. I don't like all of their people coming over here and invading our country Illegally and theres not a damn thing I can do about it. Politicians are worthless these days, they react to late to situations.
we have been over this one many times and still all i hear is whining about having to deal with an extra language on telephone menus and an occasional sign. you guys watch too much bill oreilly. american culture is what it is. it isnt what you say it is. if americans speak spanish, so be it.
It still pisses me off to have to select a language on the phone, at the ATM, etc. Drives me bonkers. The absolutely ridiculous thing about immigration is that people generally pick the wrong things to argue about. Rather than debating illegal immigration, we should debate immigration policies. It should be understood that breaking the laws are bad, and should be discouraged. Now if someone wants to open the door about whether some laws should be broken (or at least the breakage being ignored) because they're idiotic, I'm all ears!
:hihi: I missed this in SF's otherwise great post. I was in Hong Kong a few years back, and while boozing it up in the said English-speaking town, I always had the Chinese army troops in the back of my mind. On the off-chance that you go to this part of Hong Kong, I recommend buying your beer from one of the vendors, and just hanging out at the sidewalk bars. It's exponentially cheaper, and fun to interact with the locals a bit more.
That may well be, but they did not go to China seeking a better life. If Mexicans, Asians, Iraqis, etc. pack up lock, stock and barrel and emigrate here, it's to escape their previous situation. What's the point if they just settle into one area and live in the way they formerly did, with their own kind and speaking their old language and living exactly as they did before? What Lamm is saying is that eventually, distrust of "Americans" leads to division and a culture war which, over time, will destroy the very society, in which the immigrants sought refuge. Diversity is not a bad thing, but isolationism is.
Again, these are the same things that were being written whenever there was a mass imigration into this country. In the 1840's there was fear that Gaelic would replace English as the common language. The same thing happened in the 1920's when droves of Eastern Europeans immigrated here. The first wave of immigrants rarely assimilates into the mainstream culture. The second generation tends to mix, and the third generation is usually totally Americanized.
Most immigrants to the US, be they Italian, Irish, Jewish, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc., all set up "Little Italy" or "Chinatown" wherever they settled as a way for the first-generation immigrants to have a comfortable adjustment to a new culture. The second generation, born in the USA, didn't need the old-world security blanket and generally assimilated across the country. There are two major differences between these immigrants and the Mexican exodus. 1. The old-world immigrants were mostly legal. They met the quotas designed to prevent huge waves of destitute foreigners from overwhelming the system. They were screened so felons, enemy agents, and those with infectious diseases could not enter. The illegal Mexican aliens are not legal and they are not screened. They overwhelm the established quotas and our enemies can hide among them. They must follow the same immigration laws as we hold other countries and as their own country holds against Americans for going into Mexico illegally. 2. They are not leaving the old world behind across the sea. Mexico borders the US and they pass back and forth, never truly leaving the old culture. Instead they are bringing it across the border. You can see it and hear it everywhere. In Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, it is already important to be able to understand Spanglish. They don't just create barrios and colonias of their culture, they are latinizing the culture of the border states. Of course all four states were once part of Mexico and the Mexican culture has been there all along, co-existing with the Anglos who displaced their culture 150 years ago. This new invasion of illegals is tipping the balance again towards the Mexican way instead of The Cowboy Way. But I don't see this type of cultural displacement spreading beyond the border states. The rest of us will mostly just see more Mexican Catholic churches and better burrito stands around while we enjoy cheaper vegetables and maid service.
