I wonder if people would be less angry if the illegal immigrants were coming from Europe instead of Latin-Am.?
413746
I suppose it depends on the mindset of Americans. \n\nBack in the late 1930's, when my grandparents came to the U.S. from Italy, Italian immigrants then were about as popular as Mexican immigrants were now. They were looked upon by many people as dirty, lazy, and cheap. They were used as a source of cheap labor, since most of them came without papers and didn't speak English. \n\nMy father, as a little kid, never played with the Irish neighbor kids because they didn't want their children mixing with the Italians. \n\nBut as you may have noticed, times changed, and almost no one sees Italians that way anymore. They're even romanticized in movies and on TV. Rudy Guiliani (an Italian) has been hailed as the greatest mayor of the city that once looked down on Italian immigrants.\n\nWhat I'm trying to say is that our culture will change and shift over time to be more understanding and accepting of Latin American immigrants. Hispanic Americans are the largest minority group in the U.S., and bilingual employees are becoming an increasing commodity. Give it a few decades, and people will get over their fear and misunderstandings.\n\nOur children's generation, who will grow up with the children of immigrants from all over the Americas, will not harbor the same resentments as their parents.
1067542
Where I live, it's the Mestizos and Blacks who are the "outcasts".  People here don't cater to their every whim. All the signs and newspapers are in English. If they can't read them, or they can't speak our language, they're pretty much out of luck. And you almost never see one on the streets after dark. (Yes, our little town is very peaceful and quiet. If you play loud, obnoxious ghetto noise late at night, your house might "mysteriously" burn down. With " YOU " still in it!)
624224
You said it! I agree with you completely. There is not enough room in this world for hate- It has caused too many problems already. Illegal immigrants are only trying to improve their lives, their children's lives. I'm not going into a debate on the issue, but the hate and anger need to stop. What happened to America that we act like this?
189982
It's just going to negatively effect the illegal immigrants...oh, and the Catholic Church's offering plate, oh, and the spanish language newspaper, radio and TV channels...and maybe we would only have a McDonald's every four or five blocks instead of every two. I could live with that!
880650
I wish the aliens would act like the immigrants in france and trash and burn things. that would lead to their downfall much quicker in the USA
394044
I don't hate mexicans, what I hate is ILLEGALS that is the magic word, I personally don't care where the come from if they are in the country ILLEGAL then I take issue with it. It also bothers me that these people are waving Mexican flags in protest here in America.
576192
It occurs to me that there are DAMN few people in America that are not decended from immigrants. If we had a bunch of illegal white people living and working in the USA, no one would be upset about it.
996958
Most of the people complain about why immigrants come here ilegally, so they should all agree.  If it wasn't so hard to do things the right way, all immigrants would be here legally.
1096698
I TOTALLY agree that the illegal immigrants should learn English and become legal. Our ancestors which came here over 200 years ago, wanting to become legal and assimilate to our culture. They were proud to be American and payed their taxes, knowing that was their price for a better life. We shouldn't have to assimilate to other peoples culture if they want to come over here. i have no problem with people wanting to come over here legally. America is a melting pot that is a mixture of many cultures. I also, have no problem with them flying their flag. I am proud of my heritage and, would have an Italian flag in my house. That's not saying that I am not proud to be American it is that i am also proud of where I came from.
306625
America would be a trashed slum from coast to coast. Mexico would be fairly empty of the poor, they'd be up here, living on the streets and selling drugs to get food. Our welfare system would have ran out long ago. The rich in Mexico would have beautiful homes with perfectly kept lawns that are maintained by the former poor Mexicans that stuck it out and stayed, and now get nice wages.  American citizens will probably band together and organize, to try and get a handle on the situation. \n \nThe issue is ILLEGAL immigrants. Mexicans and other Latinos are 65%+ of the illegal immigrants coming into the USA. It's the southern border at Mexico that is the problem of such a glut in illegals coming into the USA. We might refer to them as Mexican, but I guess that is wrong, because there ARE people from Central and S. America coming to the USA via the Mexican-American border. We don't want all immigrants to leave. We want illegal immigrants to leave, of any origin. Want to know why??\n\n***The protesters want to take over this land of ours****\n\n***************America better wake up********************\n\n****GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR A$$E$ AND PAY ATTENTION*** \n\n- Illegally crossing the border is a FEDERAL offense, a felony. - The issue is ILLEGAL immigrants, not LEGAL immigrants -They are hired by businesses in our country, the businesses should be prosecuted for hiring illegals \n-They pay lower wages to the illegal immigrants than they once paid the American worker, thus American worker wages fall -Americans would do the jobs at the fair wage the businesses formerly paid them. -There is no job they do that Americans won't do. When they say they work harder than Americans, that is a racist remark. Plus, Americans worked to build and keep this land, we didn't run to another country crying with our hand held out. We have stamina and PRIDE. -Illegal immigrants abuse our govrnment assistance programs that were meant for the citizens of the USA when they fall on hard times, not illegal immigrants\n-They can't afford doctors so they glut the ER of hospitals to seek medical care -Our forefathers built this country. Some were illegal, that was then, this is now. We now have immigration laws that are to be abided by, we didn't then\n-Our country fought the Mexican-American war and WON, then paid $15 million dollars for that land and for the privilege of whooping the Mexicans a$$e$ -The illegal immigrant worker is only a tip of the iceberg of problems to come, brought by the illegals coming across the border. They want "conquista" (reconquor), they'll tell you that. They want that land we whooped their butts for, they can't accept defeat. -They flew their flags in protest of the USA, the very country that has been filling up their outstretched hands. -they bring in their drugs and gangs.\n-They disrespect the people of the USA and our leaders. They should be deported and the sooner the better. Our borders should be tightened up and patrolled with armed guards. America needs to wake up. You may or may not agree with me, but be sure you know ALL the reasons for wanting the illegals OUT. I'm not finished but I'll stop for now--whew!!-----CherokeeRose
575836
I most certainly would not go. Another analogy would be burglary. The burglar invades your home, takes your stuff, sends the stuff to benefit someone else, then burglarizes another home to do the same thing. Illegal immigration is the same thing, just on a much larger scale.\n\nIllegals draw welfare by stealing people's social security numbers and identities. That means there are a lot of people being directly hurt by these people as well. Innocent people are having their credit ratings ruined, having IRS problems, and social security problems. If someone who has had their social security number stolen gets married, if either spouse dies or become disabled then they can be denied their benefits. \n\nMy family moved to the US before WWII. Those of my family that didn't make it over got killed by the death camps. Our family assimilated to the American culture. We didn't expect the Americans to change to suit us. The illegal immigrants from Mexico are not civilized like that.\n\nThey not only changed the National Anthem to Spanish, they changed the words. They already burn our flag and hang our flag upside down. They waved the Mexican flag during a lot of their protests. Some schools have stopped hanging the American flag and forbidden students from wearing clothes with any part of the American flag on their clothing all to keep from offending the Mexicans. It's nothing short of an attack of our country, not only by the illegal aliens, but those who seek to appease them. \n\nI am tired of the stereotype that Americans wouldn't do the work that illegals do. Illegals do all kinds of jobs for less than minimum wage which drives the wages down for U.S. citizens. Construction jobs are an example. There are lots of illegals doing construction jobs that Americans used to do because the companies can keep more of the profits if they pay less for the workers. All that does is make companies wealthier and Americans poorer. Illegals are stealing jobs that Americans have done for years.
625394
I think you hit the spot... mental insecurity. I don't hate legal or illegal immigrants. It is sad though that all of these people for the most part have nothing better to do than to be bashing people who only come here to work, help our economy and want a piece of the american dream. Do "americans" think they are better because they speak English? Is English the universal language? why don't they learn a new language. I hate to see what this country will turn into and not because of illegals but because of legals who are so ignorant and close minded.
1155634
The hate for "illegals" is just the newest accepted form of racism. People justify it by saying they hate them because they are breaking the law by being here, when really all it is is that they feel uncomfortable being around people that seem different. Do you think people would be so upset if Mexicans spoke English and had fair skin? Why aren't people worried about securing the boarder of Canada?
35998
I really don't know.\n\nBut regarding your answer to the Mexican/English language question, I've definitely noticed that those who complain about immigrants "kant evun spull or rite korrectly inn Englush".\n\nGood observation and comment, my friend. :)
945232
Maybe you wouldn't come across as a bigot if you didn't go into a screaming rant about "blasting" Mexicans who try to cross the boarder illegally.
671817
I agree with you on one thing (but I'll proofread mine)... "If you give people to take the path of least resistance, generally they will take it."\n\nBeing unable to use the native language of the country of one's residence renders one poor, and it's true that options are few. Soooo many people here don't learn English EVER because there are Spanish newspapers, television, books, services of all kinds, Hispanic businesses where some of the staff don't speak a lick of English, etc etc. Almost everything Southern California has to offer has a Spanish version of it. People can come here and live out most of their lives and still never learn English. A shame, that's just laziness. I mean, night school is FREE! However, there's really no incentive if everything is in Spanish. That should change, I believe that citizenship should be contingent upon learning English. No need to be a master at it, but enough to communicate decently in public.\n\nHowever, to say that they don't belong here, I will COMPLETELY DISAGREE with you. This country is for immigrants, no matter where they're from and no matter what language they speak. Once they're here, they do have the obligation of learning American ways, including the language, this is true. But how dare anyone say that a certain group "doesn't belong" in this country!!! I'm Hispanic, and find this VERY OFFENSIVE.
410259
Probably they would think how stupid they were. the only people who want to go TO Mexico are the low lives who realize that those who are upper-middle class here, are kings over there.  The government would love it.  more tax dollars and more money going around.  For their people to buy supplies to go to AMERICA.  Trust me, it would be the total opposite reaction for what we're giving them. (At least the SMART people)