It's always a tip, never a gratuity. Somehow this has become a rite. One of the reasons I like to pay in cash; sometimes the waiter or waitress looks like somebody I don't want to have access to my card number, my name, or the 3-digit number on the back of the card.
Maybe if this waiter spoke English like a native and did not look like an illegal, he would get better tips.
Maybe if this waiter spoke English like a native and did not look like an illegal, he would get better tips. Just because he may have barely spoken English doesn't mean he hasn't been here forever. It did happen in Los Angeles.
Then again, in California you CAN live there as an illegal forever.