Don't assume U.S. Hispanics are soft on immigration

SeattleTimes ^

[Happy2BMe]

"Riding the back of the wave are Peruvians, Bolivians, Dominicans, Salvadorans, etc. etc. Not to mention the 900-pound gorilla of immigration, Brazil."

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Remember this one word - you will see it many times between now and November, 2006.

Main Entry: COL·O·NIZE
Pronunciation: 'kä-l&-"nIz
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -nized; -niz·ing
transitive senses
1 a : to establish a colony in or on or of b : to establish in a colony
2 : to send illegal or irregularly qualified voters into <colonizing doubtful districts>
3 : to infiltrate with usually subversive militants for propaganda and strategy reasons <colonize industries>
intransitive senses : to make or establish a colony : SETTLE
- col·o·niz·er noun

[hispanarepublicana]

I too see the cultural and social changes, but I don't think that this justifies or calls for resentment of all hispanics. I probably have more in common with you than I do with the "hispanics" of whom you write.

What I'm saying is that in referring to "hispanics", you are dealing with at minimum 2 "ethnic" sub-groups that are from 2 entirely different worlds. Recently, there was a story about "White Anglos" being a minority, and there were those with Greek and Italian ancestry who posted that they didn't consider themselves "White Anglos" and yet that's where they were being categorized. (Heck, in Texas, it's fighting words to categories German Americans with Czeck Americans in some cases). The point is, that "hispanics" are getting to a point where they just can't all be categorized together because they're not homogenous. It's like assuming a Birkenstock-wearing, daisy-picking, long-haired, liberal San Francisco hippy is representative of "the Californian culture" or what it means to be a "Californian," and then saying, "Well, you Californians bring it on yourselves" when we assume all of you wear sandals and pick daisies, and you shouldn't be surprised when you get called a hippy."

Texas must just be a very different place from other parts of the country, I guess, because I have a feeling you and I are exposed to very different "hispanic" cultures. IMO, someone glowering at me out of resentment at the grocery store just because of my ethnicity would be neither understandable or justifiable.

[Clemenza]

Every ethnic group that has come to this country has "helped out their own." Change the "hispanics" in your post to "Jews" and it reminds me of an old newspaper clipping I saw from a century ago.

My great-grandfather from Poland started a construction contracting firm after saving up money working in the coal mines. He would hire newly arrived immigrants, help them get settled, etc. Did the native-born folks complain at the time? Possibly. Is this business of co-ethnics "helping eachother out" new. ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Besides, if you want to look at an ethnic group that typically only hires their own and lends money within their own community, look not to Mexicans and Central Americans, but to the Chinese.

[hispanarepublicana]

My dad had a little side-business involving construction, and he always hired high school kids for part time work, and he used preferential hiring practices: they had to be making straight A's and be clean-cut; any ethnicity would do, but he preferred native-born Texans and boys from our hometown. He amended his qualification list when the whole "Chicano" movement came along in this area, and some of the hispanic high school kids refused to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance (as was done at school every morning back then) because some Brown Beret told them to do this.
He fired those kids that refused to pledge their allegiance and refused to ever hire them again. Yeah, he "took care of his own"---PATRIOTS, that is.

[Clemenza]

Your father sounds like a great American.

[moehoward]

How about that tortilla recipe???

[hispanarepublicana]

He was.

[NRA2BFree]

I've lived in 'New' Mexico most of my life, so needless to say I have many friends who are Hispanic. We've discussed the illegal immigration problem, and they are in no way loyal to Mexico. They are totally opposed to illegal immigration, whether they're from Mexico or Pakistan. Tax dollars to support all of the ones who end up on any welfare program comes out of their checks too. In fact, they resent the illegals because it's creating an animosity toward some of them, where they was never a problem before.

[hispanarepublicana]

In fact, they resent the illegals because it's creating an animosity toward some of them, where they was never a problem before.

That's balls-on correct.

[Happy2BMe]

Wanna hear a story about New Mexico?

[NRA2BFree]

That*s balls-on correct.

I just read your profile. Very nice. You*ve definitely got the "inheritance" from your parents. It*s the best one anyone could ever get. :o)

[NRA2BFree]

I'm just here for the green chili! ;)

Yum Yum, me too. It's soooo good. Hatch chili is in the markets now. I'm going to get a sack roasted, and I'll be all set for the winter. :o)

[NRA2BFree]

Good editorial...worth the read and remembering.

It sure is!! Thanks for the ping. :o)

[hispanarepublicana]

Thanks. I had really great parents.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I get mine from Sichler Farms, down Belen way.

[Happy2BMe]

#35 - just what the doctor ordered.

(It even has green chili with pork.)

Thanks very much T.J.!

[NRA2BFree]

Wanna hear a story about New Mexico?

Yes, I'd like to hear it. :o)

[Happy2BMe]

O.K.

I remember in 1968 when gasoline was 14 cents a gallon just outside Alamagordo.

Over the course of 12 years, my family moved from Alamagordo to Roswell then to Portales.

Fifteen years later I met a man in Fayetteville, North Carolina at a dinner party.

As we began talking, the subject of New Mexico came up and I told him (a complete stranger) that I had lived in New Mexico and had moved around there quite a bit in my youth.

He said he had as well.

In fact, he had moved to the same towns I had lived in and in the exact same sequence.

Then it started getting a little 'spooky.'

When it came down to moving into the third consecutive city - the man moved into the same house that I had lived in fifteen years prior.

True story.

(And I never met that man again in my life.)

[judgeandjury]

Some of their proposed cures — like stationing the National Guard on the border or scrapping the 14th Amendment so as to deny U.S. citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants — are worse than the disease.

Actually there's no need to scrap the 14th Amendment. Its original intent was not to give citizenship to somebody just because they were born in the United States. We need to start applying the 14th Amendment as it was originally intended to be applied.

[chronic_loser]

In announcing his presidential candidacy in Nov. 1979, Reagan had proposed a “North American accord” in which commerce & people would move freely across the borders of Canada & Mexico. This idea, largely overlooked or dismissed as a campaign gimmick in the US, rankled nationalist sensibilities in the neighboring nations. But Reagan was serious in his proposal. Though he traveled only once outside the North American continent during his first 57 years, he was neither insular nor isolationist.

Immigration The US admits about 660,000 legal immigrants per year (1998 figures).
The Immigration Act of 1990 allows for 480,000 immigrants with family in the US; 140,000 immigrants in needed employment fields; and the rest under per-country limits and diversity limits.
Foreign-born people accounted for 8% of the US population in the 1990 census; in the decades prior to 1930, the figure was 13%.
About 5 million illegal aliens reside in the US (1996 figures).
55% of all illegal aliens come from Mexico. (Other Latin American countries account for another 20%).
40% of all illegal aliens live in California. (TX, NY, FL, and IL account for the next 40%).
The illegal alien population is growing by about 275,000 each year.
Immigrationn Advocacy
Pro-immigration advocates sometimes accuse anti-immigration advocates of racism, because of the large Hispanic component of current immigration. In that view, immigration restrictions are seen as limiting growth of the Hispanic population.
Anti-immigration advocates often seek Official English status (the US has no official language), which would enforce assimilation of non-English speaking immigrants. Similarly, anti-immigration advocates seek to terminate Bilingual Education, which is currently funded in school systems with large non-English-speaking populations.

Immigration Buzzwords
The biggest components of the immigration debate is how many legal immigrants to allow, and how to prevent illegal immigration.
Liberals and libertarians generally oppose restricting immigration. Look for buzzwords like "promote diversity" to define the liberal attitude, or "we're a nation of immigrants" to define the libertarian attitude. Any reference to providing illegal immigrants with services beyond emergency medical treatment, or any reference to "clemency" for illegal immigration, implies a strong pro-immigrant stance.
Moderate liberals and libertarians will oppose restricting immigration while paying lip-service to restrictions on illegal immigration. Look for buzz-phrases like "promote immigration, block illegal immigration" and "separate the functions of the INS and the Border Patrol," which mean the same thing.
Conservatives and populists generally favor restricting immigration. Look for buzzwords like "protect our borders" or "strengthen the INS". A call for "Official English" is a strongly anti-immigration stance, because most immigrants are from non-English speaking countries. That's the same attitude as "End bilingual education," which focuses primarily on Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Moderate conservatives and populists will favor restricting illegal immigration while paying lip-service to allowing legal immigration. The result is the same as moderates in favor of immigration: calls for separating out legal immigration from illegal, but with a focus on enforcement against illegals instead of a focus on respecting immigrant rights.

A final note from Reagan's farewell address, and his vision for America: I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still (emphasis mine)