Come here to Bakersfield and I will introduce you to some 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics who are hanging onto their Mexican culture and have a disdain for the U.S. Their children are being taught Spanish at home and it's only when they go to school that a lot of money is spent to teach them English. And the standards of those schools are lowered for all the other children (of course, that's the education administrators' fault).
My mother came here from Italy and a lot of our lives were built around Italian culture. But she went out of her way to teach us English at home so we could succeed in school and to impart a respect and appreciation for the opportunities we have.
There is a huge difference between the way legal immigrants and illegal immigrants assimulate and the respect they show this country. And this attitude is passed to their offspring. This is why we need to stop the flow of illegals and if we need more labor after that, we can increase the flow of legal immigration and at least have some control over who comes in.
I agree with you completely. My father was an immigrant, as were his parents. They all learned to speak English promptly. I was taught about their culture, learned a little of the language as a child, and visited their native country, but I am a wholly American, and my parents never suggested that I was a Slovak or Slovak-American. The difference is that the Mexicans, as you note, have a contempt for this country that feeds them, while my father revered America and fought for it, so I was brought up to take pride in it.
My sympathy for illegal immigrants is extremely limited and I think it's shameful that we are permitting them into this country when there are millions of our own people out of work.