I had a discussion with a lib Dem co worker of mine. He said there is no difference between this wave of immigration and the immigration of the early 1920’s. What are you nuts? Groceries weren’t marketed in Polish or Italian. Schools didn’t hold classes in those languages either. You were expected to learn English. I fear this isn’t immigration as much as it is an invasion and a hostile takeover. People need to wake up!
Stupid liberal cannot understand the difference between legal and illegal. America wanted the immigrants in the late 1800’s and we do not want the waves of uneducated illegal alien invaders over running our country like the Vandals over ran and destroyed Rome.
Not to mention, welfare and free medical.
We didn’t have any entitlements back in those days. There’s no comparison at all.
People who rely on this comparison and others like it are ignorant of the facts and hiding from reality. Immigration, one ship full at a time, through Ellis Island, was one thing. What we are in the midst of now is a mass migration of historic scale--the shifting of a population-- and it cannot possibly be good for this nation.
The failure of the political hacks and sellouts in Washington to appreciate this, from Bush on down through the Congress, is a crime and a shame.
Let's get our facts straight. 1. Groceries and everything else were indeed marketed in foreign langauges during earlier waves -- look at pictures of the Lower East Side (Yiddish), Milwaukee (German), Little Italys all over, etc. That's capitalism. And lots of people complained about it then -- read the press of the day, or the cartoons of Thomas Nast.
2. Schools (though not public, usually), were indeed held in other langauges. Most German catholics in the midwest, at least in the early days, went to German schools. IN some rural areas, even public schools, but not many.
3. People were indeed encouraged to learn english -- no bilingual ballots, though plenty of bilingual campaigining (See the Musical, "Fiorello"). But lots still didn't. Almost every immigrant family has a story of Uncle Yankel or Aunt Rosa or whatever that never learned it very well. The 2d and 3d generation is what is key.
4. However -- there was little or no welfare -- nobody came for the benefits. Many did go back, but it wasn't as easy to go back and forth as it is now. (However, I know a prominent, now deceased Italian politician, who was the 11th of 11, and the ONLY one born in Italy, because his parents did go back late in life!)
So -- let's focus on the things that are really different, and not idealize how different our noble ancestors were.
And, BTW, most were legal (the laws were pretty lax then), but plenty were not -- the old congresses passed bushels of special laws to legalize particular illegals. (Look up "An Act for the relief of .....").
None of this is to say it's a good bill -- I think it's a lousy bill, but let's keep our arguments true.