I passed by Metcalfe’s sign this morning on the way to work and wondered who he is. I used to volunteer teaching English in this area and most of my students were illegal. We were explicitly told not to ask anything that required them to reveal their immigration status. But you can tell anyway.
I've posted before on this, so perhaps it's stale to some. I was a volunteer reading tutor at a local Middle School. I figured most of the kids would be Hispanic, due to the language barrier. About 90% of the group was Hispanic, but the problem lay elsewhere. I was stunned when the teachers, who accepted that most of them were illegals, told me the kids were lagging because their fathers forbade them from speaking OR READING English at home. "Spanish is your heritage." they were told. (So much for assimilation.)
The sad part was that the kids were eager to learn. We had some selection of reading material so I always chose something about U.S. history. One time, on June 6th, I asked my two female students if they knew what anniversary that was. One looked at the other and said, "La Guerra?" (the War?). I was so happy that I could have clapped her on the shoulder for knowing even that much as many native-borns, kids AND adults, are clueless.