Actually many immigrants that went through Ellis Island did not consider themselves American and intended to go back to the "old country" after they made their fortune, but as they had families, there offspring became assimilated.
The same thing is happeneing today, such as the anti-bilingual proposition passing overwhelmingly in California.
Your view is clouded by minor groups and your outrage grows when you see thier inflammatory rhetoric "magnified" on FR, IMHO.
Let me tell you about a friend of mine, a coworker that is. He is an immigrant from the south of Brazil, who emigrated here, legally, last year. He is fluent in English, was an engineer in Brazil. He came from the south Brazilian city of Uberlandia.
His "rants" are much the same as mine. He wonders why the Mexicans don't want to learn English, become Americans, etc. His statement to me was, "they don't want to learn English".
He has two daughters of whom can now speak fluent English after living in the U.S. for seven months. Sometimes they'll come into the workplace, and I've on occassions seen at least one of his daughters wearing an American flag t-shirt. In the back of my coworkers car, he has an American flag, and he came to America so that his daughters could have a better life. You might say, "well, that's what the Mexicans are doing". You're right, most are. However, illegals, as well as a majority of Mexicans, in my opinion, are different in that they have no desire to be Americans. Unlike my coworker, whose goal was also to be an American, many Mexicans do not share this trait.
One thing about his daughers, he tells me, is that when they came to America, they were placed in (ESL) English as a Second Language classes. He indicated that he did not want them to be in there for very long, for he wanted them speaking English and in classes with the American kids. Within a couple of months, their English had improved to such an extent that they were placed in regular classes. Furthermore, they're making A's and B's.
I once spoke with his daughter, and she claimed that most of the students in the ESL classes were Mexican. Futhermore, she told me that many of them had been there before she arrived, and that many had yet to learn very much English. She was saying that it was as if they didn't want to learn the language.
Again, this is just an example.
Now, I would like you to answer my questions?
1) Do you support illegal immigration?
2) Do you believe that rewarding illegal behavior is okay?
3) From where in the country do you reside?
4) Do you profit from and, or, are you related to any illegal aliens?