groups

I am an immigrant.....I came in on an L1 working visa.....after 5 years (and 1200$ and all kinds of medical tests) I earned my citizenship.

Funny but I had to learn the language also. I spoke and spelled the Queen's English....and the American jargon is very different....for example tools have different names here and I found it very confusing for quite a while.....

My 15 yo daughter HAD to come and live with us....she was a white, blond, blue eyed illegal immigrant who spoke English. We went to the immigration authorities and registered her. She was allowed to go to school but not allowed to work or drive....the best and quickest way for her to become legal was for me (her father) to become a citizen. So I did.....

I believe that anyone should be allowed to come to this country........but I also believe that they should be tested for contagious diseases simply to protect the rest of the population from these disease. I also believe that immigrants should be scanned for terrorists affiliations again simply to protect the rest of the population.

I have lived in a country which is bilingual...and it does nothing but allow for prejudice and cost. Everything...every office, every store, every gov't agency, every piece of money, every street sign etc. must be printed in both languages. Telephone operators and waitresses have to be bilingual.........it is a very expensive nightmare.

Schools need to be standardized with the same level of education for all and in a single language to maintain a high standard and consistency throughout the WHOLE country.

There should be ONE country with ONE government with ONE language and the citizens regardless of which language they use in their daily lives should be fluent enough in English to attend school, order food, talk to a doctor, understand a police officers directions etc.

And that's all I have to say about that.

G. we came through Catholic Charities. When we got off the oceanliner, or while still on it, I don't remember, we were given green cards. They were really green way back then. My father was already fluent in English, but mother and I had no clue at all. I spoke Polish and German, my mother spoke Polish, Russian, French and Ukranian. She did not speak English. She never learned to speak fluently. It's not that she didn't want to, she just had no occassion to speak it. She loved this country and never wanted to leave. Never even for a visit back to Poland. She has a problem with English until she became 90 years old. Then all of a sudden she stared to speak it fluently. It was the weirdest thing and she was so very proud. However, she always considered herself and American and she truly was. If she had to go and fight for it, she would.
I admire your family G. and I am happy that you are here and I agree with your thoughts.

Somewhere, some time all of our ancestors came here. Regardless of where they came from. My great grandparents came from Germany. They had to learn the lanquage. They had to become citizens and pay taxes and abide by the laws of this country.
I believe anyone should have a right to choose where they want to live. But when you choose to live in the United States you choose to live by thier rules, You Choose to leave your country and come here then you should choose to learn thier lanquage. no one ask you to give up your traditions but you chose to come here for a better life. The U.S. did not send you an invitiation to come here. You are not a guest. You should be a tax paying citizen who lives like the rest of us do and learn our language not force us to learn yours. In many places now you cannot get a job if you are not bilinqual which leaves alot of older americans out of jobs because we did not go to school when multi languages were taught.
I have had to learn Spanish just to keep my head above water with my job. When I held classes to teach English to the spanish speaking students parents I had three parents enroll for a FREE class and not one completed the class.
I again offered to teach a FREE class at a local community center. NOT ONE enrollment. So there is something to be said for immigration. Are they really here to become citizens of the US or are they here to work and send the money back home to build nicer homes they plan to return to once they have saved enough money. Since I have worked with this population for 10 years I have heard alot of why they are here and how long they plan to stay here.
Im all for immigration and thank God my Grandparents came to America but they stayed and all the future generations stayed. We are tax paying citizens and take part in our communities and make a mark on earth as being Citizens of the US. So yes, if you are coming to the US to stay and raise your children and grandchilren I say throw your arms open and welcome them and help them become citizens.
But if they are here and do not want to be citizens and conform to the rules and regulations that govern citizens then go home because this is Our home and we love it, we dont want to change it and we are proud of being citizens of the US

Very well said KathieV. The immigrants that I have encountered are for exactly what our ancestors, my parents did. They want to work, pay taxes, and just blend into this country. They are a proud people who can't wait to become citizens.

Comment deleted by an Administrator

I am all for immigration if done the right way. If you can come here, and when your visa expires and you are a good person, can make a contribution to the family, and I don't mean the elderly, then everyone should have the right to be here legally. If people jump borders it's because we make it very hard for them to come here and become part of our society. I respect all and wish that there were no borders for anyone. However, I do not wish to see terrorists here, but somehow, they are here and all that have been caught so far, have been legal. Some were even citizens. So, how do we stop that?

Very interesting comments from all of you and greatly respected. My take on the proposed Immigration Law is somewhat different, in that, as a Black American, we, as Black Americans continue to struggle in America. Jobs on the lower level which were once reserved only to Black people are being given to Immigrants, and although I would like to believe Black people as a whole have, for a lack of a better word, "moved on up" in most instances that is not the case. Black people on a whole continue to be discriminated against, especially Black men.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against the proposed law but I do have concerns with regards to the plight of Black America.

Case in point; having been employed in the hospitality industry for over 17 years I slowly watched the make-up of the faces change drastically, especially in the housekeeping department. I couldn't help but to begin to wonder what happened to many of the Black women and men who had previously been employed in the department. Of course I wanted to believe bigger and better opportunites became available to them. But just not the case with many of them.

I do agree, everyone should be given the opportunity to live in America but at what cost. Yes, something most definitely must be done regarding the alarming number of illegal immigrants in this country however, something also must be done with correcting the wrongs which continue to plague Black America. We all want a piece of the "apple pie" and I don't mind sharing, but please, not if it means my grandsons will suffer because of it.

Simplycr, I happen to agree with you. I have also seen the housekeeping staff change faces, as you put it. I rarely see a black person anymore and about twenty years ago, I did. Same for Doormen and other jobs that are now taken over by a large immegrant population.

I also have noticed that in my neighborhood alone, no blacks were hired. I even went to our Taco Bell, who employed only Hindi's and had a friend of mine, Horace, put in an application for a job. They had a HELP WANTED sign in the window. While the owner thought I was a customer, and Horace just someone who came in to apply for a job, the owner smiled at Horace, took his application and when my friend left, he threw it in the garbage. When I confornted him, he said "Madam we do not employ blacks." I asked him why and he said that no one would come into his shop. When asked if he had facts, proof, he said no, but he didn't like blacks. So, I sent in a few other teens, all black, and with video camera I video taped what he did, yet the sign was still up.

I went to the Community Board and put in a complaint, but did not stop there. I got about fifty friends together, a sort of rainbow coalition and yes, even with my Hindi friends, we marched in front of that Taco Bell, until the man called the police. We were nicely asked to leave, we did, but in that one hour time span, we turned enough people off to Taco Bell that we closed him down. Now, if there is a HELP WANTED sign anywhere in any store in my neighborhood, they do hire Blacks, Hispanics, Polish, Irish and not only their kind. So, we didn't complain about it, we did something about it, and it finally turned a whole neighborhood around.

I believe that something can be worked out where all who wish to work have the opportunity to do so. I am proud of anyone who wishes to work, do it legally and it doesn't matter what type of job it is, each job is a good job. Thank you for your thoughts. They were very much appreciated.

I see your point Simplycr,but I see many of the Black American workforce go into other fields.
I see more and more black americans in Government jobs and go for higher education.
I think that white americans with lower education and work skills face the same dilemna.
I try not to look at things being of race or color.
I look at the overall picture.
I think that black people have it better today,then ever before.
That is not to say that they had it ever really good.
I know that in the days of the well respected Martin Luther King,many Black Americans were given opportunites to work for The Department Of Sanitation.
They were given jobs as street cleaners.
Since the days of Jimmy Hoffa,they were given those jobs to other ethnic groups.
Now those jobs are given to people who are in Public Assistance.
Black Americans were also given jobs in the Parks Department as well and they are now replaced by people who are on Public Assistance.
I do remember cleaning ladys as being black as well.
I had a problem with that,because it brought back memories of black people being slaves and I felt bad that biggotry existed.
If you get down to the nitty gritty,everyone will give a reason why this one or that,shouldn't have a certain job.
I myself was a victim of reverse discrimination.
I believe that the best person who is qualified for the job,should be hired.
Race,Religion and gender should never have a bearing on who should be hired.

I am interested in seeing that the so called new immigration laws are not past. I am interested in seeing if the laws that have been in place will ever by followed. I believe the that our government and corporations are conspiring to allow this country to be over run with legal and illegal immigrants in order to supply corporations with consumers and cheap labor. Remember the "Robber Barons." We need a new Teddy Roosevelt.

There is an idealistic mentality that guides so many peoples thinking on the subject of immigration. It leads me to believe that they think they are more human if they support immigration and or illegal immigration. Our thinking needs to be guided by the truth and reality. The truth is that our country embarked on immigration for the purpose of conquering this country for sea to shining sea. We eliminated anyone who contested this migration/colonization of America. Remember the Indian removal act in the early 1800's, remember the Mexican American War, Remember the Alamo. Based on this our goal has been achieved therefore we need little more immigration. after this initial immigration, immigration continued in order to fill in the rest of the country. Thereafter immigration was used by corporations to destroy labor and provide new consumers just as corporations are doing now, with the help of our government.

I would also say that the civil war was against cheap labor, slaves, it was not are war to help the poor helpless blacks, but instead it was a war to eliminate slave competition; which was competition for poor workers in America. What we have now is a new type of slave labor, the poor starving Mexicans of Mexico who continue to breed at faster and faster rates especially since they have discovered that all they have to do is step over the border and have their babies free of charge. Then to make things worst they have 4, 5, 6 kids and more. Then they live in one and two bedroom homes were they pay little rent, therefore little taxes and then, and then they let there children run the streets causing gangs and crime, filling our prisons to 50% Hispanic.

The reality is that the carrying capacity in our country is being stretched to is ends. How can one not think of this when thinking about immigration. Most of the west is facing drought, shortages of water on one hand and at the same time the government is secretly allowing millions of Mexicans to flood into our country. If you don't believe millions of Mexicans are here you better go to California where to Mexican population has gone from 10% to 50 or 60% Mexican. They are now getting control of the politics there where they will allow millions more Mexicans to flood into America. The Mexicans have no intention's of assimilating they are proving this in Los Angles and Las Vegas.

We have never had a problem like this MASS IMMIGRATION MADNESS because our government protected American citizens with laws. In recent years our government has intentionally created laws disguised, cloaked in humanitarian concerns, in order to provide cheap labor for business people who have found a way to make money at business's that use cheap Mexican labor. And these business people have had to resort to this because jobs have gone over sea's and they have competition from other business's who use illegal aliens. It becomes a vicious cycle.

So, many people are profiting off this illegal trade illegal Mexicans just like dope dealers. I suspect you are one of those people since you are an immigration lawyer. I suggest you train for a new aspect of law. Your service in this field is really a disservice to United States citizens.

One other thing, I am perplexed by your request for feedback on this subject. I do not believe you are asking people for there opinion on immigration in order to help you determine if you are in the right field. It "beg's the question", why are you asking this question? You must know that most people here will follow all the clichés.