1) English the langauge of this country
Going ahead and discounting the first 10-30 thousand years of occupancy for this land, in the US history era German was often more commonly spoken in the territorial US than English. Not surprising since nationality-wise there are more US citizens descended from German immigrants than any other country of origin (check out the histories of bilingual education). In the mid-1800s it got to the point that there was serious discussion of making German the official language.
2) And i am not intending to bait you, but … i think more rightly it should be our ideals espoused in whatever language personally chosen that unite our country. The belief in honesty, integrity, hard work, compassion, a hope of fair reward for honest effort, a faith in ingenuity, respect for our fellow man, a willingness to help those less fortunate than ourselves, a willingness to stand up and even, when absolutely necessary, fight for what we believe in and most importantly a celebration, a championing of inclusion and diversity, THOSE ideas are what unite us; and they can be espoused in any language, or denied just as easily. As a teacher i see hatred, insistent ignorance, self interst, greed, and manipulation come in all colors from students, who haven’t been taught these ideals in any language.

Growing up on the border of Texas, i too experienced ignorance and racist from some Hispanics. I was jumped beaten by gangs of toughs merely because i was a “bolejo”who wandered into the wrong neighborhood. Yeah, I hated it. But i was also abused and ostracized by white kids too.

I am SURE you have met some Hispanics guilty of your accusations, but i betcha if you think about it, you’ll know that there are plenty of anglos who would embarrass you along the same lines as your disappointments with some of the Hispanics you’ve met.

–weisser
PS: CONTACT CONGRESS TO SUPPORT HR333: Impeach Cheney.

Illegals are not taking advantage. Many of them are very grateful for every chance they’ve had, but you wouldn’t know since all you listen to is propaganda.

It was a great experiment by some revolutionaries and has endured the test of time. Now the new intellectuals want to change things that helped create what we are today. We have been a secular government but with judeo- christian ideas and some reminders of such, school prayer, god on our coins, god now in our pledge of allegiance and other areas that have not hindered our development. They must think these are positives!

Immigration over the years certainly has driven our train and will continue to do so but not without our participation. We chose who is best for us. Things have changed so has the type of immigrant that is needed. We had the opening of the west, industrial revolution, and great upheavals in other lands and took in the starving masses because we could. This has changed. I feel environmentally we are reaching a saturation point both agriculturally and energy wise. Unlike many pro illegal immigration people I also do not believe we a have a job crisis, that could not be fixed by automation and a controllable temporary work program!

Terrorism, crime and increased welfare recipients we do not need, we have our home grown variety. I am not a racist, nativist or xenophobe but believe in my heart we have nothing to gain to permit open borders or uncontrolled illegal alien invasion. The illegals are taking advantage of the American compassion and those that do not see it are looking for Eden…sorry but Adam bit the apple.

Thank you for airing this topic.

mikel weisser

“I recently wrote a column posted on Dissident Voice which is in small part critical of Mr. Dobbs’ stance on immigration and his treatment of New York governor Eliot Spitzer’s initiative to license all drivers in the state of New York. When i went back and checked for comments, someone said they wished Mr Dobbs could read the column. It seems like a good idea, so here’s the link: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/11/make-immigration-legal/

Happy Reading,
mikel weisser”

In other words, these people abandon a country that needs them so that they can go to another country that doesn’t want them and steal a better life from it’s citizens while demanding instant citizenship. This is damaging both to their ‘original citizen brothers’ and their ‘newly-proclaimed citizen brothers’. Probably the biggest problem with demanding citizenship is that they have demonstrated absolutely no loyalty to either country and therefore have no idea what citizenship entails. About the only characteristic that an observer might come away with about these peoples behavior is that they are willing to abandon their own and steal what they want.

There is a globally understood contempt for people that exhibit this type of moral substance; in English it might best be described as Cowardly Thieving Human Garbage.

Thank you from the millions in the shadows

Pancho

Illegal Immgration is illegal.

Dude, saying opposition to illegal immigration is racist, is foolish at best, hateful at worst.

The late Doctor Martin Luther King not only railed against those of the extremist right wing, who waged a bloody campaign of divide and conquer, but also those of the extremist left wing, who waged their own bloody campaign of divide and conquer. The same extremist left who were behind the slaughter of untold millions of innocents around the world in their blind lust for power. The Marxist dogmatics, for whom individual freedoms, the right to self determiniation have been a major barrier to their ability to vanquish the hopes and dreams of peoples throughout the world.

When Doctor King wrote about his studies, he mentioned having read Marx and Engels, and while at first he felt drawn to what was put forward as ideals, it wasn’t long before he saw what lie beneath the surface of the premise put forward. Slavery, feudalism, oppression, exploitation, nothing more. King said as much, and in no uncertain terms, that Marxism is slavery, because without individual freedoms, the right to self determination, there is NO FREEDOM.

He saw how the legacies of Marx and Engels had been actually worse than all the other political and social ideologies of the past combined, because it was the great deception incarnate. Lies, dogmatic deceptions intent to deceive the most powerless into sacrificing themselves into actions that would ultimately lead to putting themselves, their children and future generations into harness to serve a cold and despotic elite who were parasites.

All the claims of social justice should be evaluated, because Marxists have redefined for themselves what is socially just. That they be the ones allowed to think and decide for us all. There are no human or civil rights under those coldblooded regimes, because to them we are little more than cattle who need to be put in service to the state.

We’ve seen their sort in action, in the Soviet Union, in China and in other parts of Asia, in Nazi Germany, in Italy,Spain, in Mexico, Central and South America. If one wants to understand why there exists such corruption in Latin America, despite the wealth, consider the fact that those nations have allowed themselves to be at the mercy of both the extremist right and extremist left wings.

The United States of America has had two political parties, but both were more moderate, up until the far right and the far left were able to get a toe hold and gradually infect the two. All is not lost, but unless intelligent, thoughtful and truly humane people stop allowing themselves to be duped into the lies and deceit of the political extremes, we won’t survive.

At present, extremist zealots like Mike Weiser are striving to convince you that it is unjust and inhumane to enforce our border protections, and immigration laws. Of course, extremist right winger George Bush, and his cronies in the corporatist U.S. Chamber of Commerce advocate for the same thing, it’s not just a co-incidence. Both extremes, the right and the left want the U.S. undermined. Thrown into the same instability as Latin America, where the people and their rights are little more than something to exploit for advantage and profit. In short, where there are no rights.

The extremist left and right are allied for convenience. Both wish to win, but ultimately have agreed that they need to destroy the U.S. to have an opportunity to do so. Both are working together as parasites to kill the host, so both can do what they’ve done in Latin America and elsewhere. Both extremes view us all as potential slaves.

Consider how both have abused and exploited power and jostling for power south of the border, and you will see how little respect and concern for the lives of the peoples of those countries. Do not be deceived. They know that the only way they can put the noose around your neck is if you help them to do this. Whether you are a student activist or the poorest of the poor, they will stroke your egos, inflame your anger, manipulate and marginalize you from your shared humanity to make you willing to hate enough to not think about what they are advocating. They will throw you away as easily as you are only a pawn they need to use.

Think, long and hard. Research the facts, do not be afraid to ask questions, they find that inconvenient and will at first attempt to dismiss your questions. If you still do not bend to their will, they will abuse and attack you. If still you do not bend to their will, sell out your intrinsic humanity, they will demean you to others. But hold fast, because others will ultimately take heart at your courage and question as well.

This will most likely not remain posted here as he, like his fellow dogmatics are afraid of the truth.

Thank you.

-Daniel

I chuckled when I first read the title of your article. Immigration IS legal. The US accepteed more than 2 million LEGAL immigrants last year. This is more legal immigration than every other country in the world COMBINED. The American people are very accepting to the people who come here the right way. It may not be easy, but it’s worth it.

HERE IS SOMETHING THAT CNN WONT SHOW :)

Tamar Jacoby of the New York-based Manhattan Institute has advised an Austin-based business group, Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, that lobbied Congress this year for tougher borders and a temporary guest-worker plan. The bill failed.

(Call it even. Last year, Congress defeated a bill to make illegal immigration a crime.)

Congress’ failure “has shifted the battleground,” Jacoby said by phone. “In the states, it’s becoming much more polarized. Without a bill in Congress and the give-and-take of negotiations, there’s no center of gravity to pull people toward the center. There are only the various sides pulling people apart.”

State and local officials feel obliged to “do something and appear to be in control,” she said. Meanwhile, “you see people gloating over deportations, and immigrants getting angrier.”

The Oklahoma law is “like cutting off your nose to spite your face,” she said.

“Choking the economy and driving workers out — I don’t think that’s a very effective way to improve your state. Calling your opponents ‘racist’ doesn’t achieve a solution, either.”

In Arkansas, businesses have announced a new Arkansas Friendship Coalition to promote “dignity” for all humankind, call for congressional action and defend illegal immigrants’ $3 billion role in the state’s economy, as detailed in a report by the Washington-based Urban Institute.

“We don’t want to lose the economic benefits or cultural benefits these people bring to Arkansas,” said the Rev. Steve Copley, a Methodist minister from North Little Rock.

“If we lose them, then Arkansas loses money. If you use state and local police time and jail time, that’s even more money lost. We need Congress to reform the system. We don’t need a patchwork of local laws.”

Everybody wants a tighter border. But the last time Texas’ comptroller figured up the balance sheet on spending and tax revenues from illegal immigration, our state came out ahead by $17.7 billion.

If only we could stop divisive politics at the Red River.