The DREAM ACt of 2007

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

You want it to be illegal to have a foreign language newspaper or to go out to a fancy French restaurant where the menu is in French?

bad choice......french

[pedroh 21]

It is insane to expect different results while doing the same thing over and over.

amen

First off, everyone get over the fact that businesses have a menu option for Spanish. You don't want a law mandating that all private enterprise conduct their business in English.

says who?

the free market? laisez-faire? so the US doesn't become a fascist regime who has laws for private affairs...

although technically, the business in USA has to be conducted in english, all the legal paperwork and whatnot has to be in english... but you can't make a law that says that you cannot offer bilingual services to a certain group, that'd be discrimination.. is not the same not having the ability to provide language facilities, than not wanting to because 'we're in Amerika and we speak english, blablabla'

Edited March 20, 2007 by pedroh

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

It is insane to expect different results while doing the same thing over and over.

amen

First off, everyone get over the fact that businesses have a menu option for Spanish. You don't want a law mandating that all private enterprise conduct their business in English.

says who?

the free market? laisez-faire? so the US doesn't become a fascist regime who has laws for private affairs..

yeah, let's have everything printed in every language.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You want it to be illegal to have a foreign language newspaper or to go out to a fancy French restaurant where the menu is in French?

French restaurants are a thing of the past. They're Freedom restaurants now. Didn't you get the memo?

[Caladan 19]

I was sick on memo day.

[amwo 0]

So how many illegals does everyone here know? Any?

There are upwards of 20 MILLION so you must know at least one. Or your favorite restaurant has one so you've got one degree of seperation every time you dine.

We had and amnesty 20 years ago and guess what? IT DID NOT WORK. And it won't work this time.

It's very simple to say that illegals once legal will pay their taxes, but the problem is once legal they won't want to work for the peanuts they make now and employers won't want to pay them a decent wage, nor the other expenses that come along with employees - social security, workman's comp insurance, health care (if they offer it). They also may not want to do all those dirty jobs that we so-called lazy Americans don't want to do.

Soooooo welcome to welfare and the next wave of illegals!

At the end of the day illegal immigration is a crime and needs to be dealt with as a crime.

AND

the law that states if you are born here, you are automatically a US citizen needs to change. How about if you're here illegally and have a kid, the kid is illegal too. If you are here as a legal resident, then your kid born here is a legal resident too. If you have your citizenship, then your kid does too. That should simplify this "but my kid is a US citizen so I get to stay b.s."

Thank you for your time.

amwo

PS As for King George needing tax dollars to pay for his wars, what he really needs are the bodies to fight them. Last year, after one of his help the illegals speaches, he showed up at a military hospital, cozied on up to Jose who lost in leg in battle and proceeded to say what a good American Jose is! Look what he did for his new country! He is happy to be called an "American." Good job George - you're actions screamed louder than any of your stuttering words.

PSS to Mr. Massachusettes and his stats - hey, just because a bunch of massholes got together and produced some numbers does not mean it correlates to all the states.

PSSS We should also stop giving Mexico SIX BILLION dollars annually. It is quite obvious they are not using that money well. I think we can do much better.

[mawilson 2,133]

the law that states if you are born here, you are automatically a US citizen needs to change. How about if you're here illegally and have a kid, the kid is illegal too. If you are here as a legal resident, then your kid born here is a legal resident too. If you have your citizenship, then your kid does too. That should simplify this "but my kid is a US citizen so I get to stay b.s."

I feel that a switch from jus soli to jus sanguinis would be a bad thing for America.

There's something to be said about being born free in the Land of the Free.

[Janvier882 0]

The Guardian had an interesting article about this:

The Hispanic panic

Nearly every city in America has its distinct Hispanic neighbourhoods. In New York if you

travel to uptown Manhattan, you notice the shop signs and adverts are entirely in Spanish.

Spanish is the language of the street and Latin music blares out on the pavement. Almost

everyone in uptown neighbourhoods is Dominican or Puerto Rican. But this is little different

to the way the Lower East Side was once all Jewish and Yiddish speaking. Or the way

Little Italy was once Italian.

Critics would argue though that the current influx of Spanish-speakers is different. Some

think it is too large; others say that because, unlike past immigrations from Asia and

Europe, their homelands are not across an ocean, Hispanic linguistic and cultural ties will

remain strong. They say the numbers speak for themselves. Out of a population of about

290 million overall, around 37 million are Hispanics. In 2003 they overtook black people

as America's largest ethnic minority. By 2050, it is estimated that they will make up one

quarter of the US population. Instead of being changed by America, the argument goes,

the Hispanic migration will change America itself.

I don't think so. It seems to me America has been here before. Each immigrant wave -

whether Irish, Italian, Jewish or Chinese - has faced poverty and prejudice, clung to old

ways and then shed them in a generation or two to embrace American ideals, culture and

the English language. The Hispanic migration seems likely to do the same, just on a larger scale.

It is strange though that the fiercest critics of the migration - those who panic most about

a supposed loss of identity - often paint themselves in the most patriotic terms. Yet for patriots,

they don't seem to have much confidence in their own country's ability to influence those

who travel to its shores. I like to think my great-great-grandfather would have shaken his

head in dismay at them. Except, of course, that he would not have understood a word they

were saying.

Nice article, but I think the author missed what could be a vital point, based around this statement: "Yet for patriots, they don't seem to have much confidence in their own country's ability to influence those

who travel to its shores. "

There may be a reason for a lack of confidence. Suddenly, Spanish seems to have become an unnofficial second language of the US. None of those other immigrant waves succeeded in that. You don't see signs in English/Swedish appearing all over the country. It's only been in the last 15-20 years that such dual-language signing has become almost a necessity.

It's highly common to see dual-language signs appearing with greater frequency all over the country.

Everything is slowly becoming "For English, press 1. Para espanol, dos." 10 years ago, how often did you have to select the official language of this country from a menu before you could get to the next menu?

It's not about being required to press another button on the phone...it's that this is creating a language barrier in the country. The US does not have two official languages. There is one official language.

While the country was still growing in the 1800s, the majority of people in the western half were immigrants and there were communities with a non-English language being spoken. But they were not as extensive as the pandering to spanish-only speaking has become. The pervasiveness of the language is becoming something that "patriots" will not be able to "influence" away, primarily because of other US and foreign businesses accomodating the use of the language on such a grand scale.

[slim 1,525]

ATTENTION EVERYONE:

We're still PAYING lazy Americans to live in free homes, eat free food, and go to college.

Why are we even talking about illegal immigrants who are trying to better themselves? Are you really so scared they're going to take your job? If so.... go back to school yourself! America is a place where the better qualified person gets the job. Or, the place where the person who is willing to do the job for less money GETS THE JOB. That's called capitalism. If you're not into working harder for less money.... go get one of those free houses.

[slim 1,525]

The Guardian had an interesting article about this:

The Hispanic panic

Nearly every city in America has its distinct Hispanic neighbourhoods. In New York if you

travel to uptown Manhattan, you notice the shop signs and adverts are entirely in Spanish.

Spanish is the language of the street and Latin music blares out on the pavement. Almost

everyone in uptown neighbourhoods is Dominican or Puerto Rican. But this is little different

to the way the Lower East Side was once all Jewish and Yiddish speaking. Or the way

Little Italy was once Italian.

Critics would argue though that the current influx of Spanish-speakers is different. Some

think it is too large; others say that because, unlike past immigrations from Asia and

Europe, their homelands are not across an ocean, Hispanic linguistic and cultural ties will

remain strong. They say the numbers speak for themselves. Out of a population of about

290 million overall, around 37 million are Hispanics. In 2003 they overtook black people

as America's largest ethnic minority. By 2050, it is estimated that they will make up one

quarter of the US population. Instead of being changed by America, the argument goes,

the Hispanic migration will change America itself.

I don't think so. It seems to me America has been here before. Each immigrant wave -

whether Irish, Italian, Jewish or Chinese - has faced poverty and prejudice, clung to old

ways and then shed them in a generation or two to embrace American ideals, culture and

the English language. The Hispanic migration seems likely to do the same, just on a larger scale.

It is strange though that the fiercest critics of the migration - those who panic most about

a supposed loss of identity - often paint themselves in the most patriotic terms. Yet for patriots,

they don't seem to have much confidence in their own country's ability to influence those

who travel to its shores. I like to think my great-great-grandfather would have shaken his

head in dismay at them. Except, of course, that he would not have understood a word they

were saying.

Nice article, but I think the author missed what could be a vital point, based around this statement: "Yet for patriots, they don't seem to have much confidence in their own country's ability to influence those

who travel to its shores. "

There may be a reason for a lack of confidence. Suddenly, Spanish seems to have become an unnofficial second language of the US. None of those other immigrant waves succeeded in that. You don't see signs in English/Swedish appearing all over the country. It's only been in the last 15-20 years that such dual-language signing has become almost a necessity.

It's highly common to see dual-language signs appearing with greater frequency all over the country.

Everything is slowly becoming "For English, press 1. Para espanol, dos." 10 years ago, how often did you have to select the official language of this country from a menu before you could get to the next menu?

It's not about being required to press another button on the phone...it's that this is creating a language barrier in the country. The US does not have two official languages. There is one official language.

While the country was still growing in the 1800s, the majority of people in the western half were immigrants and there were communities with a non-English language being spoken. But they were not as extensive as the pandering to spanish-only speaking has become. The pervasiveness of the language is becoming something that "patriots" will not be able to "influence" away, primarily because of other US and foreign businesses accomodating the use of the language on such a grand scale.

The U.S. does not have an official language.

See the First Amendment, USC., if you have any more questions.

[Boiler 45,516]

Must be bad news if you are Hispanic.

And speak Portuguese.

No press 3.

The article misses a major point even though it mentions it, all the previous waves have been relatively small, there is no need for many Spanish speakers to bother learning English, anywhere in the US.

My Grandmother could not speak English until she went to school, at School she was only permitted to speak English, very different.

[mawilson 2,133]

There may be a reason for a lack of confidence. Suddenly, Spanish seems to have become an unnofficial second language of the US. None of those other immigrant waves succeeded in that. You don't see signs in English/Swedish appearing all over the country. It's only been in the last 15-20 years that such dual-language signing has become almost a necessity.

But I think the author's point was that there *were* signs in Swedish and other languages around

the country at some point; yet, they eventually disappeared as new generations of immigrants had

no use for them anymore.

[slim 1,525]

Spanish signs are not going to disappear. They're going to multiply.

Just as Spanish-speaking people are. (And at a faster rate than "native" Americans.) By 2038 there will be more native Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. than native English-speaking people.

So, if you don't speak Spanish.... LEARN! Or, start reproducing at a faster rate!

[JohnK 0]

Why are we even talking about illegal immigrants who are trying to better themselves?

Well duh, because they are ILLEGAL !!! Nobody here as far as I've seen is against LEGAL immigration. So if they want so badly to get here to better their lives they can damn well wait in line behind the PEOPLE WHO ARE OBEYING THE LAWS AND DOING SO LEGALLY.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

what???????????

dont ask... just pass the bong. apparently its good chit

Great minds think alike . . .