http://www.napavalleyregister.com/artic ... 380888.txt

What one U.S. native wants from immigrants
By KEVIN EGGERS
Sunday, April 9, 2006 1:14 AM PDT
I was born and raised in the United States of America. My family never had much money, but as a boy with three brothers and a sister, I never really knew. I figured everyone ate Grape Nuts Flakes for breakfast and fish sticks for dinner. Both of my parents worked hard to make ends meet. I grew up learning the good work habits of my parents.

When I started to take courses at the junior college, I was told that I could receive government aid. My great-grandparents came from Spain, which made me Hispanic, which gave the right to receive government aid. At the time, I had a part time job to supplement my schooling and I was still living at home. Why would I take any kind of money because of where my grandparents came from? What does that have to do with anything? All people of this country originated from somewhere else. As far as I was concerned, I was a full-blooded United States citizen. I thought that the government should only be giving money to those people that really needed it. From that day forward, I told myself I would never put myself in a position where I needed any form of government aid and be a liability to this country. I respect anyone that gives more to this country than they take.

Every individual is profiled when they walk down a street. Color of skin, color of hair, height, are you thin, are you fat -- you get the point. I happen to be a fair-skinned individual that is short, bald and needs to wear glasses. I have had to prove myself in every job I have ever taken. I actually think that it has made me a stronger person.

Yes, if you are Latino, you are profiled like everyone else is. Latinos do have a different colored skin. Latinos do tend to be shorter. Latinos, like everyone else, have to prove themselves. Citizens in this country know that the Latinos are hard workers. Work habits are only part of what makes you an accepted citizen in this country.



What the citizens of the United States want to see is a commitment to this country. When an immigrant is becoming a citizen of this country, they are required to take an oath of allegiance to this country. Part of the oath is to support and obey all laws of this country. They are also required to learn the English language. The immigration process can take a few years, because we want people here that want to contribute and integrate into this country. We want people that respect our laws, our history, our customs and the English language. We want people here that are asking "What can I do for this country?" not "What can this country do for me?"

What I see, as a citizen of this country, is that many Latinos want to live by their own set of laws, customs and language. They want to be different. They don't want to integrate into this nation, but rather use our nation's benefits to raise their children and teach their children the Mexican customs and language, while ignoring ours.

I ask this question of all illegal immigrants. If you were given the chance to stay in this country, would you participate in our patriotic holidays? Would you fly the United States flag? Would you teach your children to respect the laws of the United States? Would you teach your children why we have the freedoms that we have? Would you teach your children English as a first language? The United States is like a large puzzle with every culture contributing their piece, and no piece is more important than another. What commitments are you willing to make to become a piece of the puzzle?

I want to know that anyone living in the United States is going to love and support it as much as I do.

(Eggers lives in Napa.)