Thread: "Immigrants and the best of us" Ruben Navarrette

Ruben's email address is at the end of this opinion piece so that you can respond to him.

RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Immigrants and the best of us

August 27, 2008

Now that the flame has gone out on the Olympics in Beijing, it's worth taking a moment to applaud the U.S. Olympic team. Not only for dominating so many events and winning the most prizes overall – 110 medals, 36 gold – but also for winning the argument back home over the contributions of immigrants and their children.

The immigration debate has digressed from how to keep out the undocumented to how to keep out those who have documents as well. After all, the real concern is the changing culture, and millions of legal immigrants have helped spur some of those changes.

Still, immigrants don't come empty-handed. They bring their hopes for a better future for their children and a work ethic that often puts natives to shame. And they apply these things to a million different pursuits, including Olympic gold.

Thirty-three U.S. Olympic athletes for these Games were immigrants, a number of others were the sons and daughters of immigrants.

Among the immigrants: Sudanese refugee and 1,500-meter runner Lopez Lamong, who served as the flag-bearer for the United States in the Opening Ceremony; beach volleyball player Phil Dalhausser, who was born in Switzerland but now lives in Ventura; and gymnasts Nastia Liukin, whose parents brought her from Russia in 1992 and who now lives in Parker, Texas, and Alexander Artemev, who was born in the Soviet Union and now lives in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Children of immigrants included: gold medal decathlete Bryan Clay of Kaneohe, Hawaii, whose mother immigrated from Japan; gymnast Raj Bhavsar of Houston, whose parents came from India; and Kevin Tan of Fremont, whose parents fled China for Taiwan and then California.

But for my money the best U.S. immigrant story of these games belonged to 21-year-old wrestler Henry Cejudo, all 5-feet-4 and 121 pounds of him. Cejudo, who was a long shot to win any medal in Beijing, won the gold in freestyle after defeating Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga. Cejudo celebrated by breaking into tears and – after family members in the stands tossed him an American flag – wrapping himself in Old Glory and parading around the arena.

The road to that victory lap was long, hard and uncertain. The son of illegal immigrants from Mexico, Cejudo was born in Los Angeles but moved around the American Southwest. Raised by his mother after his parents separated when he was 4, he grew up poor and eventually looked to wrestling to save his life. It did.

So did the United States of America. In his moment of glory, Cejudo didn't forget that. He proclaimed his love for his country and settled the question that pokes at so many immigration restrictionists – that of alleged divided loyalties, the same suspicions that made life difficult for German-Americans and Japanese-Americans in the 20th century.

“I'm proud of my Mexican heritage,â€

An anchor baby wins gold and Navarrette is quick to exploit it on behalf of every anchor baby across this country! Funny how Navarrette did not discuss the thousands of anchors who drop out of school, join gangs, commit crimes, become a burden/threat to society, etc.

I would gladly sacrifice a thousand gold medals if it meant saving this country from the ravaging and systematic abuse of our 14th amendment by way of those who have entered this country in violation of federal immigration law!

We all knew ths was going to happen sooner or later. We also know that the majortiy of illegals children are just as meesed up as their parents!

Personally I think the illegal kid that won the gold medal should not be allowed to keep the medal. He is not an American.

I am a mother of two and see my country being stolen right from beneath me.I called my neighborhood school to see about enrolling my son in a Pre-K program but GUESS WHAT RUBEN!!
My son is NOT LIMITED ENGLISH-SPEAKING
My son is NOT from a low-socio-economic condition

He is the product of WASPS who work hard, pay taxes,stay in school and value personal responsibility over LEARNED HELPLESSNESS.
So therefore,he cannot attend this program.
Can you explain this,Ruben?

Can you explain to me why the Salvation Army got their butts sued for requiring English of their employees, thereby discriminating on the basis of national origin???

We are not buying your immigration cheerleading stories anymore!

E. Theiss

Regarding dropping out.In Houston,I.S.D. this school year the District Attorney's Office had to issue a notice about truency in the usual bundle of papers parents must sign at the opening of the year.They have a "Stay in School" Program that excessive absentees will be given for ONE-TIME only after they have met at the school.Can you believe this crap! and I cannot utilize the tax-paid school system yet for pre-K because the reconsquistas have flooded our classrooms. I read in the neighborhood weekly free paper that the local Justice of the Peace has over 300 truency cases in his court per hour!!!

Oh, here we go...Navarette working his "look how wonderful all immigrants are (especially the illegal ones)" into the Olympics, no less! And, of course, ya just gotta know he's gonna roll out the anchor baby wrestler. Give it a rest, Ruben. YOU SUCK!