Thread: Illiterate immigrants

Illiterate immigrants
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Learning English especially hard for immigrants who can’t read or write in their own language

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Before Bob Jansen can teach English to the adult immigrants in his lowest-level class, he has to show about a quarter of them how to hold a pencil.

Adult education teachers like Jansen are finding themselves starting from scratch as uneducated immigrants and refugees from conflict regions of Africa and rural areas of Mexico and Central America flock to the United States.

An estimated 400,000 legal and 350,000 illegal immigrants are unable to read or write even in their native language, according to a July 2007 report from the Migration Policy Institute, an independent Washington think tank.

“It takes a lot of patience to teach this class,â€

And this is good for the U.S. because???

This is no surprise. We have to remember there is a middle class in Mexico (not large) who have been able to sustain themselves quite well in their home country.

The illegal immigrant we see in this country is usually the poorest, the most uneducated, the most illiterate, most likely to have a criminal record so on and so forth. Essentially, we are getting the bottom of the barrel from a third world country. So it's no wonder these people cannot read and write, in Spanish or any other language.

So please remind me once again how 30 million of these people are going to benefit our country? Oh, and I do not care if I have to pay $3 bucks for a head of lettuce. That $1 dollar head of lettuce is already costing about $10 when you factor in the drain on our social system as a result of these illegal invaders sucking off the system.

Yes, by and large, we are not getting the cream of the crop here.

But the fact is, we are getting many well educated Mexicans here. I see them quite often. They are working under some NAFTA or HB program. They are highly educated people and have educated spouses and grown children. These people pose a very real threat to the livelihood of Americans, as they are well educated, and bi-lingual.

Is there a reason why these people can't be told to pay for these classes themselves? Or is there a reason why other illegals who can read, write and speak in English don't volunteer to teach others for free? With up to 35 million illegals here, I'm sure some of them can volunteer. How many pro illegal groups also encourage all their followers to hold classes in their homes to teach the illegals what children here learn by the 2nd grade? There is no reason why this should be either state or federally funded.

Sounds good to me, Steph.

But these classes are probably being funded with a fat grant from the federal government and for some reason, people love government grants.

Trixix Writes:

"But the fact is, we are getting many well educated Mexicans here. I see them quite often. They are working under some NAFTA or HB program. They are highly educated people and have educated spouses and grown children. These people pose a very real threat to the livelihood of Americans, as they are well educated, and bi-lingual."

Yes, but those mentioned are not arriving here in large numbers and in violation of US Law.

In addition, those mentioned also have the education and resources to return to their host countries once the work visa has expired. Thus, the HB program and agricultural work visas are a different issue. I will worry about the HB and workers visa issue once we solve the illegal immigration issue.

FYI - The majority of those arrivng here to work under HB visas are not from Mexico. They are from India, China, and employed in the tech industries.

Yes, but those mentioned are not arriving here in large numbers and in violation of US Law.

In addition, those mentioned also have the education and resources to return to their host countries once the work visa has expired. Thus, the HB program and agricultural work visas are a different issue. I will worry about the HB and workers visa issue once we solve the illegal immigration issue.


Certainly not in the numbers of illegals - but they are coming in significant numbers and no they are not in violation of the law - but they are something we need to be aware of and know is happening. I don't know if these people have a 'path to citizenship' or not. I wish I knew more about the program.

The so called agriculture workers I know are not chicken pluckers - they are the highly educated technical workers.

They don't bring the same problems as illegals - but they are a very big threat to middle class, upper middle class Americans in the workplace.

I am not comparing them to illegals - but just don't want everyone to assume that all Mexicans who come here pluck chickens, milk cows, or cut cabbage and are therefore no threat to our jobs.

Depending on the area, but it isn't more Indian, etc. One company brought in a reported 400 families - not workers - but 'families' to an area.
That pretty much means 400 educated workers, taking good paying jobs - and 400 spouses taking good paying jobs - who knows how many grown or almost grown children taking jobs.

It isn't something to brush off as inconsequential.

Yes, we need to fix the illegal situation, but we need to keep our eyes and ears open to be sure they aren't simply replacing one problem with another.

This is mind blowing! They can come here, get a free education to learn what they should have learned in thier own country, AND get work, AND get free medical!?!?
It gets harder and harder to come back here to ALIPAC sometimes. It just seems like it's going to get worse and I get so discouraged. I won't stop reading here because I refuse to stick my head in the sand, but damn its hard some days. Makes me want to cry when I think of my kids futures here....

it's not our government's job to educate people who are here illegally. Period.