Thread: Hispanics Come in All Colors & Ideologies

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006 ... 006/237452

Letter-writer Ray Guerrero makes an excellent point ["One language, but many differences ," Nov. 14].

I was born and raised in a South American country, came to the U.S. as a legal immigrant, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

I will add to Mr. Guerrero's statement that Hispanics are white, brown, and black. They are conservatives, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, Marxists, Fascists, etc.

Hispanics are not of a monolithic mind, as pro-illegal-immigration advocates and corrupt politicians would like Americans to think.

Like other Americans, except for those who profit from illegal aliens, most American citizens of Hispanic descent are against illegal immigration.

It's time the American public sees that there's no such thing as the "Hispanic vote" and the "Hispanic community."

That's the name corrupt politicians give to the "illegal alien vote" and the "illegal alien communities" to whom they pander.

As an American of Hispanic descent, I deeply resent being lumped with illegal aliens just because I'm Hispanic.


Haydee Pavia
Laguna Woods, Calif.

Date published: 11/22/2006

Gofer, I have a friend who has a similar background and she is also vehemently against illegal immigration and the mindset of the open borders people. While I'm sure that Hispanics are varied in their feelings about illegal immigration & amnesty, I'd like to see some breakdown on the numbers for/against based on country of origin, their legal/illegal status, whether they are first/second/third generation immigrants, and whether they still have close family members in their native country. Has anyone seen such detailed information?

The Pew Hispanic center, www.pewhispanic.org, does scholarly and objective studies of attitudes by different generations of Hispanic Americans. You might also check out www.cis.org, a think tank about immigration that favors workplace enforcement over megabucks border enforcement.

I've also noticed a disturbing backlash towards legal immigrants, which is very un-American and undemocratic. I'm all for rational ways of controlling illegal immigration, but not those that unfairly impact or hurt legal immigrants.

My wife is a recent legal immigrant from a very honorable and distinguished family, NONE of whom have EVER lived illegally to the U.S. We are very resentful of some on these boards who have unfairly lumped her in with illegal immigrants. I won't mention any names; they know who they are.

I don't think that illegal immigration is a race issue, but because so many people come from Mexico, that is what many people associate with. I wish the Latin community would take a stronger stance against illegal immigration, because when it comes down to it, this is a security issue. There is resentment because they continue to have a strong loyalty to their former country (even though they weren't taken care of there), and many don't want to be Americans, they want to be Mexican with American benefits. That cannot work without resentment, because they are using us and have no loyalty.

Some Latino Americans have taken a stance, but you hardly ever hear about them in the liberal media. Check out:
http://dontspeakforme.org/

My wife is not from Mexico; she's from Honduras and she does not approve of illegal immigration either.

I understand upwards of 10% of ALIPAC's members are of Hispanic background, probably comparable with the percentage of Hispanic citizens in the U.S.

Unfortunately all of the fuss made by illegal aliens has hurt legitimate immigrants. This is very sad. I even find myself wondering if someone is here legally everytime I hear a foreign accent. What's more illegal aliens aren't even a good sample of the people of their native countries. The illegal aliens have gone through a filter which holds back the honest legitimate people and lets through those willing to break the law for personal gain. Imagine what an impression you'd get of our own country if you only looked at those people who have no reservations about breaking the law!

Too many "bystanders" are combinding "Legal" immigration with "Illegal" Immigration just to make it sound like we are against both. We have one issue, it`s "ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION", not "LEGAL IMMIGRATION" and not "RACISM" We have all have made this clear on every topic, and so often that it`s like a routine.
BUT! There are "some" legals that jump in the protests and demonstrations with the illegals that are against this country and the citizens of this country. now if those particular legals are willing to committ double jeapardy, that`s up to them.

Two things are hurting legal immigrants. First, there is some backlash stemming from illegal immigration. To our credit most Americans are careful to distinguish between legal immigrants and illegal aliens. I think much of the backlash originates in the "white power" lobby, trying to hijack the anti-illegal movement for their own agenda.

Note that I'm careful to avoid using the term "immigrant" to describe illegal aliens. An "immigrant" is someone who follows our laws when they come here, try to assimilate, and the only flag an immigrant waves in a parade is an American flay. Someone who comes here illegally doesn't deserve to be called an immigrant.

The other problem are some initiatives designed to make life difficult for illegal aliens instead create hassles for legal immigrants through rules and regulations that aren't drafted well, or administered by bureaucrats who aren't trained in immigration law.

Immigants who came with nonimmigrant visas and then applied for status adjustment to permanent resident have encountered long delays, and also have problems with state agencies, especially if visas expire while waiting for adjustment. Having expired documents does not necessarily mean someone is an illegal alien, if they have an application pending.

A good example would be fiancé visas, which are for 90 days and can't be extended. As long as the foreign fiancé married as required in 90 days there's no requirement to leave, but then status adjustment takes a lot longer than 90 days, often over a year. Meanwhile, everyone thinks the hapless fiancé/spouse is an illegal alien, because they don't understand the laws and how status adjustment works, or the state laws/regulations didn't consider this scenario when drafted.

Recently naturalization applications have been taking about two years to process, due to the backlog in background checks.

Originally Posted by bquasius

Two things are hurting legal immigrants. First, there is some backlash stemming from illegal immigration. To our credit most Americans are careful to distinguish between legal immigrants and illegal aliens. I think much of the backlash originates in the "white power" lobby, trying to hijack the anti-illegal movement for their own agenda.

Note that I'm careful to avoid using the term "immigrant" to describe illegal aliens. An "immigrant" is someone who follows our laws when they come here, try to assimilate, and the only flag an immigrant waves in a parade is an American flay. Someone who comes here illegally doesn't deserve to be called an immigrant.

The other problem are some initiatives designed to make life difficult for illegal aliens instead create hassles for legal immigrants through rules and regulations that aren't drafted well, or administered by bureaucrats who aren't trained in immigration law.

Immigants who came with nonimmigrant visas and then applied for status adjustment to permanent resident have encountered long delays, and also have problems with state agencies, especially if visas expire while waiting for adjustment. Having expired documents does not necessarily mean someone is an illegal alien, if they have an application pending.

A good example would be fiancé visas, which are for 90 days and can't be extended. As long as the foreign fiancé married as required in 90 days there's no requirement to leave, but then status adjustment takes a lot longer than 90 days, often over a year. Meanwhile, everyone thinks the hapless fiancé/spouse is an illegal alien, because they don't understand the laws and how status adjustment works, or the state laws/regulations didn't consider this scenario when drafted.

Recently naturalization applications have been taking about two years to process, due to the backlog in background checks.

Stop your whining, bquasius. Legal immigration has always been a pain, and it's not just for Hispanics. My bother-in-law is British, and I could tell you all sorts of stories about the hoops he has had to jump through. I was also friends with a group of Iranian supporters of the Shah who sought refuge here after the Ayatollah's revolution. Gaining full citizenship status here took them years, and several of them at one time or another faced deportation back to Iran where they would have been killed, and so had to go to extreme lengths to get INS to allow them to remain in country pending completion of the immigration process.

Personally, I like the idea that it's hard as hell to become an American. I would actually like to see a total freeze on immigration for a few years until we can have a healthy debate as to what a sensible immigration policy for this country should look like. This is no longer a wide open and unconquered wilderness with room for virtually unlimited expansion. We are a nation within finite borders and with finite resources, and we need to start protecting the long-term interests of our own people.

I'm also getting tired of hearing about your wife. I'm happy that you found a suitable spouse and all, but you made the decision to marry a foreign national, and you should have had an understanding of what that entailed. My sister knew exactly what they were in for when she married a British national, and while they occasionally grouse about this or that bit of red tape they have had to deal with, they accept that this is all part of the process required to keep this country secure and to keep it from being flooded into poverty by the unskilled masses who want to come here.

This is a good thread. Lots of good thoughts. However, a couple of
personal things have happened to me over the last month which
have made me think about the real problems we face in this
country. It hasn't changed my belief that our main priority right now
should be to secure our borders & get control over who is in this
country legally, but it has made me wonder if the main problem we
face is what does it really mean to be an American.

The two things that happened:

First, a good friend, who is a green card holder, told me another
friend of mine 'adopted' a 20-something guy who'd went AWOL
on his visa. They got the kid a lawyer & now he is here legally.
Up to this time, I'd view this community of immigrants as nothing
other than models for aspiring immigrants. I told my good friend
I think someone should have reported the kid to ICE because
he's ruining a good thing for everyone. This strained our relationship
quite a bit & after some heated exchanges, I really wonder now if
this group sees the problem more as a human rights issue. Before
I would say they are with-the-program true blue Americans. Now
I wonder if they see the US as little more than a platinum life time
pass to a club.

The second thing: I found out another naturalized citizen friend
brought a relative here to have her baby. Apparently, things are
going south in the mother country & they want the kid to have an
out, if not politically, at least economically. When I expressed some
surprise, he told me they were paying everything out-of-pocket & another
friend is doing the same thing! I told him I wanted to see the 14th
Amendment challenged in court. Well, now that has strained another
cross-cultural relationship. What I really wonder is how these kids will
see the US if they come back one day. Will they see it just a meal ticket?
If they are asked to fight for this country & serve in the military, will
they give up their Sam's Club membership for Costco? It's really
depressing.

So if we get the border issue fixed & the 14th Amendment interpreted
as it should be, we're going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting to teach
some basic civics to these people. Otherwise, they're just going to create
the same mess they have back in the old hood. This lack of understanding
of basic civics among our citizens is why we're in this mess to start with.

Someone in 1963 said 'Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was
"civis Romanus sum."' What is the proudest boast today?