Thread: What in the Heck is Going On!

I live in South Florida. I have neighbors that are from Italy, Romania, Ireland, Canada, Jamaica, Haiti, Chile, Columbia, and Bolivia. Everyone is different and none really try to assimilate or fit in. I would say that the Europeans and Hatians are more resistant to assimilating than the Hispanics.

South Florida, not just Miami, is a lost cause. In fact much of the state is a lost cause except the panhandle area. I was born and raised here and, while there have always been Hispanics, by and large they assimilated except for in Miami.

I have been noticing alot of people from India as of eight months ago. I don't know what is going on. We are getting it from everywhere now!!

Originally Posted by roundabout

AmericanMe, what taste better, the tacos or the curry? Democrat or Republican?

Funny thing is...I love 'em both...only in moderation.

Originally Posted by alexcastro

I have been noticing alot of people from India as of eight months ago. I don't know what is going on. We are getting it from everywhere now!!

Could be H2B visas. The company that I work for gave incentive packages for a bunch of IT people to leave. One day we had a big meeting and when the IT Dept walked in I thought that the entire country of India had emigrated here. We replaced all of those Americans that we "retired" with people from India.

For every example of scary, non assimilating foreigners given here, I would venture that a counter example can be found of a law abiding, polite, "assimiliated" immigrant.

If they're here legally, whats the problem?

and I suggest basing immigration quota decisions on statistics and not anectodal observations of the number of "foreigners".

I live in the Florida Panhandle,...we still have southern accents up here and I don't mean havana...although we DO have HA=-vana near me...full of antique stores..

I'm going to tell you...there are a LOT of hispanic people I really like. I was in the Army ..with many from puerto rico..all kinds of people..and it isn't the PEOPLE! It's the fact that illegal immigration is killing our system...taxes , loss of jobs, identity...all sorts of things..I am FOR LEGAL immigration and those who want to come here and embrace the USA..in an orderly manner of course.

In response to the question of why our government is fostering so much mass immigration; Have businesses convinced them that they will pull more operations out of the US if they can not have lower-cost labor allowed into the US? I know the "flight of capital" is one of the burning, major issues of our time. We seem to be intent on seeing the stock market always moving upwards---and to do that corporations need to make profits. And could even be legally held to account by shareholders if they don't.

Of course, outrageous CEO salaries and bonuses make the whole equation more complicated. I don't know what you could do to stop that. But if the CEO's keep buying foreign products and moving abroad--as opposed to investing in American enterprises--their huge compensation won't benefit the American economy much.

I'm a nurse in a large hospital on the east coast. What i see is many asians coming for the same reason as the hispanics -- to drop an anchor and get the benefits. Many are NOT the high tech gurus that you think they are ..they are uneducated and unemployed lower classed individuals just needing the same break from their miserable countries and here for the handout. Many also needing translation services right and left, so I see no difference betwen them and the mexicans.

I also see bunches of indians. I had the opportunity to spend time with a co-worker who is indian and wasn't feeling too good by the end of the day. She was young, bright, spoke great English, which were plusses, but she deeply identified as an "indian" and not an American. I asked her if she was planning to stay here and she said, "absolutely, I love this country ... it's so friendly here, etc, etc." But hardly a word about assimilating into the culture -- it was all about her Indian culture and all the "brown" people she lives with out in the west section of town.

I think many of them are just coming for the "better life" thing, and that's about it. A life of shopping, owning, getting their education here, working, and earning a living, but nothing else outside of that. No intention of assimilating into "our" culture -- just remaining with their own, their own people, etc.

I mean, it's nice and they're good people -- but it takes more than that to be an American. They are here reaping all the benefits, but do they pay taxes, do they volunteer here, do they serve THIS country in any way, other than to take the jobs here?

Sounds pretty self serving to me. I sat there trying to explain to her about my husband serving in Iraq, and she just gave me a lot of very blank and quizzical looks. She couldn't believe he had to serve an entire YEAR away from his family, as if there was just absolutely no reason for it to be that way.

It was a tough day for me.

Originally Posted by jjmm

I'm a nurse in a large hospital on the east coast. What i see is many asians coming for the same reason as the hispanics -- to drop an anchor and get the benefits. Many are NOT the high tech gurus that you think they are ..they are uneducated and unemployed lower classed individuals just needing the same break from their miserable countries and here for the handout. Many also needing translation services right and left, so I see no difference betwen them and the mexicans.

I also see bunches of indians. I had the opportunity to spend time with a co-worker who is indian and wasn't feeling too good by the end of the day. She was young, bright, spoke great English, which were plusses, but she deeply identified as an "indian" and not an American. I asked her if she was planning to stay here and she said, "absolutely, I love this country ... it's so friendly here, etc, etc." But hardly a word about assimilating into the culture -- it was all about her Indian culture and all the "brown" people she lives with out in the west section of town.

I think many of them are just coming for the "better life" thing, and that's about it. A life of shopping, owning, getting their education here, working, and earning a living, but nothing else outside of that. No intention of assimilating into "our" culture -- just remaining with their own, their own people, etc.

I mean, it's nice and they're good people -- but it takes more than that to be an American. They are here reaping all the benefits, but do they pay taxes, do they volunteer here, do they serve THIS country in any way, other than to take the jobs here?

Sounds pretty self serving to me. I sat there trying to explain to her about my husband serving in Iraq, and she just gave me a lot of very blank and quizzical looks. She couldn't believe he had to serve an entire YEAR away from his family, as if there was just absolutely no reason for it to be that way.

It was a tough day for me.

how many citizens born here do you know that qualify for your standards of "assimilation"? perhaps those burning the flag in Berkeley? what about all those deadbeats in drug rehab centers around the country? Paris Hilton?

Based on your standards, they must all be deported.

Maybe you should consider living in a foreign country for a year or two to understand what "assimilation" really means. It isn't something that can get switched on overnight.

This lady appears to be everything an outstanding immigrant is supposed to be. yet you have doubts about her spending time with her "Indian" culture and all the "brown" people she spends time with on her "section of the town". And just on another post, I was reading about how another poster left their neighborhood because they were not comfortable - culturally - with all the Indian people living there. Why would you fault her for sticking around people that culturally comfort her then?

"I think many of them are just coming for the "better life" thing, and that's about it. A life of shopping, owning, getting their education here, working, and earning a living, but nothing else outside of that. No intention of assimilating into "our" culture -- just remaining with their own, their own people, etc. "

Please tell me, what is so "unamerican" about the first half of your paragraph? Clarify. And since when has America been a perfectly homogenous society?


"I mean, it's nice and they're good people -- but it takes more than that to be an American. They are here reaping all the benefits, but do they pay taxes, do they volunteer here, do they serve THIS country in any way, other than to take the jobs here? "

All legal workers here are supposed to pay taxes, despite what you might here otherwise. I can reference you to the legal documents if you so require. As for the other points you have made, ask yourself this - how many American citizens - born here - would qualify for this under your statements?

I submit that your requirements for the perfect immigrant are unfairly high.