citizen

Why am I, along with many other Americans, against unbridled, illegal immigration?

To hear the pro-illegal pro-undocumented almost-citizen crowd tell it, I'm against those black brown  people of color who make up the majority of illegals.

Well, that's a flaming lie not quite correct.  I come from a long line of native Americans (by that term, I mean someone whose parents were born here).  But, as I was born in 1951, I knew many recently arrived immigrants.

And those were actual immigrants - people who filled out the paperwork, waited their turn, and, finally, arrived - ready to work.  The overwhelming majority of them became citizens, as soon as they qualified.  Even before that, they started learning the language - it was considered essential to being able to manage in the new country.  Most of them still used the former languages, in their homes.  With me, and others who were not able to speak that language, they switched to English - heavy accents, broken syntax, and all.  They did that, knowing their acceptance was enhanced by adopting the language and culture of their new land.

Their children were, like the rest of my friends, gung-ho (yes, I realize that's a Japanese phrase) Americans.  They seldom spoke the old tongue, except with grandparents.  They resisted dressing in the native costumes of their parents, rolled their eyes when parents started talking about "the old days" (not unlike American kids - we don't "get" that ancient history), and worked hard to fit into the new culture.

Parents were torn - on one hand, they wanted to pass on traditions.  On the other hand, they took pride in how well their children fit into the mainstream.

In general, immigrants brought a little of the Old World, and blended it into the New.  They liked to keep the same religion and foods, but added on new tastes, a little at a time.  By the time the 3rd generation came along, they had become just another American.

Not so today - too many immigrants feel that Americans are the ones who need to make the changes.  They expect that they will be able to keep their language intact, and pass it along, unchanged, to the next generation.  They want to keep ALL their heritage in place - including that part that directly contradicts the laws of America.  Hence, Americans are being called "narrow-minded" for not recognizing multiple marriages.  It must be racism to not celebrate the wonderful, women-friendly practices of polygamy, clitorectomy, and "honor" killings.

Further, immigrants too often feel that all government services should be theirs, by right.  They seem not to understand the concept of rights that are limited to citizens.  Funny, that - in their home countries, if I were the immigrant, I would have NO rights.