Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - The future of America (Immigration Article)

hiredgun · 03-19-2004, 08:06 AM

Thought I spent much of my life on the other side of the fence on this issue, and though I am myself the child of Pakistani immigrants (actually, I myself immigrated when I was a few months old) I have come to realize immigration IS, without a doubt, a problem in this country.

Legal immigration is fine. I am not qualified to say whether the rate at which we legally admit foreigners should be changed or not, though I admit that the author of the article in question has a strong opinion on that.

However, illegal immigration and specifically the lack of integration is a huge cultural problem.

I have an Asian friend who, during a debate, once shouted at me in frustration "Asian people destroy everything that's good about America!" This was an obvious overstatement, but what he meant specifically, he explained, was that in his part of California the Asian American community absolutely refuses to integrate, building its own closed community with an entirely Asian culture.

The same is true of *many* (not all) Mexican immigrants. In a poll of Mexican-born immigrants in SoCal in 1992, 0% responded "American" to the question: "How do you identify, that is, what do you call yourself?" In the same poll, of Mexican Americans born in the United States, only 4% responded "American". (This is from Samuel Huntington's article in the latest issue of Foreign Policy. And no, I don't entirely agree with the whole article, but these stats are telling.)

Living in the US as a naturalized citizen has been a privilege that I respect. Part of that privilege has been learning to speak English, after being thrust as a kindergartener into a roomful of kids who didn't speak my language. Yes, it's easier to learn English at that age than as an adult, but it's necessary to speak the language to properly fulfill your civic role (or your role as a legal noncitizen). I don't think everyone should be forced to learn English; that's a choice that has consequences for only the one who makes the decision. However, why is tax money being used to fund multilingual schools, multilingual ballots, and overall multilingual bureaucracy? It's both a waste of national resources and an erosion of national identity. Plenty of immigrants have learned to speak English AND retained their native languages (like myself, and many people I know). It may be difficult, but this country is a society, not a handout line.

03-19-2004, 08:06 AM	#51 (permalink)
hiredgun Addict	Thought I spent much of my life on the other side of the fence on this issue, and though I am myself the child of Pakistani immigrants (actually, I myself immigrated when I was a few months old) I have come to realize immigration IS, without a doubt, a problem in this country. Legal immigration is fine. I am not qualified to say whether the rate at which we legally admit foreigners should be changed or not, though I admit that the author of the article in question has a strong opinion on that. However, illegal immigration and specifically the lack of integration is a huge cultural problem. I have an Asian friend who, during a debate, once shouted at me in frustration "Asian people destroy everything that's good about America!" This was an obvious overstatement, but what he meant specifically, he explained, was that in his part of California the Asian American community absolutely refuses to integrate, building its own closed community with an entirely Asian culture. The same is true of many (not all) Mexican immigrants. In a poll of Mexican-born immigrants in SoCal in 1992, 0% responded "American" to the question: "How do you identify, that is, what do you call yourself?" In the same poll, of Mexican Americans born in the United States, only 4% responded "American". (This is from Samuel Huntington's article in the latest issue of Foreign Policy. And no, I don't entirely agree with the whole article, but these stats are telling.) Living in the US as a naturalized citizen has been a privilege that I respect. Part of that privilege has been learning to speak English, after being thrust as a kindergartener into a roomful of kids who didn't speak my language. Yes, it's easier to learn English at that age than as an adult, but it's necessary to speak the language to properly fulfill your civic role (or your role as a legal noncitizen). I don't think everyone should be forced to learn English; that's a choice that has consequences for only the one who makes the decision. However, why is tax money being used to fund multilingual schools, multilingual ballots, and overall multilingual bureaucracy? It's both a waste of national resources and an erosion of national identity. Plenty of immigrants have learned to speak English AND retained their native languages (like myself, and many people I know). It may be difficult, but this country is a society, not a handout line.