Originally Posted by jorgelito

I live in LA. It is completely different from the East coast. Besides, the so-called "Hispanic" demographic is a disparate group. The Ecuadorians hate the Peruvians, and the Guatemalans refuse to work with the Hondurans, the Bolivians and Columbians don't get along, none of "them" will hire black people, and the Cubans and Puerto Ricans are always at each other's throats here. Even within the Mexicans, they are not uinified. I live in an Oaxacan neighborhood and they are pretty territorial. I found it interesting when my Mexican friends say how much they hated the Oaxacans for refusing to speak Spanish and assimilate into Mexican culture. I was shocked and speechless.

In any case, the Minutemen et al are NOT racist nor xenophobic. They are not anti-immigrant, they are anti-illegal immigrant. BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG difference. People all too often clud the issues and can't or won't make the distinction.

There can't be any racism simply because Latino's are not a race. If you can show me how Ricky Martin and Sammy Sosa (both Latinos) are the same race then I will eat my hat.

The Minutemen (God bless them) are also posted on our borders with Canada so let's not cloud the issues and try to create racism where none exists. The only thing shameful is the fact that they are doing the job our own government refuses to do and they are not even getting paid to do so. They would ratehr shake down my grandma at the airport than protect our nation's porous' borders. When my international friends ask how they can get a visa or emigrate to the US, I tell them, don't bother. Just go to Mexico and cross over from there.



They are not trying to "keep Mexicans in Mexico" they are trying to uphold the laws of our country. Again, no one is anti-immigrant, they are anti-illegal immigrant and the flagrant flouting of the laws of this country.

I would also like to point out that the so-called Hispanic population in Cali overwhelmingly voted against driver's licenses for illegals. The Latino-American demographic is also against unlawful entry and illegal immigration. ILLEGAL, NOT, LEGAL.



Of course they have a choice. They can legally immigrate. We all did. Again, no one is against anyone legally immigrating here. In fact, I welcome them with all due enthusiasm. Immigrants made our country great. What I cannot abide is the unlawful, illegal immigration.



Actually they get more INS attention but less media attention. That is the other problem with this framework is that typically the crowd screaming "you racists" are too narrowminded and only see this as a "Hispanic' issue.

Again, no one is anti-Hispanic nor is anyone racist (mostly due to the fact that Hispanics ARE NOT A RACE). What people are against is illegla immigration, NOT legal immigration. How would that make us racist or xenophobic?

I think part of the problem is that roachboy, Mixedmedia et al (besides insulting us) fail to understand our point and quickly reduce our viewpoint to a one-dimensional "they are hate filled raciast vitriolic fascist etc etc blah blah" instead of the basic argument and premise that we have laid out and keep laying out which is the issue of legality. That's it. Plain and simple.



Um, yes it does. It adds more cost to an already strained system as well as impeding the development of the students they are supposed to help. I am grateful I wasn't given a bilingual education, that I wasn't lazy and worked hard in school. Again, what is so hard or wrong or bad about learning English? I would think it would be beneficial to the student yes?



Archetype, I appreciate your humanity but I feel you are making en error in arguing for a moral angle. Obviously all these people are coming here for a better life. But your story is just an attempt to play on emotions and only serves to cloud the issue. I'm sorry that guy died in Iraq but what does this have to do with this thread? If I don't support the war in Iraq then why would I be grateful to Guttierez? He didn't die for us? Please, not in our name. Does this make me xenophobic, racist now? Does this mean all the people against the war are also anti immigrant xenophobic racist because they don't support the war?

Why do you keep saying us? Who are you identifying with? Do you mean you as an American or something else?

You say "get rid of this division of me and them" yet you choose to create a division by using "us" when you say "your view of us" then go back to saying "our country". What do you mean by us? Us Mexicans? Us illegals? Us Americans?