Why don't people who are anti immigration realize that there ancestors were immigrants?

Question

I agree that there needs to be immigration reform. There are many reasons,.
However, I've heard a lot of disgust from different people (mostly caucasian people) about immigrants. I've even seen a person goes on a rant because "this is America" when a spanish annoucment came on in a store.
OKay, unless a person is a full blooded America Indian - that person has ancestors that came from other countries. In fact, our country was established by immigrants from England in the first place...
Please give me some feedback on this. Flaming or mean spirited answers are not needed. What i do need is people to tell me why they believe this way or that and also anyone's thoughts about my question that would help me understand. Thank you.

Answer 1

there are 2 categories of people who are against immigration:
1)those who are against illegal immigration and for legal immigration. they just want some reform so as to decrease illegals or make them become legal.most people are in that category.
2)those who are 100% against any kind of immigration.they are just racists.they are nuts.they don't want to accept the fact that their ancestors were also immigrants.they have developed some kind of feeling of superiority in their heads towards other people who are not locals.better avoid them.thanks God they are less.don't pay attention to them.live your life.
you should be grateful that in usa there are laws protecting minorities and immigrants.
i'm living in russia,and i'm a student,legally married to a russian citizen.for me it's common thing to hear racist remarks on the streets,in metro,bus,etc.and here not just remarks!you can get beaten easily or even get killed.why?just because we have not the desirable skin colour,and even though we are 100% legal and educated.so relax my dear friend,your country is far better from the east countries.immigration is a huger problem here

Answer 2

My ANCESTORS were immigrants. Not me. We were born here and have legal rights of being here. As Americans we believe everyone has HUMAN rights. Not the same thing as legal rights. "everyone is an immigrant" is a tired lie. We're all filled up and having problems of our own. There are real problems with some immigrants that need to be addressed, regardless of who they are and where everyone came from. Take the emotion out and the facts remain the same. Answer me this...in the following story, was the person who posted the sign predjudiced against bikini wearers?




There used to be a bridge with alot of calm clear water underneath. In the olden days, before cars, etc. the people of that small town would dress in their swim trunks and jump off the bridge and swim. Now, the bridge is heavily trafficked by motor vehicles and there's a no swimming sign posted. Someone shows up in a bikini and decides to jump off any way because they heard people used to do that back in the day and it was fun. Of course, this distracts the people driving and nearly causes an accident. When the would be swimmer gets up on the side of the bridge to jump, they find there's no longer any water. Just a bunch of people (like them) who had jumped off the bridge and were stuck in the mud.

Answer 3

I don't think the problem most people have is with immigration as a whole. It's the "illegal" part that galls most of us. Also why should they make announcements or any other concessions for Mexican people? This is America. If you went to Mexico do you think you would be catered to the same way? They need to speak our language if they are going to stay here---just like our ancestors did. There are getting to be more and more incidences of Americans being fired from their jobs because they don't speak Mexican. The kids should not be able to go to public school until they can speak and understand English. Why should American students time be wasted in the classrooms while the teachers are teaching English to a select few to the detriment of the rest? Your right. We are a nation of immigrants but they were immigrants who didn't expect America to change to suit them.

Answer 4

Yeah my ancestors came here on a boat and not on the back of a carrot truck from TJ, but that was at least 4 to 5 generations ago.There is even some Indian in my background too, but that was when this country was new and growing.

I do agree that our ancestors were the real savages with how we treated the Indians and Africans. Also if I had a way back machine I would try to make a difference but I don't.

What it is that we English speaking individuals don't like and complain about is that the new wave of immigrants that are coming over do not want to assimilate into an American way of living.

Why do I or my friends and family have to learn a 2nd language(Spanish) to do my job here in the USA. Jobs like Police, Fire, EMS.....sales. They can learn English free at adult night school, but I've got to PAY to learn their language.

I also pay for their Medical. At one time, I was making 7.10/hr @ 20 hrs a week at Best Buy. I had no medical at that time. I went to the County clinic to see a Dr. for back pain and I got turned down for help because I MADE to much $$. While there are illegals sitting in that waiting room getting help from my tax dollar.

Lets talk about neighborhoods and shopping centers that are in decline. There children in our schools that don't speak English so now teachers have to teach class in 2 languages. Yes they deserve an education but at what cost to your childs class time?

Mexico wants us to just open our doors and take care of their people. They say that our immagration rules are unjust and unfair when they have some of the most radical immigration rules. Read for yourselfs from the link below.

Sorry about the rant but there is no short answer. I say close/protect all our borders now and legalize whats left.... fishing out the criminals of course.

I'm going back to the Jeep forum......its to hot over here;)

Answer 5

They will point out that their parents were *legal* immigrants, which may be a moot point depending on when they arrived... if they showed up on their own before their state had immigration laws, does that count as legal, or just lucky?

Prior to 1890, individual states--not the Federal Gov't--monitored immigration. So many territories--Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii--were pretty much open. People from those states, before 1890, therefore got a "free ride" of the type they wouldn't consider nowadays.

Even going with the fact that illegal immigration is a crime and needs reform, though, you're right that the reaction of many Americans is way out of proportion. They act as though these people are deliberately setting out to destroy our country, when that's the furthest from the truth. They want to LIVE here because they recognize what a great country we have. They don't want to ruin that. As for the "speaking another language" (usually Spanish, b/c the "illegal immigration" laws are usually aimed at them), it does take a long time to learn a new language. Most immigrants from other countries, even in the olden days, didn't speak fluent English in the first generation. It was the children who would translate America's language into Gaelic, or Hebrew, or Russian, or German for their parents. In the hill country of Texas, school was taught in German until WW1 made the Germans enemies, and my Dad has told me plenty of stories of his childhood in the 1930s, when his friend "Swede" Davis acted as go-between for his folks. Give people time.

Finally, it's a financial crime, not a violent crime, so why is a stiff fine and/or community service not considered a stiff enough penalty? When people talk about *shooting* illegals, it chills my blood.

Anyway, that's my take.

Answer 6

Of course my family were immigrants. I have not one drop of American blood within me. On my grandmother's side, they entered this country after the Civil War - my great grandmother being a 'bond servant' (another word for slave) who had my great grandfather buy her and marry her (so much for the thought that slavery ended with the Civil War). But that doesn't make those that break the laws and enter into this country illegally right in doing so.

It has nothing to do with nationality. It has to do with people knowingly and willingly breaking the law to suit their own will vs. obeying the laws of the country that they enter illegally.

The immigration laws have requirements that have it set so that those that enter into this country are physically fit with no disease, enough money so that they will not have to get on public assistance and if they don't have that, someone has to sign papers saying that they will sponsor them and be responsible for them (and can actually be made to pay back all monies that they get from any public assistance).

What we have with all the illegal entry within the United States is far from the 'best' of whatever country that they are coming from. We have a mass influx of criminals/gangs that we get to hear about on the evening news. We have shootings within our towns because of the gang warfare that is being carried from their own countries. We have a mass influx of drugs that is known to be coming in from over the border.

Add to the above the burdens placed upon the school systems, hospital districts, police departments, public assistance, identity theft and the nightmare that many have because of stolen Social Security numbers - we have a problem within this country that needs to be addressed.

Ignoring it will not make it go away. If that were true - it would have already gone away because the governments head in the sand approach that has been taken has proven that.

Till we have enforcement of the laws already on the books, no one can honestly say that the immigration system doesn't work - because so many are bypassing the system in favor of breaking the law. The time to start that is enforcement was years ago - but even starting today would be better than doing as has been done so far - nothing at all.

Answer 7

Over the years immigrants have always been treated badly. Look back at how the Irish where treated when they came over. One of the problems I see now is that people coming to America now do not want to be American they just want to make money and send it home. they do not speak English and since so many public people have to deal with them they have had to learn Spanish. Why? If you can come here and get a job you should have ot learn to speak English. I think that is just one of the problems. Also people tend to look for some reason they are not doing better in life and blame others.
I live in So Cal and we spend about $800 million in illegal immigrant health care yearly. Every day there is a news story about how this hospital is closing and it cant pay its bills because no one communing has money tha have to offer service but never get payed because many of these people are not legal so who pays? We all do. The Federal Goverment seems to think that Mexico is is part of the US and says all kinds of things at election time but does nothing about it. Why? Because politicians need money to run for office. Who has money for them big business. Who hires this cheap labor? The same big business.

Answer 8

Well go back to when my Grandpa was born and show me the ads that were one the radio, clearly before TV, that were in Italian since his parents were from Italy. Also why can't people like you accept that WE AREN'T AGAINST IMMIGRANTS, WE ARE AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. My Grandpa's parents came here LEGALLY. On my Mom's side we have family that was here WHEN IT WAS STILL THE 13 COLONIES, so um genius they were here BEFORE it was America. So They also would count as not coming from another country. The Native Americans did cross into this country as well. All HUMANS actually come back from the days of Mesopotamia. Heck one could argue my family on my mother's side WASN'T immigrants at that. They were Quakers. England didn't WANT them. Is that immigrating? They were basically SENT here.

Oh btw there ARE some illegal Immigrants that are still upset the Mexicans lost the war and still think that SW US should still be Mexico. That's not all of them, but it is some. The worst is the truest representation of people. It warns us how bad they can be, after all people are more likely to be bad then good.
When did alcohol become illegal, excluding Prohibition? Last I checked if you are over 21 you can buy and drink as much as you want. The only illegal part is if you drive drunk.

Answer 9

It's not so much a question" Is it okay for immigrants to come into the country?"as it is the effect illegal immigration has on our country. When many jobs/companies are heading south of the border to cut costs, mainly to lower labor expenses, one must analyze it's direct impact it has on the economy and families who are affected by layoffs inorder for the company to hire employees who are willing to work for less than minimum wage. Some may argue that in the long run the prices of certain items may be more affordable but what about the numerous sweatshops that supply your favorite retail establishments with the goods you love but cant afford. Your favorite pair of jeans for instance may cost you 75 dollars in the store for example, but it only cost a dollar to make. The markup is huge, we all should be so rich, but what is happening is companies are doing this to offset its profit losses and increasing its revenue by looking for ways to cut costs and one way to do that is to hire cheaper labor usually immigrants who are willing to do twice the work for half the pay. That's not fair to us for those of us who were born here. I would never argue how unfair it was for the way this country was founded and established, heck I would probably be the first "caucasian" to say we should give this country back to the Indians and the descendants of slaves who helped build this country, however we all know that will never happen, so inorder for us to move forward we must challenge our legislators to fight unfair labor practices such as the "at will employment"law they have here in Texas or all the companies who are turning their labor force over to temps so they wont have to pay benefits. In conclusion, immigration itself is not bad but it does drastically impact us in a negative way when Americans who were born here are losing their jobs, their rights and their benefits to people who are innundating our land at such an exponential rate which just may turn us back into a 3rd world country...I could be wrong ,but lets pray that I am!

Answer 10

No one is anti immigration , most are anti illegal because there is a right way ,and a wrong way to do anything , illegals come here , steal identities such as fake SS#'s , use fake names , drive uninsured cars and run away and disappear when involved in a collision in a car that is unregistered..and I know this from being on the local fire dept. we have had 27 wrecks this year involving illegals driving illegal cars with no insurance , stuff like that affects everyone , call Mexico tell them you are coming , you want to fly American flags , you want American markets, you want English to be spoken everywhere you go .and see how far it gets you..not long ago to come to this country you had to be able to speak English you were taught our culture,language,basic laws ,and so forth .why not now ?? and plus most illegals do not qualify to be legal ...I do not think we should be a safe haven to foreign criminals...I am all for someone coming to this country for a better life , but if you are going to do anything in life do it the legal way , no illegal actions can be justified as right... if so we need to empty the prisons and do away with laws if you allow illegal activity on one thing you have allow it on everything , that way there is equal treatment for all law breakers......