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+--- Thread: Michelle Bachmann/Illegal Aliens (/showthread.php?tid=3129)
RE: Michelle Bachmann/Illegal Aliens - Donb123 - 01-09-2012 11:46 PM
(01-09-2012 11:32 PM)Ricardo Wrote: And by the way, I'm serious when I mention the percentage of church-going illegal aliens. Especially the Pentecostal Churches have done a great job of preaching the Gospel under really hard conditions, being threatened by abusive employers for spending 10 minutes of people's lunch breaks preaching to them. I would estimate a solid 10%, possibly 15% of the Hispanic illegal alien community is either Pentecostal or Adventists.
Last year, here in Maine we had the case of Selvin Arevalo, a teenager who was caught when he was involved in a minor traffic accident. Leader of his church youth group, member of the Praise Team, all around nice guy. (I know him personally.) It is a travesty to keep him jailed for months while his case goes through the legal motions. (He is finally out on bail, after almost six months in jail.) http://www.weareamericastories.org/written/selvin-arevalo/
I have a friend whose Anglican church in Ohio does quite a bit of work with African immigrants- helps them find work, ESL, stuff like that. It's a great humanitarian and evangelistic opportunity.
RE: Michelle Bachmann/Illegal Aliens - Ricardo - 01-10-2012 07:58 PM
From the Ask a Mexican column.
http://www2.sacurrent.com/columns/story.asp?id=71869
Why don’t Mexicans have enough gratitude for America to learn to speak English? Are they too stupid? Too lazy? What — they can’t learn two or three words a day? Is this asking too much?
— Took Four Years of Spanish in High School
Dear Gabacho: The United States government shares your concerns, Took Four Years. Its Dillingham Commission released a 42-volume study on the waves of immigrants that concluded, “The new immigration as a class is far less intelligent than the old … Generally speaking they are actuated in coming by different ideals, for the old immigration came to be a part of the country, while the new, in a large measure, comes with the intention of profiting, in a pecuniary way, by the superior advantages of the new world and then returning to the old country.” The Dillingham report went on to fault the new immigrants for their lack of assimilation and English skills, constantly contrasting them with earlier generations of immigrants, and urged clampdowns on immigration. Sound familiar? That’s because the Dillingham report appeared in 1911, and the unassimilable masses at the time were eastern and northern Europeans. The Dillingham Commission proves that the time-honored conservative anecdote that earlier generations of immigrants walked off the boats, chopped down their multisyllabic surnames, and learned English immediately is bull-pinche-shit. American racism is a carousel — and here we are again.
Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net, be his fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or ask him a video question at youtube.com/askamexicano!
RE: Michelle Bachmann/Illegal Aliens - Donb123 - 01-10-2012 08:09 PM
I don't really know what that had to do with anything but I saw a special on the local public television station about the very large local Greek immigrant restaurant business. It was noted that the ones who were busy learning English worked out front taking orders and everyone else cooked and cleaned.
Having grown up with my family frequenting one of these Greek greasy spoons we were big finds of their fried trout and homemade tartar sauce. One day I was over in the next town and eating at a Greek restaurant and commenting on the excellent tartar sauce and where I used to eat it as a child. The cashier took me to the kitchen to meet her father who used to make it where we ate when I was little. He was happy for the accolades and it was kind of a cool moment. All these years later and he still didn't seem to speak any English. Presumably he hung out just with Greeks and didn't care to.
I'm sure Mexican immigrants can live here forever and never learn English just like the Greek dude in my story. They won't be able to get around as well and things will be more difficult for them but it's their own prerogative.
On a side note, my father in law loves to carp about recordings being in English and Spanish these times. I tell him to quit bitching cause he doesn't live in England.