The Immigration Problem

It is impossible to have a rational discussion about anything when you are arguing with someone who has their facts all wrong. One perfect example of this is immigration. I have heard or seen written four talking points in this argument which are so far off the mark that they need a fact check. The four are as follows:

Premise 1. The new immigrants, or at least the Hispanic immigrants, don’t learn the language like the prior immigrants did.

My family immigrated from Italy in the 1920’s so I know a little about this subject. It is true that many of the new immigrants do not learn the language today, but to suggest that the groups before them did is disingenuous. My parents did learn English but believe me they were not the norm. My father thought he was a little more sophisticated than the Italians that came in the early 1900's so he moved into an “American” neighborhood where he and my mother were forced to learn English and take the abuse that ensued because they spoke it badly. Most Italians moved into Italian neighborhoods where they felt comfortable and could get by very well speaking their native tongue. My oldest brother entered school at five years old not knowing any English. Many, if not most of my relatives, spent 30 to 50 years here learning little or no English. Most were forced, by circumstances, to become citizens before the Second World War. They became citizens without learning English.

Ditto for the early Polish immigrants.

Go to any Chinatown today and tell me that the immigrants there speak English.

German immigrants? Go to Lancaster County today and see how many people still speak a form of German (Pennsylvania Dutch).

Irish Immigrants? Don’t they speak English in Ireland?

Russians? The Russians and Eastern Europeans that fled Communism and are still coming over are recipients of a sophisticated education system where they learned multiple languages, therefore learning English was somewhat easier for them.

ALL, including Hispanics, who were born here or came here early in life speak English. The major difference today is that there is bilingual education (much maligned) that is afforded all the newer immigrants. Because of this they are given the ability to move ahead in school while they are learning English. My brother and others like him spent years in a class not knowing what the teachers were talking about in subjects such as math and science, certainly putting him and the others in a hole that they had to dig their way out of. Many never did. Wouldn’t it have been better if they were bilingual?

Also, I have had the privilege to live for extended periods of time in Brazil and Austria among Americans expatriates, much better educated than recent immigrants in America, who never learned the language of the respective countries. Many lived there for multiple years and, just as in America, their children learned the languages. It is extremely difficult to learn a new language as an adult. Just ask anyone who has lived abroad.

Premise 2. New immigrants, especially Hispanics, bring crime!!!

Of course this is true, but to those that argue that previous immigrants didn’t, I have two words for them, “La Mafia”. Ever hear of the Italian Mafia, the Chinese Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Irish Mafia? Most immigrants then and now are not criminals. There are always a small percentage within every group that are. Many natural born Americans are criminal.

Premise 3. Millions of Hispanics enter the country illegally.

This is also true, but to think that the Italians, Polish, Irish and other Eastern Europeans did not, is a pipe dream. I suggest that those that can see Arthur Millers, “A View From the Bridge”. This is a story about two Italian “submarines”, as they were called, coming into the country in the hull of a ship. If these previous immigrants came from a country that had a contiguous border with the Untied States, how many more would have flooded the country illegally? It is much easier to cross a two foot border than to cross an ocean of three thousand miles in the hull of a ship.

Premise 4. I am tired of pressing one to speak English.

Why? Is it difficult to press one? And, business people are not stupid. They know there are millions of prospective customers that speak Spanish, for example, and they want their business. I don’t blame them. Government also knows that they need to communicate with non English speakers to have them understand what it is that they want. Imagine the IRS, for example, that has someone who needs information about their taxes (Yes, most Spanish speakers pay taxes). Believe me, I have lived in countries that only use one language. It makes it more difficult if not impossible to get what you need.

So, let’s have a discussion about illegal immigration, but let’s make sure we have our facts straight. To do otherwise and use talking points will never get the problem solved. It would be a physical and logistical nightmare to deport the 11 or so millions back to where they came from. Do you think they would just go easily without a fight? If you want to see criminally, try it. Many of the illegals here today live in families that have legals living in them. Yeah, I can just see them allowing their mothers, fathers and in some cases children to be shipped out. Get real!!!