dziuniek

You do have a point there. SAy, why would I stop celebrating certain holidays? The ones that aren't in your* American calendar. If you say that, then why are Jewsih people allowed their own holidays?

Haha, the best part of this is, when I was taking the citizneship test, after you pass and all that they ask you something along the lines of : Do you willingly rid yourself of your old citizenship and all? I think that's messed up personally. That's like saying oh yeah I'm not Polish anymore, I'm American.

Dude please...

Isn't US supposed to be a mix?

I see the point of how switching flags would ____ everyone off. Yeah, I can understand that. It would ____ me off too. That's talking about the extreme though. We should all get finger printed when we apply for work problem solved.

07SCIONTC

out of that first paragraph: just an example... If you ever lived in mexico would u live in the middle of mexicans or you would try to be with as many people as you can from your background? would you eat mexican food over McDonalds or Burger King if they had them there I dont think so because i wouldn't... I like mcDs and BK and all the fast food restaurants but i sure as hell rather eat a home cooked meal... I am used to that believe it or not not oto many americans restaurants serve good food... take it for example golden corral- Buffet( the food sucks) you cant ever compare tht with a home cooked meal... but everyone wants to live how they were raised and with their background... when they come here they are forced to speak the English... because there is really not a way to live here if you cant speak the language... but if you look at it well speak 2 languages and maybe 3... well I learned spanish on the side.. so now my first language is Portuguese, 2nd English and 3rd Spanish.... not many americans speak more then just the english.... very rarely you'll find an american that speaks 2 or 3 languages.

seattledave

the problem is most of illegals work for independant construction contractors. They pay an illegal $5 an hour, and the job gets done. They contractor gets a check from whoever they are working for and cash it and on their tax forms they don't even say anyone worked for them. like they did it all themselves.

you can't track that.

ashiva

would you be proud of your country (this goes for anyone and any country of any citizenship) if you learned that its actions were against your morals?

always good to hear from people across the country...i'd be interested in hearing what others have to say, pm me if you want, i'm just curious.

xdorkx, if they're able to maintain their culture while joining the american melting pot, then is it really a melting pot?
what about the time factor? it can take generations for full integration to occur (chinatowns, little italys etc, what about communities that blacks were put into post slavery?)...

anyway, those are all the questions i have for now, post guys! i'll be watching.

and full on topic, i'm not changing my credit card but i will be changing my savings b/c their interest rate is pitiful.

seattledave

Stop there. Sounds like you're giving an excuse to mexicans who come here.
#1 If you or any other american were to go live in some other country with a different language, would you be so arrogant and stupid as to not learn that country's language? of course not.

#2 Would you as a foreigner with say 20 words of the native language under your belt go work speaking to those natives(i.e. customer service)? of course not

#3 Would you as a foreigner stick to the traditions of your own country, fly the flag of your home next to their capital and demand equal rights and special privileges, instead of integrating into that society? of course not

If you did any of that, IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD besides ours, they'd tell tell you to go **** yourself.

xdorkx

I'm not sure how to answer this, why is it not possible to become an american, yet still keep part of your old culture with you? We're not asking anybody to completely forget about where they're from, just if you're going to be here, dont build your own 3rd world countrys WITHIN this one....

xdorkx

Kinda goin off topic here, but hey, its MY topic anyways

We voted in the elections hoping to fix our many problems including ILLEGALS. I'm afraid all we're doing is replacing one robber with another. This ILLEGAL immigration issue must be stopped or the American way of life you know will be gone forever. Let's see..........this is what our government has done:

1. Export middle class manufacturing jobs
2. Import ILLEGALS (poverty, uneducated)
3. Border insecurity
4. Support corporate interest over the welfare of the American

The issue is that, ok, let's say 90% of all US manufacturing jobs get exported to China, India, Pakistan, Korea. That is really bad already. But it doesn't stop there!!

We are importing 60,000 H-1B "temp" workers (who have a Bachelor's or higher from some obscure foreign college) per year and they never leave. They get a Green Card after 4 years or so.

Congressional members who are in the payroll from Microsoft and a few others just tried (and failed) to raise the number to 300,000 per year. This would have been a total disaster for the wages and job market of US workers. The fact is, American wages are being depreciated by these foreign H-1B workers. This failed... but who know if the Democrats in the Senate who get huge contributions from Microsoft, Walmart, Tyson chicken, etc will try this again... or worse, will try to push an amnesty.

Then we "import" MILLIONS of illegal aliens into the US, and we currently have this mess right now... between 20 million and 30 million illegals in the USA right now. US jobs that would go to poorer and middle-class Americans get taken by illegal who work for 1/2 the pay.

These illegals once legalized would bring something like 100 million more people through "family petitions" to the US (this is a farily quick process, where on foremer illegal alien sponsors pretty much their whole family to come to the US legally). Parents of former illegal aliens are automatically brought over once these illegals get their "amnesty path to citizenship". The harm of that? Well, old folks will need state healthcare, social security pensions, and etc. This would be an enormous drain on the US senior citizens, which will ultimately pay the price for America's open borders/amnesty. Mind, these parents of illegal aliens NEVER PAID $1 TOWARDS SOCIAL SECURITY and will collect just like someone who paid all their life!! Can you imagine how much worse things will get for American families, seniors and retireers if this happens?



Furthermore, HOW can we have jobs for an added 100 million people in the next 1- 20 years?? We cannot, I don't care hoiw many new jobs get created every year. The result will be the end of the middle clas, the creation of a permanent poor class of people, followed by a underclass of Spanish-speaking only citizens. The rest and top layer will be the rich corporate owners. Is that what Americans want??

Check NumbersUSA.com (great site, it's where i got that chart/picture from) if you want more details on the population issue. I understand this very well, it is a very serious threat, i have a friend who was a former immigration law official and have learned quite a great deal from him regarding this "issue".

archangel

Not sure if anyone said this but

America did this to itself, through complacency. Its the american way, wait till things get way out of hand and then start to b!tich and talk about it and figure why and how it happened and how to fix, usually when its way to late.
The infrastructure is always set for what is good for now and the next 10 years maybe just long enough for a set of politicians to come in and out of office, leave things for the next generation to deal with.
The wheels should have been set in motion 50 years ago regarding this. But since it was not a hot "issue" then it wasn't delt with.
Any hard stance on the issue now seems hopeless. The Aclu always comes in and screws things up.

seattledave

That's why my batman idea would work against this. just like it would work for crack dealers.

why aren't immigrants that scared to illegally cross?
cuz all we'll do is arrest them for a couple days and send them home.

same reason for crack dealers..why aren't they scared to get caught?
cuz all we'll do is arrest them for a couple days and send them home.

But if you think late at night Batman is gonna come out of the darkness and cripple your ___, you're no way gonna do that.

I do it, but i got a family. and no utility belt, and my xB ain't catching nobody.

archangel

I think we have all pondered that , vigilante justice. and all ....er most come to your same conclusion.

Maicca

This is false. Americans love working, and are currently the hardest-working country in the world. Employers LOVE illegal immigrants, because they don't have to pay normal wages, health care, SS, etc. It becomes a choice: hire an American for $7.00 to pick the fields, or hire two Mexicans for $3.50? Which produces more profit?

This is false, also. The new Bank of America program is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft. Most adults in the U.S. who don't have a Social Security number are undocumented immigrants.

Actually, I do know the situation in other countries. Most other countries in Europe are much harder to immigrate to, and even harder to inhabit illegally. As for trying to find a better way of life, which is easier- to travel thousands of miles away from home and family, risk life and limb to work in a country that speaks another language or stay in your home country, work hard, and affect a change?

This is true. BoA will become known to foreigners without a SS as easy to get a credit card with, their credit card numbers will surge, they will ship their customer service overseas to save costs, then the fraud claims roll in............ we've seen this pattern before. Corporate profiteering at its finest, you mean.

American wages have been stagnant for about 10 years. Costs have risen. Therefore, Americans have gotten cheaper, and demand lower prices. Lower prices mean less profits. In order to keep profits from sliding, manufacturing costs or production costs must be cut. To do that, they hire illegals or hire overseas.

Who's the bad guy, now?

This attitude was prevalent in Germany before the war, too.

Native americans aren't native to the americas. They crossed the artic land bridge from Asia. Fact. America is here because we came, took it, and held it. I can blame people looking for a better life when they come here illegally to do so. We will not be the most powerful nation if we lend a hand to the entire world.

Republicans don't say much against illegals because doing so would A) alienate immigrants and B) alienate their corporate interests.

A mosiac has strict boundries defining each section, much like German walls and Jim Crow laws.

You're confusing race, nationality, and citizenship.

If you know that you're only within a given country temporarily, then knowledge of their language, culture, etc. is optional. However, if you IMMIGRATE and don't learn the language, you're just a fool and an idiot. And yes, when I am in other countries, I AVOID EVERYTHING AMERICAN AT ALL COSTS. Honestly.

end rant.

ashiva

so you're afraid of a little competition, eh? this is the new world! the u.s. can't isolate itself economically or you're asking for a total disaster. are you just upset that you're getting paid less b/c educated immigrants will take less? welcome to the free market! in fact, welcome to the global market.

are you seriously upset that america is recruiting professionals? whose stopping you from being one? you've got your K-12 education paid for and some of the best universities in the world available to you. no money? then get a scholarship! don't you want to have the BEST doctors working at your hositals, the BEST engineers designing the saftey features in your kid's first car etc etc.
or would you be willing to settle for less?
no one is stopping you from being a better professional than the next immigrant who comes in

one of the only real advantages america has left (india has taken IT, china has taken textiles etc) is its ability to collaborate the best minds from all over the world so that progress can be made in science and technology (NIH, NIST, Silicon valley etc) but by tightening the (legal) borders we're going to loose that too.

and xdorkx, i fully agree with you on the way (oh man i really tried to keep my opinions out of this) that mixing occurs-imo it's both mosaic/mixing bowl at least in cosmopolitan areas but I'm curious as to how it is in more rural parts of the country.

the great part about america is that you have the right to do whatever you want within the limits of the law, which is in part directed by the citizens...right now it is not against the law for people to live amongst their own people, it is not against the law for poor people to have children and if you think that "breeding" should be stopped then go ahead and make that law *if you make under 10k it is illegal to have children* and see how the public buys your argument. Or maybe america should just copy China (god forbid!) and implement a One Child Policy to solve your population concerns...

don't like globalization? then remember the fact that you drive a scion, made possible to you by your friendly asians, the japanese.

tell me, are you afraid that whites may become a minority in this country?

HeathenBrewing

To Maicca:



Well written. I can attest to the difficulity in trying to immigrate into Europe, West or East. I have been trying for almost 1 year now and unless I can get a job BEFORE coming to said country or find an employer to pay for my ability to work, it is quite the uphill battle.

Think about it -- it makes a lot of sense. They dont want the situation that is here in America to happen over there, i.e. overburden of the social welfare systems.

While I must say I do NOT like what I have to do in order to become a LEGAL imigrant, I totally understand the position. Mainly because of corporate interests here in the States, our government turns a blind eye to the problems associated with ILLEGAL immigration in order to appease the Companies.

scionguy05

i think its crap that bank of america is doing that, there not even citizens. I m all for immigrants coming over here legaly and doing it the right way. This is a great counrty and im proud people see that and want to come over to america to make there life better, but they have todo it legaly.

Jenna

If they HAD the money to pay for English classes. If they HAD enough money for an education. If they had access to such things, they probably wouldn't be coming here illegally.

You also can't take certain experiences with people who don't know English and apply it to all. For every one you can think of, I'm sure I can find 5 people who have made an effort to learn English, are learning or have already done so.

Learning an entire new language is amazingly difficult. When I encounter someone who can't speak it, I don't go assuming they're reluctant, lazy or arrogant.

Where you do fly your Confederate flag, from a pole on the back of your Scion? What awful generalizations and opinions.

ZTC

i dont really think its that americans cant do anything or because were lazy (here that from other people but anyway) its because they take the jobs and their willing to take them for dirt cheap prices which is about to change w/ minimum wage i know ilegal immigrants are careful with their money but its bull____ to have the government and everyone else to be fighting to get them out and keep them out if they cant get in legally. when now they can get credit cards here? thats so stupid its like awarding and tempting people to run on over here and get a credit card

xdorkx

Actually, whites became a minority in california a few years ago (yes, really, google it)..i'm not scared of that, i could care less what color somebodys skin is. If we had an invasion of britts coming over taking all of our jobs, i'd feel the same...sure, we could converse with them better, and the women have sexy accents, but they'd still be taking our jobs and be here illegally, which is uncalled for. Point being, i could care less about skin color, race or nationality, but i DO care that we're being invaded by millions (21 million est.) of illegal aliens and paying BILLIONS of our tax dollars for their medical care, their schooling, their ss wages, etc etc etc.

And on the note of asians and japanese, my girlfriend is asian, and yes she is very friendly indeed. (Sorry, 6am, no coffee yet)

salteen

I began my job a little over a year ago. Once I started working I wanted to build my credit. I was making near 40k a year and I couldn't get a credit card to save my life. I got married and my wife and I opened new accounts at BOA and they offered us credit cards. Her being a student with no job got approved for a $1000 limit. I applied for a $500 limit and got declined with an alternative offered. I had to pay $99 to BOA as a "refundable collateral" in order to get a $500 credit line. I get the $99 back after a year has passed and I'm not allowed to increase the credit line. But an illeal immigrant can get a credit line no questions asked...WTF is wrong with that picture!?

And what's with this crap about "this is a free country, they have rights too "
You gain the rights when you become a citizen, until then you don't have any American rights.

scandalous

Bottomline is:

- If you would like to immigrate to the US, DO IT LEGALLY! We do have a process of immigration - many other people have used it.

- Learn the national language! [And for reference, the national language is ENGLISH. The Constituation was written in English, our national anthem is written in English, all of our law documents are written in English, etc.]

- Contribute to the economy! Pay your taxes like the rest of us! Get a documented job! Stop mooching off our government.


Myboyfriend has had a business account with BOA for years now and after hearing the news about their new credit card procedures, he promptly went and moved his business elsewhere. It's ridiculous to extend credit to people who are not even living in our country legally. Why give them more of a leg up? Ridiculous.

seattledave

I'm all for making our country more diverse, but for the love of gebus we don't need anymore mexicans. none. that country needs to be cut off.

That's why I'll never go to california to vacation anymore, because now it's just a more expensive mexico.