PixieSprite, that's interesting. I always assumed that the words and meaning were about the same!

This is a midterm election year. The "illegal immigrant problem" surfaced in 2006 just like the same sex marriage issue surfaced in 2004. My favourite rendition of the National Anthem? Jimi Hendrix of course.

(Steps onto his sopbox to offer his rebuttal...)
 

Mr. Booger, you are right. My grandparents, ENGLISH illiterate, emigrated to this country at the turn of the century....LEGALLY I MIGHT ADD. They waited their turn. And when they got here, they learned English. When they became US citizens, they made the pledge in English. It was an important part of their journey to become Americans.

I would respectfully suggest that you get off your high liberal horse and accept that people who are born here have a native tongue...English. Those who emigrate here must learn it. It is not for America to bow to those not willing to learn.

On this one, George W. Bush is 100% correct.

(steps down now)

I was wondering when someone was gonna start flingin' the L-word into the discussion...nothing raises the level of discourse like name-calling...

It's usually about page 3, maybe 4.

Gentlefolk,

I’d like to see the barriers to immigration lowered, but the requirement for naturalization include an 8th Grade English requirement. I read somewhere that that is the grade level to which the broadsheets write, so it seems to be a reasonable base line.

I guess one issue, real or imagined, is national security. Until someone is an American citizen, I can see that there could be questions raised about allegiances. OK. But assuming that that hurdle can be overcome, what really is the big deal about immigration? Too many applicants? Too many of the wrong type? Seriously, what’s the big deal about this person or that person working in the U.S.?

jseal

As i see it, most have no issue with immigrants...what seems to be the issue is the way they come into the country (any country that is)

Illegal is just that....Illegal

It's amazing that all the discourse these days surrounds the subject of immigrants and they always seem to leave out the word illegal when referring to their status.

As for the national anthem, the tune is an old pub song from England but the words are American written in English. Do we try and translate other country's anthem's because we can't speak their language or to suit our needs?

I don't see many illegal aliens (yea, they used to be called that at one time) trying to sneak into Mexico to make a living...or trying to sneak into Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan to make a living.

If you can't speak the language then how the hell do you expect to fill out a tax form? Oh sorry - how narrow minded of me to think you actually pay taxes!

bare4you if you'll note from Liliths post here the IRS put out taxe froms in almost all languages. As far as the illegal paying taxes as siad earleir in this thread most of the illegal Mexicans in this country have fourged papers. When they get a job it's just like you and me the money is taken from ther check but due to the fact they don't want to draw attention to themselves the don't file their taxes so the goverment ends up keeping it all. AS for the others with out papers they most likely are getting paid under the table in cash. I find it funny that some find it easy to blame them for not paying taxes when the people who hire them no one says a word about and they are realy the ones getting away not payingf because they don't pay all the other taxes that have to be paid on any empoly. Plus they generaly are paying less then the minimum wage. If you truely want to stop the illegals form coming into this country. They should make penalties for these people more harsh. If they was no one willing to take the chance to hire them they wouldn't come here.

I dont mind Booger....if you want em you can have em....less Australia will see then :)

Booger,

Who benefits from the harsher penalties you propose? Who benefits from the jobs that would not be created or filled? Who benefits from the remittances that would not be sent home to their families? Who benefits from the lower tax revenues?

This would be good for whom? What are the benefits your proposals bring to all concerned?

As an alternative to MORE laws to conserve what we have, how about adopting a more liberal approach, FEWER laws?

Why do we need new laws when there are already laws on the books stating that hiring illegal aliens is illegal? Can't we just enforce the existing statutes?

Personally, I think the time it takes to become a citizen is way too long. I'm not saying it should be handed out at the submittal of an application, but I've known people that've finally been granted citizenship after ten years of trying! And the process isn't cheap either, believe me. Bottom line is, going about it the right way goes a little farther beyond "weeding out the people that don't really want it". We can land remote control go-carts on Mars...why can't we figure out a way to make this issue work?

And that whole "wall between Texas and Mexico" idea? If they kick the illegals out...who will build the wall? Why don't they have the illegals build the wall, and then when they're done...say "Wow, this side looks great! What's the other side look like?" and when they go around to see.......lock the gate! :D

The more I think about this (how can you not with all the press it's getting these days) I have to agree there is a problem in 3 areas:

The employers who are breaking the law
The people who enter the country illegally
There needs to be a stronger presence at the border - The Minute Men have the right idea for me

I have no problem with people coming to the States legally. Most of our ancestors were legal immigrants at one time or another. I have a major problem though with those that are here illegally and now are demanding that we forget how they got here.

Has anyone else noticed that more and more products in the stores have bilingual labels/packaging?

Is this Spanish and English?

Chinese! .....And I hope they don't finish that wall before WE can get in.








ROFL :D