Immigrant rights

[Number Six]

Not to get politically controversial here, but the USA is a nation of immigrants. How do people here feel about how that is managed in the US? My father's father immigrated from England, served in WWI but died soon thereafter. Most immigrants come here with a willingness to be of service to their fellow citizens.

[NYGman]

From my experience (Born in UK, and emigrated to US in 1982) it is a long, drawn out, tedious process, with forms, tests, documents, visits to embassies, background checks, health screenings, among other things, and there is a cost to doing all this, especially if it involves legal advisors, and appeals. I believe those that come here, like myself and family, do so to better their opportunities, and to become an active participant in this countries social and economic freedoms.

Form the outside, America represents the land of opportunity. A place where anyone can come and do and be anything. There are no limits to what you can achieve in this country, regardless of the way you look, or what you believe. We have had a strong legal process that allows people to become a US citizen. As I said before, it is a difficult process, that many are willing to go through for the privilege to live her, and eventually become a citizen. This countries foundations were built by immigrants, it has grown due to Migration. English, Spanish, French, Irish, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, the list goes on. Immigrants from all over make this country what it is, and the current system balances many concerns, makes some compromises, but ultimately allows people to come to the US. For a country founded by Immigrants, that has grown due to immigrants, it is in our interest to allow immigrants.

[Pottapaug1938]

On my father's side, I have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, and then with the Puritans to Boston in 1630 (and that, plus $7, will buy me a glass of beer at the brewery where my son works). The ancestors who gave me my family name came from the Mosel Valley in Germany, just upriver from Koblenz. I also have Huguenot and Swiss ancestry on that side as well. On my mother's side, all four of my great-grandparents were natives of England, and probably of English, Welsh and possibly Irish heritage.

On my father's side, everyone came over early enough so that any "old country" traditions and ways were long since "assimilated out" of them. On my mother's side, everyone followed the practice set forth by my mother's maternal grandmother, who when her middle daughter (my grandmother) asked why their family didn't observe the British holidays as did many of the immigrant English millworker families in Worcester, replied "Dorothy, your father and I didn't come over here to be British".

My "ancestral countries" are mostly curiosities to me; and while I am curious about my ancestors' lives over there and why they came here, I do not make a great fuss over trying to "recapture" a "heritage" which would only be artificial. That being said, I can also respect the feelings of those for whom the ancestral traditions are still an important part of their lives and who wish to maintain them. I know that there are those who wish that this would not happen; but over time they will probably assimilate, to a greater or lesser degree just as past immigrants have done.

I had a friend growing up; and let's imagine that his great-grandfather was named Yitzhak Markovitz, and came over to America, as a young man, speaking Yiddish and never learning English. His son Joseph Markovitz, later Joseph Marks, spoke both languages -- Yiddish at home and English otherwise. Joseph's son Andrew grew up speaking English as his first language, and never learned Yiddish. Andrew's son Paul speaks English, of course; but he has learned Yiddish so that he can read his great-grandfather's old books. And yet, all four were as American as anyone in my own lineage; and like other immigrants from other lands, they have enriched our country in innumerable ways.

[AndyK]

Me: 2nd generation American with Russian and Hungarian roots.

Unfortunately (due to the 3rd Reich) the villages and relatives over there no longer exist.

No, let's look back. The Irish were accepted at a level somewhat lower than dogs during the great potato famine. Once they integrated, they were very happy to look down on the Jews and Chinese who followed them.

Speaks somewhat to the attitudes of all of our good old 'mericans. Anyone coming in is a threat to jobs, housing, and so on. Carry this forward to today with the hispanics and other recent immigrants.

As to immigrant rights: They are iffy and blow with the winds. Immigrants, just like any other visitors to this country, have the same constitutional and legal protections (in theory) that we citizens have. Unfortunately, our citizens and government are very willing to look at any new wave of immigrants as a threat to the status quo and bend rules ad hoc.

[TheNewSaint]

Unfortunately, our citizens and government are very willing to look at any new wave of immigrants as a threat to the status quo and bend rules ad hoc.

And if they're trying to be 100% fair, local laws and court rulings often limit what they can do. For example, Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, were recently called out for being "Sanctuary Cities." Their response was that they are doing everything required by law:

Lancaster County [near Lincoln, Nebraska] is not and never has been a sanctuary county, nor has Lincoln been a sanctuary city. We can’t legally hold people for any reason without a judge telling us to do that. We can notify, we can call, we can talk (to federal officials), but we just can’t hold somebody for weeks on end.

We have almost daily, but certainly weekly, discussions with the immigration office out of Omaha on determining the status of certain individuals in the jail.

We’re cooperating to the best we can, and we should not be even named a sanctuary county.

http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/omah ... faaf1.html

The situation puts localities in a Catch-22.

[The Observer]

The topic is being locked as this is a political topic, regardless of the declaration of the original poster; given the current issues in the news regarding immigration, this is a topic that is very likely to trigger a debate once someone decides to post an opinion on one side or the other. There are plenty of places on the Internet where this issue can be discussed; Quatloos is not the place for such discussions.