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insightnews.com
COMMENTARY
Monday, 26 December 2011 14:59
WASHINGTON D.C. - The son of immigrants, Rob Sobhani, Ph. D., was raised with a deep love of America and an appreciation of its legacy of open doors. Today Dr. Sobhani fears the fallout from an immigration policy that is completely out of control. Unmanaged immigration , legal and illegal, are having a disastrous effect on state and local economies, jeopardizing jobs for low-income citizens, creating a rapid population increase that puts pressure on our shaky infrastructure and overburdened environment and worst of all… are fracturing our national identity and spirit. What is needed, he argues, is a new immigration consensus—one that would respect the tradition of American opportunity and diversity without crippling our nation. He explores this in his new book Press 2 for English: Fix Immigration, Save America (Jan. 2012).
Dr. Sobhani makes a convincing case that a failure of national leadership has paralyzed any progress in immigration reform. The economics of managing immigration are clear: if we fix the system, we can create jobs for millions of Americans here and provide hope to millions who want to return to their native lands and help rebuild them.
Yes, English is option 2 in many cases now. And when the illegals are taught some English they are providing it to them as "English as a SECOND language". No wonder they don't believe it's important or worth the effort to learn any English.
I totally agree with all of you. Remember the good ole days when being able t o read and speak basic English was one of the requirements for immigrating to America? How about having a job/sponsor prior to receiving the privilege of immigrating to this country?
With the help of the bleeding heart liberals and corrupt politicians pretty soon our country will be unrecognizable.
Conservative desire for cheap labor isn't helping either. I think this is one issue where unfortunately both parties are cowardly. The Dems play identity politics in hopes of capturing hispanic votes. The Reps look the other way because their big business contributors like workers who are too scared to rally for decent wages and benefits.
The whole thing is ridiculous. The entire world is taking TOEFL yet illegals and their vast number of supporters in the hispanic community feel no need to even make a pretense at learning the language of the country they want to join.
I swear a big chunk of the frustration with illegals might be mitigated if Latino nations made English fluency mandatory in their communities. The Koreans have. In much of South Korea you really can't get a halfway decent job unless you can pass TOEFL and demonstrate English proficiency. Instead we get a community of people who willfully violate our laws and make not even the slightest linguistic effort to assimilate into our community. Worse, they make all sorts of demands that we cater to them in their native language.
It's a pity. I happen to think Spanish is a lovely language. I've studied French, Hebrew, Italian, German and Spanish. Of all those languages, Spanish was probably the prettiest and the easiest. But I will not speak it to someone who is obviously here illegally and does not speak English. Anyone who can't be bothered to obey this country's immigration laws and refuses to make an effort to learn this country's language is someone I want to avoid.
Conservative desire for cheap labor isn't helping either. I think this is one issue where unfortunately both parties are cowardly. The Dems play identity politics in hopes of capturing hispanic votes. The Reps look the other way because their big business contributors like workers who are too scared to rally for decent wages and benefits.
Agreed. The majority of members of both parties have their hands in corporate America's pockets.
Quote:
The whole thing is ridiculous. The entire world is taking TOEFL yet illegals and their vast number of supporters in the hispanic community feel no need to even make a pretense at learning the language of the country they want to join.
While I detest the arrogance, sense of entitlement and the refusal of many that comprise the hispanic popululation to learn English, I honestly feel that the lions' share of the blame goes on the corporate masters. After all they are the ones that shrewdly and methodically instituted the option of pressing 2 for English. In anticipation of the signing of the NAU treaty, they needed to make their future workforce comfortable.
Quote:
It's a pity. I happen to think Spanish is a lovely language. I've studied French, Hebrew, Italian, German and Spanish. Of all those languages, Spanish was probably the prettiest and the easiest. But I will not speak it to someone who is obviously here illegally and does not speak English. Anyone who can't be bothered to obey this country's immigration laws and refuses to make an effort to learn this country's language is someone I want to avoid.
I too used to think it was a lovely language until the press 2 for English mess was crammed down our throats. Now I hate the sound of spanish and automatically suspect that the person speaking it is an illegal alien.
Yes, English is option 2 in many cases now. And when the illegals are taught some English they are providing it to them as "English as a SECOND language". No wonder they don't believe it's important or worth the effort to learn any English.
You are so so correct. I get sick and tired of the customer service in another language.
I have been known on more then one occasion, to tell the person i cannot understand them. Give me someone english now, a supervisor, because i know everyone has one or i refuse to talk.
They give me the round about that there is no supervisor there, and i tell them, i will continue calling for help until i get someone who speaks english, and i am not very polite at this time.
It works for me everytime, i do get someone who speaks more then better english. But should i have to ***** in order to get someone who speaks english. I don't tihink so.
I am tired of other languages overshadowing the language of this Country, which should be english.
You are so so correct. I get sick and tired of the customer service in another language.
I have been known on more then one occasion, to tell the person i cannot understand them. Give me someone english now, a supervisor, because i know everyone has one or i refuse to talk.
They give me the round about that there is no supervisor there, and i tell them, i will continue calling for help until i get someone who speaks english, and i am not very polite at this time.
It works for me evertime, i do get someone who speaks more then better english. But should i have to ***** in order to get someone who speaks english. I don't tihink so.
I am tired of other languages overshadowing the language of this Country, which should be english.
Fortunately, I live in one of the few remaining states whose governor does not tolerate the hiring of illegal aliens.
Not only that but far too many Hispanic-Americans refuse to use English as their primary language also. I have witnessed countless times where they will only speak English if they have to. Sorry, but that is a non-assimilation factor to me and one of the reasons we have this option to press 1 or 2 for Spanish nowadays.
You know what, there is no excuse in the world for this. I know hispanics who have lived in this Country for over 20 years, and do not speak english. Maybe the husband or the wife does, but not the two. This is just being lazy.
For gosh sakes i was raised in an Italian household, english always first itialian second. Wish i learned it though when i was young.
I have taught myself ITALIAN from online, so anyone can do this. And iam getting pretty good. Italian was spoke in the home, but if people did not understand italian, it was not spoken because you see, my ancestors talught themselves english first thing when coming to this Country, and were so very proud to be Americans.
If i moved to another Country, dang straight i am going to learn the language.
Facile da fare,ma molte persone pigri! imparare l'inglese!
Eighty percent of ALL illegals are hispanics. Are we not allowed to point that out without being accused of bigotry? Many hispanic leaders, including one of my senators, lobby for the right of illegals based on shared ethicity rather than what is good for the American people. Again, Olecapt, are we not allowed to point that out? And since we're on the subject do you believe that illegals should learn English? I, too, occasionally encounter hispanics who are not tourists and yet feel no need to learn more than just a little bit of English if that. That kind of belligerent in your face contempt doesn't exactly help their already deeply unjustifiable cause.
What I have said in the past is that yes, the reason we have to press a certain number for Spanish on our phones or that there are so many ads in Spanish and documents printed in Spanish is directly due to the number of illegal alien Spanish speakers in our country. However, even though most Hispanic-Americans know how to speak and can read it they prefer Spanish and businesses cater to them also in Spanish. I refuse to reply anymore to the person you are addressing so I am clearing this up here.
Eighty percent of ALL illegals are hispanics. Are we not allowed to point that out without being accused of bigotry? Many hispanic leaders, including one of my senators, lobby for the right of illegals based on shared ethicity rather than what is good for the American people. Again, Olecapt, are we not allowed to point that out? And since we're on the subject do you believe that illegals should learn English? I, too, occasionally encounter hispanics who are not tourists and yet feel no need to learn more than just a little bit of English if that. That kind of belligerent in your face contempt doesn't exactly help their already deeply unjustifiable cause.
I was told by an illegal himself, yeah i know, that they play dumb illegals. Some do know how to speak english, but a lot i understand do not, they speak spanish.
He told me it is more beneficial to them to stick to the spanish, then english, if this makes sense.
Agreed. The majority of members of both parties have their hands in corporate America's pockets.
While I detest the arrogance, sense of entitlement and the refusal of many that comprise the hispanic popululation to learn English, I honestly feel that the lions' share of the blame goes on the corporate masters. After all they are the ones that shrewdly and methodically instituted the option of pressing 2 for English. In anticipation of the signing of the NAU treaty, they needed to make their future workforce comfortable.
I too used to think it was a lovely language until the press 2 for English mess was crammed down our throats. Now I hate the sound of spanish and automatically suspect that the person speaking it is an illegal alien.
Yes, it isn't only rich Republicans that hire illegal aliens contrary to the pro-illegal propaganda. I can think of two rich Democrats at the very least who have been suspected of hiring aliens to work in their grape vineyards and that is Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Finestein. I am sure there are many more.
As for your last comment I never assume when someone is speaking Spanish that they are illegal because I know how adamant even many Hispanic-Americans are about speaking Spanish rather than English even though they know how to. I don't care what language someone chooses to speak at home but I do think it rude to not speak English in public if one knows how to.
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