Los Angeles and the illegal immigration problem (Thousand Oaks, Nice: house, rent)

[UB50]

gringo,

My father, who is German, plays Mexican music really loud. He likes it because "it's happy music" and he is hard of hearing. I think it would drive others on this board crazy and they probably would think he was illegal too.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by newportbeachsmostwanted

I got grilled by all of them.

I think El Pollo Loco only offers grilled. Too bad they don't have broasted.

[gringo istmeño]

I`m only defending legal immigrants, or, the Latino population as a whole, who are subjected to unfair criticism, accusations and stereotyping. Fastfilm, I believe every personal history story described on these posts, by you and whoever else. What I don`t believe is that the guilty culprits of these acts are proven illegal immigrants. I`m ashamed to say that I have also run stop signs in California; I`m not a great driver, and have even caused an accident or two. One was in Redondo Beach! Not one person has ever accused me of being an illegal immigrant- why is that?

I`ve mentioned before- I too have been spit at, a long time ago in Eureka. I`m pretty sure those guys in the back of that truck were just being mean white guys. If they had been Mexican looking- would it have been justifiable to assume they were illegal immigrants? No ma`am, that would be an unfair stereotype. I have no idea what their citizenship status was, so it just wouldn`t be right to accuse them of being illegal immigrants. All I know is that they were jerks, and jerks come from every corner of the world, and so do nice people, so let`s stop all the fingerpointing, accusations and generalizations, shall we?

[snb3]

Originally Posted by gringo istmeño

I`m only defending legal immigrants, or, the Latino population as a whole, who are subjected to unfair criticism, accusations and stereotyping. Fastfilm, I believe every personal history story described on these posts, by you and whoever else. What I don`t believe is that the guilty culprits of these acts are proven illegal immigrants. I`m ashamed to say that I have also run stop signs in California; I`m not a great driver, and have even caused an accident or two. One was in Redondo Beach! Not one person has ever accused me of being an illegal immigrant- why is that?

I`ve mentioned before- I too have been spit at, a long time ago in Eureka. I`m pretty sure those guys in the back of that truck were just being mean white guys. If they had been Mexican looking- would it have been justifiable to assume they were illegal immigrants? No ma`am, that would be an unfair stereotype. I have no idea what their citizenship status was, so it just wouldn`t be right to accuse them of being illegal immigrants. All I know is that they were jerks, and jerks come from every corner of the world, and so do nice people, so let`s stop all the fingerpointing, accusations and generalizations, shall we?

Gringo,
you're more than welcome to visit me in the Mid-Wilshire district to:
help me repaint my wall about every 2 wks that competing gangs of an unknown ethnic group are always tagging.
help me navigate thru the HomeDepot parking lot w/o being rush by a certain group of people looking for work.
follow me in my car and catch the people ( again, all of a certain ethnic group I will not name) who hit my car and drive away (happened to me or my family 6 times in the last 5 yrs).
can help me clean dog dropping off my lot from owners who curb their dogs and don't pick up.
can help me pick up trash (incl car parts discarded from repairing on the street) that they leave behind. Hint: those wrappers are not in english.
Try to convince a neighbor to only rent their rooms (and a trailer in back) to non-trouble makers.
I can go on and on. What I describe above are all what I deal with every day. I'm sure all are not illegals but a large majority is and how do I know if they are? I simply ask or hear them speak as they do not know our family is fluent in spanish.

Being of Asian descent, our family came here legally and waited to do so. Growing up, I've experienced discrimination so I see both sides. Trust me, these are not your father's immigrants.
Don't get me started about healthcare either. Thats for another post.

I bougth my home thinking living in the mutli-cultural area like Mid-Wilshire would be great since everything is close by. Living and working in this area is very different. Right or not, living here is making me less tolerant and I can't stand it. But they never disprove their stereotype.

Gringo,
you've discredited FF's stats as mere personal experiences. If anything, your posts, in effect, to ignore the obvious shows even you a realize issues exist but fail to acknowledge it.

[gringo istmeño]

Actually, I was only trying to separate the stats from her personal experiences because, well, they have nothing to do with each other. They didn`t support not even one of her personal experiences. Now, if you hear someone say they are illegal immigrants- then you can trust they probably are- it came from their own mouth. Isn`t that different than looking at someone and determining that they are illegal or not? You said yourself: "I`m not sure all are not illegals"- That is the ONLY point I`m addressing in my posts. I don`t need to mention all of the obvious problems and stats that go along with illegal immigration- it`s been said 500 times here- I just sometimes have to wonder and worry about who is taking the brunt of all this rancor. Tell me, why don`t you want to mention this ethnic group? We all know who you are referring to, so why not just say it? "But THEY never disprove their stereotype"- Who is "they": illegal immigrants or the Latino ethnic group?
Sounds to me like that mid-Wilshire place is having very negative effects on you. I can understand- way too many negative experiences, and now you seem to not like latinos in general. It is frustrating, and I don`t blame you, but it is sad all across the board.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by gringo istmeño

What we don`t know is how one citizen can determine who is and who isn`t illegal. If you apply "statistical probability" to someone who doesn`t speak English, and you determine that this person must be an illegal immigrant. Is that really fair? Is it accurate?

Is it fair for US airport officials to more intensely screen people of middle eastern descent?

You decide.

It is for our country our safety, security, and economic well-being.

[fish2026]

Hmm why arent you guys complaining about all the crimes white americans commit? Most murders in the US are done by WHITEs not illegals- in fact violent crime rate among immigrants is rather low.

Those two guys who blew up the federal bldg in Oklahoma - would you like to blame that on illegals?

Most studies including those by Cato and other think tanks argue about the pros and cons of these immigrants and it comes out pretty even. The latest study however does show that the current generation of illegals cost the US $220,000,000 a year. Wow thats almost as much as we spend in Iraq in ONE WEEK. Maybe if we hadnt of started a war with the wrong country we could have used that money in Cal and Texas.

As far as Cal freeways go- they were congested way out of reality before immigrants filled them.

[snb3]

Originally Posted by fish2026

Hmm why arent you guys complaining about all the crimes white americans commit? Most murders in the US are done by WHITEs not illegals- in fact violent crime rate among immigrants is rather low.

Those two guys who blew up the federal bldg in Oklahoma - would you like to blame that on illegals?

Most studies including those by Cato and other think tanks argue about the pros and cons of these immigrants and it comes out pretty even. The latest study however does show that the current generation of illegals cost the US $220,000,000 a year. Wow thats almost as much as we spend in Iraq in ONE WEEK. Maybe if we hadnt of started a war with the wrong country we could have used that money in Cal and Texas.

As far as Cal freeways go- they were congested way out of reality before immigrants filled them.

Hint: Los Angeles Forum

[UB50]

You know, as bad as it is to be a victim of a hit and run, that doesn't prove someone is illegal. If anything, they could be totally legal with insurance but they don't want their insurance to go up so they leave. (I sure as heck would. I wouldn't stick around unless I was stuck where I hit you. Everyone else does it. Why shouldn't I?) I even look Latino too. If I yell "So sorry Amigo" out the window, would you think I was illegal?

I've had two accidents in 20+ years. I had one in ADRAY's parking lot (that's for Fastfilm who lives near me) and I was responsible. The damage was minor (under $500). They raised my insurance for 3 years which taught me never to report small accidents. The other was out in Chatsworth and I was hit by a blue-eyed blond with an American name who lived in Thousand Oaks. She was only 16 and her mom tried to weasel out of it. We shared the same insurance company so they didn't care.

Anyway, I'm sorry everyone has such bad experiences with "illegals" but I have to think, if all the illegals were sent home, you'd still have bad experiences. Most of the illegals I've known have tried to fly under the radar which means they try to blend in with US citizens more than others do. Legals US citizens have no reason to try and blend in because they are "legally" here!!

I had a good friend who, as it turned out, was illegal. She spoke good English. She could never become a US citizen because they had picked her up as a Coyote. I never asked about that incident, but that was the reason she would never be here legally. The rest of her family was here in the US legally. If they made 500 Mexicans stand up against a wall and told you to pick out the 490 who were illegal, you would never pick her as an illegal. She's so totally cool and a great gal on top of all that. She's just a really neat person. I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like her. She not only speaks good English, she can go out there and diagnose any problem you are having with your car and change your catalitic convertor to boot! She's a master at auto repair.

Maybe she is doing auto repair in front of snb3's house? Oh -- except she can read English and wouldn't bother trying to get Spanish instructions....

[fastfilm]

The heart of your post about illegals spells out the mindset of the problem: "everyone else does it. Why shouldn't I?"

Now apply that to every law here, big or small.