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Ok let's clear something up. There is the answer to the obvious question and racism. There is the people that make sensible arguments about finding ways to tax them if they are here or limit them some how and then you have the people that just spew stuff at the mouth. What I am saying is why does every conversation about immigration/illegal immigrants and Hispanics turn into something else.
because it's a touchy subject, I wake up every morning and go to work so I can pay my mortgage and feed my family, uncle sam takes his cut and the state government takes they're cut, If I don't pay them I end up in jail. If I don't have health insurance the Hospital pushes me up against a wall in the hallway for 9 hours till they cant ignore me anymore and then sends a 30,000 dollar bill to my house for 2 days in a hospital bed.
If I try to sneak across the border into Guatemala I would get shot at, arrested and thrown in a 3rd world prison, not given a job, a handshake and a welcome to my country, shall we change all the signs int he neighborhood to English to accommodate you?
want a back rub? here have some food...
Oh my god I think people should come to this country through the proper channels, I must be racist. I think when they come here they should follow our law's, I must be racist, when people come here ILLEGALLY and work OFF THE BOOKS... and I think they should PAY TAXES... I must be racist... only a racist would make a poor Illegal Immigrants pay taxes... they DO pay taxes...they pay sales tax...SO DO I... I pay sales tax, property tax, income tax, luxury of living in this stupid country tax... I give up a quarter of my salary that I work my butt off for without complaining then some ungrateful ingrate from another country comes here and belittles all that we believe in and some people will actually stick up for them.
I don't care if they are Hispanic, Asian, European or whatever.
come here legally and pay taxes or get the hell out!
Is anyone truly that stupid?
seriously!
Well I haven't been around here much, but I think the reason why this subject keeps coming up is because many are seeing the effects of illegal immigration in many towns across the island.
Of course I have no problem with hispanics or any kind of immigrants. What I do have a problem with is illegal immigration.
Most immigrants who come here legally learn english, assimilate, and behave normally.
Sadly many such towns on Long Island have been turned into foreign countries because illegal aliens dont assimilate. Take my town, Westbury. Been here for about 10 years. When I first moved here all the stores on Post Avenue had signs in english. Fast forward 10 years and now at least 60-70% of the stores have signs in spanish. The town has gotten much dirtier, and there's always men sitting around hanging out and getting drunk, especially at night. I no longer feel safe on Post Ave except during the middle of the day when they are all out landscaping.
There are many illegal rooming houses in Westbury, and the village has full knowledge of it but does nothing to shut them down. Mayor Strada, and now Cavallaro pander to the illegals, mainly because they are paid off by the many construction and landscaping businesses that hire them.
It is a real shame what has happened to this town. There used to be a big different between the Village of Westbury and New Cassel when driving down Maple Ave. But now there isn't as much of a difference.
And the funny thing is they built these condos which look half empty. Who'd want to spend a fortune to live here? And walk home from the train at night past groups of guys just hanging around getting drunk?
They come here and behave the same as where they came from and that's the problem. When you come to America it is your obligation to assimilate, but these illegals they just take over. And then they stare at you when you walk down the street like its their town and you dont belong!
Well I haven't been around here much, but I think the reason why this subject keeps coming up is because many are seeing the effects of illegal immigration in many towns across the island.
Of course I have no problem with hispanics or any kind of immigrants. What I do have a problem with is illegal immigration.
Most immigrants who come here legally learn english, assimilate, and behave normally.
Sadly many such towns on Long Island have been turned into foreign countries because illegal aliens dont assimilate. Take my town, Westbury. Been here for about 10 years. When I first moved here all the stores on Post Avenue had signs in english. Fast forward 10 years and now at least 60-70% of the stores have signs in spanish. The town has gotten much dirtier, and there's always men sitting around hanging out and getting drunk, especially at night. I no longer feel safe on Post Ave except during the middle of the day when they are all out landscaping.
There are many illegal rooming houses in Westbury, and the village has full knowledge of it but does nothing to shut them down. Mayor Strada, and now Cavallaro pander to the illegals, mainly because they are paid off by the many construction and landscaping businesses that hire them.
It is a real shame what has happened to this town. There used to be a big different between the Village of Westbury and New Cassel when driving down Maple Ave. But now there isn't as much of a difference.
And the funny thing is they built these condos which look half empty. Who'd want to spend a fortune to live here? And walk home from the train at night past groups of guys just hanging around getting drunk?
They come here and behave the same as where they came from and that's the problem. When you come to America it is your obligation to assimilate, but these illegals they just take over. And then they stare at you when you walk down the street like its their town and you dont belong!
I don't think Westbury's totally shot. The Carle Pl side is still decent. There are definitely A LOT more Hispanics in the area. Especially on kids bikes. I got cutoff by one real bad; he flew threw an intersection where I was accelerating through a green, with not a care in the world and no regard for the crosswalk flashing red. Could have easily ran him over. Saw another one on Old Country rd that was riding on the shoulder and constantly swerving into the right lane over and over again in moderate traffic...It's definitely changed here, mostly Post Ave and East of it.
Well I haven't been around here much, but I think the reason why this subject keeps coming up is because many are seeing the effects of illegal immigration in many towns across the island.
Of course I have no problem with hispanics or any kind of immigrants. What I do have a problem with is illegal immigration.
Most immigrants who come here legally learn english, assimilate, and behave normally.
Sadly many such towns on Long Island have been turned into foreign countries because illegal aliens dont assimilate. Take my town, Westbury. Been here for about 10 years. When I first moved here all the stores on Post Avenue had signs in english. Fast forward 10 years and now at least 60-70% of the stores have signs in spanish. The town has gotten much dirtier, and there's always men sitting around hanging out and getting drunk, especially at night. I no longer feel safe on Post Ave except during the middle of the day when they are all out landscaping.
There are many illegal rooming houses in Westbury, and the village has full knowledge of it but does nothing to shut them down. Mayor Strada, and now Cavallaro pander to the illegals, mainly because they are paid off by the many construction and landscaping businesses that hire them.
It is a real shame what has happened to this town. There used to be a big different between the Village of Westbury and New Cassel when driving down Maple Ave. But now there isn't as much of a difference.
And the funny thing is they built these condos which look half empty. Who'd want to spend a fortune to live here? And walk home from the train at night past groups of guys just hanging around getting drunk?
They come here and behave the same as where they came from and that's the problem. When you come to America it is your obligation to assimilate, but these illegals they just take over. And then they stare at you when you walk down the street like its their town and you dont belong!
Jonny I believe you may be a bit bias by the recent topic you started as quoted below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johninwestbury
C-Town closed last month and now there's a sign it will be a Bravo.
There goes the neighborhood.
Oh and I will be moving by the fall because of a lease issue. The town is done.
I'm tired of feeling like I live in another country.
I guess I'll have to change my screen-name..lol
I hope you find a nice place to land where there are no illegals or anyone that could be mistaken for one. Are you kidding me you don't feel safe in the middle of the day. What are you?
I recently posted asking about the history of Central Americans, El Salvadorians specifically, because I'm curious about the subject. As for your question regarding why there are so many posts talking about Hispanics, you're going to have answer that question too since you're just as guilty as everyone else who brought it up (myself included).
As someone who grew up in a multi-cultural environment, I can tell you that it's pretty moronic to single out certain groups of people in general terms. There are Mexican doctors; there are Mexican criminals. The same applies to all groups.
Judging by some of the racist/xenophobic comments on this site, I think part of the reason why topics regarding Hispanics and/or diversity pop up so often is because there are many open-minded people in disbelief that less than 30 miles outside of the world's capital lies a bunch of close-minded folks.
Seriously... if you're making comments like "get me a peach" or "put up a sniper tower"... I just hope you're joking around.
It's not just the outside landscaping/job type jobs. It's construction, Walmart & fast food. Now I'll admit that I can't be sure if they're illegals, since it's not polite to ask, but Spanish speaking people are all over which makes it difficult for others to find employment. In the past, high school kids had many of these jobs, and now they're having trouble (I know a few personally who can't find pt summer employment).
I think a bigger reason is that, with unemployment still high, people are forced to take jobs that would've normally gone to high school students, just to have some income coming in. I remember applying for a job at McDonald's this spring, and there were a decent number of adults waiting to apply (unfortunately, I didn't get the job)
because it's a touchy subject, I wake up every morning and go to work so I can pay my mortgage and feed my family, uncle sam takes his cut and the state government takes they're cut, If I don't pay them I end up in jail. If I don't have health insurance the Hospital pushes me up against a wall in the hallway for 9 hours till they cant ignore me anymore and then sends a 30,000 dollar bill to my house for 2 days in a hospital bed.
If I try to sneak across the border into Guatemala I would get shot at, arrested and thrown in a 3rd world prison, not given a job, a handshake and a welcome to my country, shall we change all the signs int he neighborhood to English to accommodate you?
want a back rub? here have some food...
Oh my god I think people should come to this country through the proper channels, I must be racist. I think when they come here they should follow our law's, I must be racist, when people come here ILLEGALLY and work OFF THE BOOKS... and I think they should PAY TAXES... I must be racist... only a racist would make a poor Illegal Immigrants pay taxes... they DO pay taxes...they pay sales tax...SO DO I... I pay sales tax, property tax, income tax, luxury of living in this stupid country tax... I give up a quarter of my salary that I work my butt off for without complaining then some ungrateful ingrate from another country comes here and belittles all that we believe in and some people will actually stick up for them.
I don't care if they are Hispanic, Asian, European or whatever.
come here legally and pay taxes or get the hell out!
Is anyone truly that stupid?
seriously!
That doesn't make you racist at all. However, try to empathize. People don't immigrate to cause problems. And I think it's important Americans are careful about who the point the fingers at, because then it becomes somewhat of a race/ethnic war of sorts.
The problem lies in the big picture situation, not with the individuals you see standing on the corner looking for work. We need these people here for the work. The problem is we need them here and there, not overly concentrated in certain areas. When it's the right amount of people on that corner, everyone of them gets picked up, works, and gets paid. No problem. When the number of workers exceeds the jobs, that's when you get into folks getting depressed, drinking, maybe getting into criminal activity, etc. That's when the corner turns ugly, because hundreds of guys are standing out there all day long. It shouldn't be like that.
The problem is we kind of sweep this whole thing under the rug on a national level and we're forced to deal with it in our communities. If any politician had the balls to say, "we need these workers and here's why... and we're going to create a program where we redirect them to where the work is, and we put them on a path towards citizenship, etc," our problems would go away. However, that politician would be committing suicide. It's almost like the war on marijuana. It would be better to legalize it and CONTROL it, than to just turn a blind eye to it. Just putting up a wall or throwing people in jail solves nothing.
The entire process needs to be regulated and people need to be put where there are opportunities. And trust me, unlike poor Americans, these poor immigrants will go live and work anywhere. Imagine if we took half of the illegals in Long Island and put them upstate, in the Great Plains, wherever.
But the notion these folks come here just to screw things up, or to take advantage of our system, etc. is just wrong. These people want the same things in life that we want. And they're willing to work hard for it and to assimilate and do whatever is required. But when they have to live in the shadows, it's pretty damn impossible to assimilate. Imagine if you were an illegal living in some other country. I don't think anyone really wants to be in that position.
And it's when people talk about "get me a peach" or sniper towers, that it becomes a racist conversation. Being pissed about it and venting is fine. But hating on the people for who they are or what they look like, when in reality it's the process and our government we should be mad at, is when folks will call someone racist. You hate on Pablo, but not on John who brings him here, or Mike who rents him a room, or Susan who hires him for her kitchen, or our government that looks the other way... that's when people say, "hey, stop picking on Pablo, you racist." It goes both ways. It's not an easy subject.
I am a registered Conservative who believes language,culture and borders should be priority in this country but after watching what is going on at my place of employment this summer I am not sure illegal immigrants are the biggest problem. We are having a major building renovation and there are two different unions employed to do the work. The demolition guys and the tradesmen. The demo crew arrives before 7am and is geared up and working very soon after 7am. The carpenters arrive between 7:30-8 and sit in their trucks drinking coffee and smoking until 8am on the dot. They then saunter around building for 30 minutes setting up their radios and using bathrooms - some connected but some not yet that doesn't matter to them.Pigs. They then proceed to go back to their trucks to get tools......one tool per trip so that by 8:45-9 am they start working. At 9:30 the coffee truck arrives and guess which group ceases work? Not the demo guys.They have coffee/break on site. Carpenters then toil around for another 30 minutes. Lunch is at 12 when both unions stop. The demo guys sit in grass and eat lunch and play checkers or dominos while carpenters sit in trucks and drink beer and smoke.Some do leave for lunch and stay away from the majority so I am not saying all but the majority do this.At 12:45 demo guys are back to work yet carpenters aren't on task until 1:15.The conversations during work consist of laughing ,joking and job related for demo guys while carpenters **** and moan about bosses,grievances,lousy wives and getting screwed by the union. At 2:30 the carpenters start packing up and leave by 3pm leaving the work area strewn with coffee cups,cigarette buts and garbage, yet the demo guys continue until 4pm when they clean up and leave. It's sad to say this but the carpenters are the "American" looking guys while the demo workers are all Spanish. Who would you hire?
That doesn't make you racist at all. However, try to empathize. People don't immigrate to cause problems. And I think it's important Americans are careful about who the point the fingers at, because then it becomes somewhat of a race/ethnic war of sorts.
The problem lies in the big picture situation, not with the individuals you see standing on the corner looking for work. We need these people here for the work. The problem is we need them here and there, not overly concentrated in certain areas. When it's the right amount of people on that corner, everyone of them gets picked up, works, and gets paid. No problem. When the number of workers exceeds the jobs, that's when you get into folks getting depressed, drinking, maybe getting into criminal activity, etc. That's when the corner turns ugly, because hundreds of guys are standing out there all day long. It shouldn't be like that.
The problem is we kind of sweep this whole thing under the rug on a national level and we're forced to deal with it in our communities. If any politician had the balls to say, "we need these workers and here's why... and we're going to create a program where we redirect them to where the work is, and we put them on a path towards citizenship, etc," our problems would go away. However, that politician would be committing suicide. It's almost like the war on marijuana. It would be better to legalize it and CONTROL it, than to just turn a blind eye to it. Just putting up a wall or throwing people in jail solves nothing.
The entire process needs to be regulated and people need to be put where there are opportunities. And trust me, unlike poor Americans, these poor immigrants will go live and work anywhere. Imagine if we took half of the illegals in Long Island and put them upstate, in the Great Plains, wherever.
But the notion these folks come here just to screw things up, or to take advantage of our system, etc. is just wrong. These people want the same things in life that we want. And they're willing to work hard for it and to assimilate and do whatever is required. But when they have to live in the shadows, it's pretty damn impossible to assimilate. Imagine if you were an illegal living in some other country. I don't think anyone really wants to be in that position.
And it's when people talk about "get me a peach" or sniper towers, that it becomes a racist conversation. Being pissed about it and venting is fine. But hating on the people for who they are or what they look like, when in reality it's the process and our government we should be mad at, is when folks will call someone racist. You hate on Pablo, but not on John who brings him here, or Mike who rents him a room, or Susan who hires him for her kitchen, or our government that looks the other way... that's when people say, "hey, stop picking on Pablo, you racist." It goes both ways. It's not an easy subject.
You see that is the problem, they are not paying taxes, and they are not legal. they should go home and come back legally then get legal jobs where they pay income tax.
Or we could all work off the books for cash and uncle sam can go scratch...
I dont care.
something needs to be done so hard working folks, who pay taxes dont feel like they are being taken advantage of, while it's perfectly ok for Illegal immigrants to work off the books while we all look the other way.
It's not ok.
No matter what reason you have, no matter how you rationalize it, no matter how bad you feel for them it's not fair, or right.
It's a HUGE problem.
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