Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Frankly, I don't think it is fair to compare Cubans to any/all other Hispanic immigrants to this country. Cubans have been afforded a privilege that no other immigrant group (Hispanic or not) in the history of this country has ever gotten: since 1966, there's been no such thing as an illegal Cuban immigrant. Actually, in 1966 it became official policy with concomitant benefits, but the Cuban open door policy came into being with the 1959 revolution.
Cubans and other Hispanic groups do not play on the same playing fields...
Not true. Wet foot and dry foot Cubans ain't treated the same. The "dry foot" ones make it to US soil and get to stay. The "wet foot" ones get sent home.
The real question lately is would you want to assimilate into American culture? It makes me laugh how the very same posters on here who claim T.V., rap, violence, sex and all sorts of other crap is sending our country to hell in a handbasket yet they are clamoring for immigrant groups to assimilate into a society they generally dislike.
Maybe we should learn from them.
We've had low class people in the US since 1776. 1 HUGE part of becoming American is learning and speaking English and dropping any other language in public.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
8,852 posts, read 10,461,442 times
Reputation: 6670
Quote:
Originally Posted by Packard fan
Nope: Miami ain't in Cuba, it's part of the US and "wet foot" Cubans will be deported back to Cuba.
Actually, this is more like the reality (which kinda adds new meaning to the term "illegals")!
Fleeing to U.S., Cubans’ First Stop Is Often Mexico
Cubans are migrating to the United States in the greatest numbers in over a decade, and for most of them the new way to get north is first to head west — to Mexico — in a convoluted route that avoids the United States Coast Guard.
Not true. Wet foot and dry foot Cubans ain't treated the same. The "dry foot" ones make it to US soil and get to stay. The "wet foot" ones get sent home.
From 1966 (actually, from 1959) to 1995 any Cuban who made it to S. Florida - and many did, try 100,000+ in 1980 - was on an automatic path to citizenship, no questions asked. For the past 17 years the wet foot/dry foot policy has been in effect - for Cubans only, no other immigrant group gets this privilege.
There have been exceptions to the wet foot/dry foot policy - notably the famous (infamous) case of Elian Gonzalez. Young Elian should have been returned to his father in Cuba but was instead brought to the US. Miami's Cubans prevailed in that one....
For anyone who is interested, here is a document that delineates the special privileges that are granted to only Cuban immigrants... http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40566.pdf
Nope: Miami ain't in Cuba, it's part of the US and "wet foot" Cubans will be deported back to Cuba.
Dude, I've witnessed some of the most hysterical cat and mouse games between Cuban "refugees" and the Coast Guard. Its sort of like watching an aquatic version of Red Light Green Light. A boat carrying Cuban "refugees" plays bumper cars with the Coast Guard until it is close enough to shore so that everybody can just jump out and wade to shore. Meanwhile the Coast Guard is trying to everything they can to put themselves between the waders and the shore, because as soon as they get on dry land, they are safe. I might add that this is a public spectator sport with family members waiting for their relatives cheering them on having been notified of their arrival. Now if you are Haitian, it is straight to Krome Detention Center, do not pass go, do not get a Pina Colada on South Beach.
Dude, I've witnessed some of the most hysterical cat and mouse games between Cuban "refugees" and the Coast Guard. Its sort of like watching an aquatic version of Red Light Green Light. A boat carrying Cuban "refugees" plays bumper cars with the Coast Guard until it is close enough to shore so that everybody can just jump out and wade to shore. Meanwhile the Coast Guard is trying to everything they can to put themselves between the waders and the shore, because as soon as they get on dry land, they are safe. I might add that this is a public spectator sport with family members waiting for their relatives cheering them on having been notified of their arrival. Now if you are Haitian, it is straight to Krome Detention Center, do not pass go, do not get a Pina Colada on South Beach.
The above scenario regularly plays out on the 6:00 news...
As I said, you have to live here to appreciate how different life is in Miami.
It's certainly a plus to be able to speak more than one language in many parts of the world. Why not here? My uncle-in-law spoke english, spanish and mandarin chinese, he was Cuban and a resident of Arizona but owned a business in Hong Kong. You may have met far more Cubans than I but I have not met one that can't communicate better with me in english than I can in spanish. To my way of thinking assimilating is far more than just speaking the language.
Learning another language should be a personal choice and not forced just because of non-assimilating immigrants or citizens who want to be pandered to in their native language. The fact remains that Cuban-Americans prefer Spanish over English and anyone who doesn't speak Spanish can't get a job in Miami. Yes, there is more to assimilating than language usage but that is one big factor!
Seems to me that Cubans are more in tune with 'traditional' American virtues than other Hispanics. There seems to me more of a focus on education and achievement, as opposed to Mexcians or Puerto Ricans for example. I've found that Cubans will focus on long term achievement for their kids, where as Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in America see their kids more as a family contributor who can supplement household income as they reach teen years. Are the Cubans at the top of the Hispanic pecking order?
Puerto Ricans are Americans and may have given more lives for their country on a per capita basis than any other state.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
