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.
My father-in-law grew up here: Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 377 - Oakland . His mother, an immigrant from Sweden, before the days of quotas, mind you, never learned English even though she emigrated at age 17. (His father, DH's grandfather, was a Swedish immigrant as well.) When DH was a kid, there were restaurants in Oakland with the menus in Swedish. My FIL grew up speaking Swedish at home and didn't learn English until he went to school.
This was also a common story back where I grew up, in the Pittsburgh area. There are areas of Wisconsin where kids are still taught German at home. My mom was born in the US as were her parents and some of her grandparents, but she didn't speak English, either until she went to school. Even then, they spoke German at home.
In Rural Wisconsin, German Reigned For Decades : NPR "In 1910," says Joseph Salmons, a linguist at the University of Wisconsin, "a quarter of the population told the census taker they spoke only German and didn't speak English — a quarter of the population." . . ."It turns out a lot of these people were born in Wisconsin," Salmons says. "And a fair number were born of parents born in Wisconsin. That is, these guys were not exactly killing themselves to learn English." . . . Salmons says some Anglos in town even learned German to be able to do business.
See above.
No, you saw millions from Europe, especially eastern Europe.
There's a huge difference in historical immigration from Europe and recent immigration from Mexico. European immigration was far more fragmented amongst the various countries with their different languages. They didn't have cable TV and radio to buffer them against learning English. They were an ocean away and once they disembarked the boat had to go through immigration checks. The government was able to enact immigration restrictions in the 1920s and they didn't start again until over 40 years later which gave time for the various European groups to fully assimilate.
Mexico has 125 million people and shares a 2,000 mile border with the US and has been constantly replenishing the supply of immigrants without too much restriction for at least a century. While European immigration could be controlled and was for the most part "legal" given the physical barrier of the Atlantic Ocean, Mexican immigration doesn't follow the same rules. It can be uncontrolled and undocumented (I've read that up to 60% of those of Mexican descent in the US are the result of illegal immigration over the years). Given the proximity to the "home country", the sheer numbers of immigrants and their progeny and modern media in their language there is much less pressure to fully assimilate.
What we're facing with Mexican immigration is unprecedented in the history of the country. Recent Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigration will mirror earlier European immigration because it has similarities in the number of countries and languages represented and the distance from the country of origin. Again, Mexican immigration doesn't follow that pattern. Living in a heterogeneous place like California its easy to see the difference between the global immigrants and the Mexicans. There is very little accommodation in the native languages for the first group and a great deal of accommodation in Spanish for the later. It's telling to see an Indian or Chinese immigrant business owner speaking Spanish to customers in a city like Salinas CA where I used to live. Good business practice I suppose, but the handwriting is on the wall (and it's not necessarily in English).
There's a huge difference in historical immigration from Europe and recent immigration from Mexico. European immigration was far more fragmented amongst the various countries with their different languages. They didn't have cable TV and radio to buffer them against learning English. They were an ocean away and once they disembarked the boat had to go through immigration checks. The government was able to enact immigration restrictions in the 1920s and they didn't start again until over 40 years later which gave time for the various European groups to fully assimilate.
Mexico has 125 million people and shares a 2,000 mile border with the US and has been constantly replenishing the supply of immigrants without too much restriction for at least a century. While European immigration could be controlled and was for the most part "legal" given the physical barrier of the Atlantic Ocean, Mexican immigration doesn't follow the same rules. It can be uncontrolled and undocumented (I've read that up to 60% of those of Mexican descent in the US are the result of illegal immigration over the years). Given the proximity to the "home country", the sheer numbers of immigrants and their progeny and modern media in their language there is much less pressure to fully assimilate.
What we're facing with Mexican immigration is unprecedented in the history of the country. Recent Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigration will mirror earlier European immigration because it has similarities in the number of countries and languages represented and the distance from the country of origin. Again, Mexican immigration doesn't follow that pattern. Living in a heterogeneous place like California its easy to see the difference between the global immigrants and the Mexicans. There is very little accommodation in the native languages for the first group and a great deal of accommodation in Spanish for the later. It's telling to see an Indian or Chinese immigrant business owner speaking Spanish to customers in a city like Salinas CA where I used to live. Good business practice I suppose, but the handwriting is on the wall (and it's not necessarily in English).
Excellent and truthful post! Thanks for posting them.
Also the politicians are using a lot of double speak on this issue. It's possible that numbers from Mexico are down -- although no one is actually counting illegals as they enter, but the numbers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador are way up --- illegal immigration since January this year is way up.
The politicians will coyly claim that net migration from Mexico is down or even at zero, of course they know no one will ask them who actually is at the border counting this, but fail to mention how many Central Americans are coming in.
Central Americans think Mexican wages are high, that's how bad it's going to be with illegal immigration catching on with them.
They won't assimilate -- especially with the family reunification that is being promised them. Most will simply add their US citizenship but keep their Mexican citizenship because they will see a huge advantage in being dual citizens.
This senate bill doesn't even require the amnestied to give up their current citizenship. They can keep their allegience to "la patria" but get US citizenship for all the benefits it provides them.
Lolz. And why again are Mexicans any different than the previous groups that have immigrated?
Hint there arent, people will always be scared of new people and change.
The Mexicans we are referring to are mostly the illegal kind. Learn to know the difference. There is no comparison to those who arrived legally.
New people? Are you not aware that there are millions of Mexican-American citizens already living in this country? Change? I have no problem with lawful and natural change. My problem is with illegals and the types of people who don't want to assimilate to the main culture and society.
There's a huge difference in historical immigration from Europe and recent immigration from Mexico. European immigration was far more fragmented amongst the various countries with their different languages. They didn't have cable TV and radio to buffer them against learning English. They were an ocean away and once they disembarked the boat had to go through immigration checks. The government was able to enact immigration restrictions in the 1920s and they didn't start again until over 40 years later which gave time for the various European groups to fully assimilate.
Mexico has 125 million people and shares a 2,000 mile border with the US and has been constantly replenishing the supply of immigrants without too much restriction for at least a century. While European immigration could be controlled and was for the most part "legal" given the physical barrier of the Atlantic Ocean, Mexican immigration doesn't follow the same rules. It can be uncontrolled and undocumented (I've read that up to 60% of those of Mexican descent in the US are the result of illegal immigration over the years). Given the proximity to the "home country", the sheer numbers of immigrants and their progeny and modern media in their language there is much less pressure to fully assimilate.
What we're facing with Mexican immigration is unprecedented in the history of the country. Recent Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigration will mirror earlier European immigration because it has similarities in the number of countries and languages represented and the distance from the country of origin. Again, Mexican immigration doesn't follow that pattern. Living in a heterogeneous place like California its easy to see the difference between the global immigrants and the Mexicans. There is very little accommodation in the native languages for the first group and a great deal of accommodation in Spanish for the later. It's telling to see an Indian or Chinese immigrant business owner speaking Spanish to customers in a city like Salinas CA where I used to live. Good business practice I suppose, but the handwriting is on the wall (and it's not necessarily in English).
Ha, ha! The old that's different! Yeah, there were no quotas for most Europeans at all prior to 1920. The main difference between Mexican immigration and European immigration is that Mexicans come from Mexico and Europeans come from Europe.
I almost choked on my soda while reading that post!
There's a huge difference in historical immigration from Europe and recent immigration from Mexico. European immigration was far more fragmented amongst the various countries with their different languages. They didn't have cable TV and radio to buffer them against learning English. They were an ocean away and once they disembarked the boat had to go through immigration checks. The government was able to enact immigration restrictions in the 1920s and they didn't start again until over 40 years later which gave time for the various European groups to fully assimilate.
Mexico has 125 million people and shares a 2,000 mile border with the US and has been constantly replenishing the supply of immigrants without too much restriction for at least a century. While European immigration could be controlled and was for the most part "legal" given the physical barrier of the Atlantic Ocean, Mexican immigration doesn't follow the same rules. It can be uncontrolled and undocumented (I've read that up to 60% of those of Mexican descent in the US are the result of illegal immigration over the years). Given the proximity to the "home country", the sheer numbers of immigrants and their progeny and modern media in their language there is much less pressure to fully assimilate.
What we're facing with Mexican immigration is unprecedented in the history of the country. Recent Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigration will mirror earlier European immigration because it has similarities in the number of countries and languages represented and the distance from the country of origin. Again, Mexican immigration doesn't follow that pattern. Living in a heterogeneous place like California its easy to see the difference between the global immigrants and the Mexicans. There is very little accommodation in the native languages for the first group and a great deal of accommodation in Spanish for the later. It's telling to see an Indian or Chinese immigrant business owner speaking Spanish to customers in a city like Salinas CA where I used to live. Good business practice I suppose, but the handwriting is on the wall (and it's not necessarily in English).
Then I have to ask you, how did anything you posted above inpede your daily life in a negative way? How were you inconvieneced or restricted in your pursuit of your daily happiness?
Ha, ha! The old that's different! Yeah, there were no quotas for most Europeans at all prior to 1920. The main difference between Mexican immigration and European immigration is that Mexicans come from Mexico and Europeans come from Europe.
I almost choked on my soda while reading that post!
There were no quotas because we were a young country and sparsely populated and in need of manual laborers to build this country. So put your race card back in your wallet. The ancestors of the Mexicans were the Spanish and they were Europeans also and they came here right along with the other Europeans. So you were saying? Today the whole thing is reversed. Mexicans and other Latinos enjoy the highest quotas by far for legal immigration into our country. Yeah, real discriminating....not! Here, read this while you put that race card back in your wallet. Mexicans also have very high numbers of family reunification catagories.
Another thing you are overlooking is that all those Europeans that came here had different cultures and different languages because they were from different countries. They were not from one ethnic/cultural group like the largest number of "immigrants" are today.
Then I have to ask you, how did anything you posted above inpede your daily life in a negative way? How were you inconvieneced or restricted in your pursuit of your daily happiness?
It affects all of us Americans negatively especially when they come here illegally. Do we really need to go down this road again and explain how and why?
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.
