Senators Reach Compromise on Immigration Measure
The compromise splits the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants into three groups, based on how long they have been in the U.S., for the purpose of setting rules on their eligibility to apply for legal status.
Whether this is a case of a camel being a horse designed by committee or not, the real issue is, as ShrinkWrapped states,
We need this debate to be about creating more Americans and not about empowering illegal immigrants.
TigerHawk asks today
The question should not be whether we can keep out Mexicans, but what we should do about the rising Hispanic culture in this country? Can we create a system under which Mexican immigrants are happy to fly the Star-Spangled Banner, sing our songs, join us in our wars, think of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and Adams as “founding fathers,” and otherwise honor our great traditions? I think we can, but we have to let go of the twin sins of nativism and unthinking “multiculturalism” to do it.
Last Tuesday I attended a presentation by Marta Tienda, who mentioned in her presentation that immigrants a hundred years ago went through an Americanization process and became integrated into American society. In my post from last year I pointed out that
Prior generations of immigrants, once they arrived in the USA were taught, by the public schools and by other civic organizations, traditional American values; more specifically, middle-class, Protestant values, within a Judeo-Christian tradition. People learned to read English by reading the King James Bible. The Protestant work ethic was promoted through Horatio Alger stories, and the value of delayed gratification was spoken of. School curricula stressed discipline and the “three R’s”, and included famous sermons, such as Governor John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity. People were taught and encouraged to serve their communities through volunteering, a most American trait. In short, immigrants were directed towards what it meant to live in an American culture; no one assumed that simply knowing the language meant one was acculturated.
Last Tuesday I stated that
Directing these children towards what it means to be American would not deny them their heritage, but instead strengthen their values and their own selves, while opening their futures to the myriad opportunities that attract immigrants to our country.
The term “Hispanic culture” is misleading. There are 500 million “Hispanics” living in two dozen countries, each with their own culture, their own climates and geography, and in many instances their own regional languages, from every racial, ethnic, religious, educational, and economic status possible. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and have as much in common with a person from Mexico as my husband, who was born and raised in Pennsylvannia, has with a person from New Zealand. We can discuss all day whether there’s such a thing as “Hispanic culture”, but that’s not the real issue. So let’s focus on the real issue:
We have a compromise on the immigration bill.
Now, will we start focusing on how to create more Americans, please?
(technorati tags Immigration, Politics)
