Warning: Non-Korea post
Look, if you were to tell me that immigration procedures need to be eased so people who want to become Americans can do so with less hassle, I’d probably agree. And frankly, I don’t see illegal immigration as that big a problem–I’ve lived in Korea long enough to appreciate the beauty of non-enforcement of laws because nobody seems to be getting hurt. But then again, I live overseas, so I know about as much about domestic U.S. issues as I do about current affairs in Botswana (correction: maybe less, as my academic background is in African Studies). What I don’t understand, however, is how flying the Mexican flag is supposed to make the rest of the country more accomodating. It seems to me that it would provoke the exact opposite reaction. Shit, when I saw some of these photos from the protests, my first response was, “If you have so much loyalty to the flag, it’s a short bus ride back home from LA.” I mean, Korea has an illegal immigration problem, too, but if the illegals were to hold a mass rally in downtown Seoul waving Bengali, Pakistani, Chinese and Mongolian flags, most of the country would be calling for the authorities to put their asses on the next flight home.
UPDATE: Jesus!
23 Comments
Hey, I grew up in California, and it’s part of Mexico, comprende compadre? Seriously, there has been resentment by Mexico since it lost the territory in 1848, and this is their revenge. The earlier generations of Latinos have mostly assimilated, but more recent ones see little need to do so. A little ironically, many times I’ve heard older Mexican Americans refer to the new arrivals as “mojados” (wetbacks).
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for more than 10 years. It’s part of Mexico
They’re here to stay. Personally, that’s what I believe. Theirs is the population that is increasing to be the biggest minority in the US. Businesses and health care providers are told to learn Spanish, because the new arrivals won’t assimilate and learn English. That’s the future, like it or not. I see no immigration policy that will reverse the trend (the only solution is to make Mexico rich), but Bush’s attempt to legalize them as temporary workers is commendable. I don’t know if I should say so as a Korean, but these people do provide a productive service to society (in fact a lot of Koreans employ them). I mean honestly, a lot of the Korean restaurants in the US employ Latino cooks, who LEARNED how to make Korean food, Chinese food, and even Japanese food. I verified this with my own eyes on many occasions.
I’ve heard Latinos speaking fluent Korean in stores in L.A.
Immigration to the U.S. has always been a very contentious issue, every generation wants to pull up the drawbridge on the new folks coming in. Some people see the levels of Mexican immigrants as a sort of “tipping point” that will lead to English competing with Spanish and pull down the GNP (as if Bush isn’t doing that on his own). I have no idea what the net effect of all this will be, hopefully the new arrivals will prefer to identify as Americans and join the party.
We made Korea rich, yet still have Korean immigrants.
WJK, why do you feel you should not say that Hispanic immigrants provide a productive service to society?
Who’s the person who wants to waive laws for those who wave. . . whose flag? Sorry, Robert.
When you say nobody seems to be getting hurt, are you talking about the tens of thousands injured and killed in car accidents due to non-enforcement of traffic laws?
Or the thousands of immigrant laborers (legal and illegal) who are routinely physically abused and cheated by their bosses because they know the laborers have no recourse due to non-enforcement of laws?
Or maybe you’re talking about prostitutes (Korean and illegals both) who die in yearly fires involving captivity and human slavery cases due to non-enforcement of prostitution laws and the regular practice of pimps paying off cops in order to avoid enforcement of laws?
Or the numerous kids and teenagers who die yearly in camps or bars or other unsafe structures due to non-enforcement of laws and regulations regarding safety?
Or maybe you were talking about the thousands injured every year in illegal street riots and protests due to non-enforcement of laws against violent protests?
I apologize for my confusion, but I’m just wondering exactly which of the above you find to be “beautiful.” Because there are a lot of words I can think of to describe the endemic corruption and lax attitude toward law enforcement in Korea and the ridiculous toll of carnage it takes on the country and its people, but “beautiful” isn’t one of those words.
Ever the humanitarian you are, blueballs.
Forget about War on Terrorism,
These wetbacks have already bankrupted California and the Border States. It’s really a matter of survival for the future of this Country. This problem is the biggest problem facing America right now. Remember, Roman Empire was destroyed by barbaric invasions and I see the same thing happening here.
I’d recommend people read David Hanson’s “Mexifornia: State of Becoming.” That should open your eyes.
Robert-sama,
I would say that blueballs is actually quite a humanitarian by stating the varied circumstances in which enforcement of laws whose words are designed to protect those most in need of protection is warranted.
What’s Lisa Marie Presley doing there?
Dude, where’s my taco? Can’t these people pull out the flag on Cinco de Mayo and keep it tucked away the rest of the year, just like the the Micks do on March 17? It would be OK if they assimilated and were proud to be Americans, but these people do the average Lopez or Martinez who has assimilated no favors.
One of the local papers also showed a group of Korean-Americans supporting illegal immigration in LA. I doubt you’ll see anyone waving the Rising Sun out there.
And don’t get me started on hospital ER care. One of these illegals pullls into an ER in Arizona (I’m sure California and Texas, too) and the hospital is obligated to care for them. Guess who subsidizes that? But they do great lawn work.
This kinda stuff is nothing new in Japan.
Wedge–the ERs in L.A. have been overflowing with uninsured illegal immigrants for years, and the system is always at the edge of bankruptcy because of that. But California’s gov’t is so messed up that this is one of the least of its problems.
Dude–Department of Redundancy Department: “uninsured illegal immigrants.”
Dude, you got me
I did the hiring for a company in California for a few years and for most of the jobs, 99% of the people that applied were unable to prove they could legally live and work in the US. There are a few things about this that caused some problems.
First, “legals” felt they should be paid twice what the company was willing and able to pay based soley on the fact that they were legal and could DEMAND more compared to “illegals” who were happy to take what they could get. Interestingly enough, I also saw many el salvadorenos who were present legally on guest visas that had been granted almost 10 years ago because of the problems that El Salvador was experiencing. These work permits were purely temporary and were granted on the condition that their holders would never be able to apply for legal resident status and that they must return as soon as the US deems the situation has improved enough to do so safely. In the meantime, life has not stopped for these people and they have gotten married and had children (who are citizens) so even a guest worker or other “temporary” solution is not really viable. Take a step back and it is not hard to see there are many, Mexicans, Koreans and Taiwanese who regularly abuse the system by scheduling to have children born in the US.
People talk a lot about the benefits these people provide but what of the costs? Yes someone has to pick the strawberries and grapes (for premium wine grapes they are most often picked by hand when the grapes reach a very specific sugar content. Since there is a very small window of time from not enough sugar to too much, crews normally work 20 hours straight) and milk cows twice a day but by having these people do these jobs for sub-minimum wage, isn’t that preventing someone else from doing it at a higher wage (which would also contribute to the tax base) which would also mean that food would cost more and maybe some farmers would no longer be able to produce because of the cost involved to harvest but I wonder if that would be such a bad thing as far as immigration is concerned.
This is not just an American problem as those of us here in Korea know. It is also a major issue in Europe. Just like in the states, one of the major issues that the people are not adopting American (or European) ways of doing things and I think this is what makes people feel uncomfortable. Europeans have long moved from one region to another and have been good at adopting each others culture and language. This tendency is the main basis for traditional US immigration too but like the EU, many new immigrants do not want to adopt the US (or EU) culture, language and values. I know this is too much to expect, especially in an election year but I hope that the US govt addresses the whole immigration program rather than just whether or not people already present should be granted amnesty.
In the case of California, it is “contested territory” by a lot of Mexicans, who don’t feel the need to assimilate because the state was theirs (so the argument goes). The U.S. gov’t really needs to deal with immigration in its entirety, but as you say, it’s too much to expect in an election year, besides which there are too many vested interests for the radical overhaul that’s needed.
That yellow bar warning its a Non-Korea post practically makes it out like the post is NSFW.
I agree, if you want to be legalized, its not a good idea to wave another country’s flag and the photos on M Malkin’s website are pretty bad, but she’s just preaching to the choir. I wonder if it gets thorough treatment on mainstream newspapers.
If people want to get the Latin American population to be reproducing so much, the best way is to increase their income and job opportunities.
typo
…to NOT be reproducing so much…
Atually we want them to be reproducing much less.
Origami
Remember, Roman Empire was destroyed by barbaric invasions and I see the same thing happening here.
well, that is not true, according to Republican Congressman Ron Paul
It is an unbelievable benefit to us to import valuable goods and export depreciating dollars. The exporting countries have become addicted to our purchases for their economic growth. This dependency makes them allies in continuing the fraud, and their participation keeps the dollar’s value artificially high. If this system were workable long term, American citizens would never have to work again. We too could enjoy “bread and circuses” just as the Romans did, but their gold finally ran out and the inability of Rome to continue to plunder conquered nations brought an end to her empire.
This will teach the Mexicans to emigrate to the U.S. illegally, a 12ft wall is being erected along the U.S.-Mexican border. Mexicans told me when they want to return to Mexico for a holiday, they just turn themselves into the INS for a ***FREE*** flight home. In other parts of the world THEY SHOOT YOU DEAD.
I wonder why there isn’t a wall being erected to keep those sneaky Canadians out of the U.S. too??
So, here’s the message: if you’re sick or poor, come to the U.S. and get free healthcare and all the other wonderful entitlements.
I think the most famous Mexican(-American) I can name is the Dog Whisperer/Ceasar Millan, only because he was in an episode of South Park. Eric Cartman says to him, “suck my asshole, taco bender!”