Submitted by Francisco Martinez, May 18, 2007 10:54

I, as American society has deemed me, am a "Hispanic-American," even though I wasn't born in Hispaniola rather, in Chicago - thus making me more American than "Hispanic." But that argument is neither here nor there. The true nature of my comment is to state one thing: Amnesty does not equate to true LEGAL immigration. Why, you may ask? Simple. Having been born and raised in Chicago, I was able to understand an appreciate a lot of different cultures; from Polish to Puerto Rican, to Indian and Korean, and Central American to European. There was however one culture that always stood out, that being the Mexican culture. There's something that I found to be oxymoronic within the "Mexican-American" culture; that being the fact that most Mexicans (as most immigrants) love working in the U.S., love living in the U.S., enjoy making money in the U.S., take pride in sending U.S. Dollars to Mexico and love being in the U.S. for its awesome opportunity potential - this list can go on and on. Now, here's the other part. They refuse to show ANY sovereignty to the U.S.! Many refuse to abide by our traditions and most outrightly refuse to - and here's the kicker - ASSIMILATE. Many Mexicans still place more values in their motherland's traditions than in those of the U.S. and with great pride. Example: If your lucky enough to live in a major city with a heavy Mexican population, what do you see on September 16 (Mexican Independece Day)? You see more Mexican Flags than anything else. Now, let me make something abundantly clear, I am not saying that there's anything wrong with immigrants celebrating their independence in the U.S., but what I am saying is this: How many of these "Mexican-Americans" are out on the 4th of July with the same fervor for this country that is giving them so much? If there's a Soccer match between USA and Mexico, what team do you think "Mexican-Americans" root for? The lack of ASSIMILATION is by far the biggest hurdle to jump because we, in the U.S. have made it simple and convenient for immigrants NOT to assimilate. This doesn't just go for "Mexican-Americans" alone, but a host of other immigrants.

Immigrants that wish to become citizens have to go through a process and this process is undermined when immigrants are given citizenship applications in their native languages. They are not forced to learn English and it is this lackadasical standard which breeds non-English speaking communities, literally a culture with thier own morals, ethics, traditions, sense of law, resentment, and (most importantly) political agendas. In trying to appease to these potential voting blocks politicians are weakening and injuring TRUE U.S. citizens and all of the rights bestowed upon US by OUR constitution.

Amnesty certainly didn't work in the '80's for Reagan, and now, with almost half of the population in the U.S. being Minorities, it WILL NOT WORK now. We are only setting up a bigger problem for our nation's future. MAKE THEM ASSIMILATE. MAKE THEM LEARN ENGLISH. MAKE THEM APPRECIATE THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. REMIND THEM WHY THEY LEFT THEIR CONTRY. DON'T BLINDLY LEGALIZE THEM - MAKE THEM EARN IT!

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