Esto sí que podrá ser un paso hacia delante…

I see it 1) as a marketing ploy (timeliness sells records, let’s be honest) and, if the implied sentiment is to be believed, 2) an attempt to “take back” symbols of this country that have been hijacked by conservatives and put them in the hands of immigrants who truly know what it means to struggle for the same thing other immigrants have struggled for in the past.

I personally don’t believe in pledging allegiance to any country or saluting a flag, and don’t think you have to be a flag waver to live in this country. But if the sentiment is about inclusiveness and the spirit of the word “America” having many meanings, many faces and many colors, then I’m all for it.

Ay people need to get over their treatment of the English language as if it was something holy and untouchable. The English language, which came from ::gasp:: England since the U.S. was a colony, has so many words from other languages. It’s a language not a God.

yep i do agreed with that, i hate how the people came over here and they don’t want to learn to speak english(somthing that we need to see is those people can’t speak a very good spanish either because they are uneducated, most of them don’t have the money for get an education) but they still have to make that effort and learn the language.

>>carrying the U.S. flag at rallies or singing the Star Bangled Banner becomes labeled deviant and outsider. As if singing the star bangled banner or carrying the U.S. flag will suddenly erase the underlying racism that is part of the debate.>>carrying the U.S. flag at rallies or singing the Star Bangled Banner becomes labeled deviant and outsider. As if singing the star bangled banner or carrying the U.S. flag will suddenly erase the underlying racism that is part of the debate.<

Actually, it’s to prove that we are Americans too DESPITE our being non-white. Why shouldn’t we wave the flag with pride and place our hand over our hearts when hearing our national anthem? Mexicans (i.e. citizens of Mexico, as opposed to Chicanos, who are Americans) are fervently patriotic. So why is American patriotism equated with racism or jingoism?

anyone know where the lyrics to this song are, i’ve heard they’ve changed some of the words to suit their purpose

I’m an American. Born, raised, and to the death. I’m quite excited to hear this new version of the National Anthem and I have no problem with it being made. The people who do are elitist idiots…if you don’t have a valid, intelligent issue, you make something up that will cause a stir. I grew up in an area of the US where migrant labor was a huge sector of our economy (fruit harvests). I worked side by side with a great number of “illegal” immigrants and almost all of them were great people. However, for a lot of Americans the issue has nothing at all to do with racism. For many Americans the issue is economic. Yes, many Americans are rich, but many are not. American citizens pay taxes to the government to pay for services. Illegal aliens are entitled to some of those services for free, but don’t pay our taxes. So they are seeing people who come into our country illegally, take advantage of our system for their own needs and pay little or nothing back into the system. If you want to be a citizen, that’s outstanding! All are welcome. But don’t accuse citizens of racism because they want you to obey the law, that’s wrong. If I move to Mexico and get a job, they won’t let me stay forever, at some point I’m going to be deported if I don’t become a citizen, or at least participate in the system.

To all illegal Mexican immigrants,

As usual, you just have to use the racist crutch when you know you are completely in the wrong. We who were born here (regardless of your heritage) or became an American LEGALLY are Americans. ANYONE who enters this wonderful country ILLEGALLY is not! They are a burden! How can you expect to be welcomed into our country and culture when you have disrespected the laws of this great nation from the first step that you took on this great land of ours? You rally, arrogantly demanding the rights that we have by birthright just because you are here now illegally standing on our land. You even refuse to even learn the language? Why do you expect us to change who and what we are to make you illegal immigrants happy? What makes you better than our ancestors that did come here LEGALLY and BLENDED into OUR society rather that hop a fence and demand we learn yours? It amazes me how stupid and arrogant you are!

Now on top of all of this you are disrespecting our beloved National Anthem by making a Mexican version and claiming it’s to help immigrants to understand it? LEARN ENGLISH! Here you are again trying to change us to accommodate you. All you do is cry about getting our birthrights, how you are Americans just because you are standing on our soil (illegally) and continually put up more disgracing barriers between us such as this song. This is a sacred song in our hearts and you just stabbed us there. You just don’t understand, do you? That’s most likely due to the fact that you refuse to learn English.

Your actions tell us everything about who you really are.It doesn’t look promising.

I read once, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless,tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door” I don’t see anything regarding language skill requirements. Why only illegal Mexican immigrants? are you unaware of the thousands of people from other countries who stay after their visa expires everyday? did you forget about the thousands of cubans who, if they can make it across the international waters border into American waters, they can stay. no questions asked,that attempt the voyage every week? These men, women and children face death, hunger and no promise of work for just the opportunity to try. No contracts, no union representation, just the chance to be here is enough for them to risk everything. Sing the anthem in any language you please, this is the greatest nation on earth.

I heard the song and its “corny,” it’s not a good song. I can’t believe how people in the music business are trying to capitalize in the immigration issue. They are actually undermining the movement.

Totally lame. Just learn the damn song in English. Illegal immigrants have NO rights here. Sorry, that’s the way it is and you better not make any trouble or BE PREPARED.

Last I checked, it is illegal to enter this country without permission or the proper forms. It’s also pretty arrogant to refuse to learn the main language of our culture (English) and then tell us to learn theirs! Narrow minded? You need to open your eyes, were being invaded and told what we need to do to make them happy. The last time people did this it was the Nazi’s. These immigrants have broken our laws and now are dictating to us how we should treat them. This is the whole point. What gives them this right? Being human….just being here…. No! it doesn’t! Doing this in any country is wrong. Yes there are other immigrants but the main difference between them and the Illegal Mexican immigrants is that they don’t arrogantly parade and protest demanding the same wrights that we American born have just because they survived such struggle to get here (hopping the fence).

So just getting your feet on some soil makes you a citizen of the country you are currently in? That is amazing, I never knew that, when did that law get passed? Oh that’s right, IT DIDN’T! Why should we grant citizenship or even working rights to ANYONE, not just Hispanic (good job turning this into a racial issue by the way) simply because they are here, when we have thousands waiting in line, respecting the laws and the system who really do want to assimilate and be part of the fabric that makes this country so great? If you can answer this question with anything that makes remotely any sense I applaud you. This is not a racial issue…period. It is an issue of respecting the laws. This country will only survive if it has a system of checks and balances. Quick question for you Mexico, is your border open? You don’t happen to shoot people on your southern border who are trying to come in do you? Oh that’s right you do! But for some reason the US, the most powerful country in the world should have loose borders allowing anyone to come as they please, and oh while there here pick up a green card or two. Give me a frickin break!

Well what is happening on May 1st?? Who is organizing the worker lock out? Is it the Italians? The Germans? hmm….you scream the loudest you will get the most attention that’s the way it works.

The problem with that is that Mexicans are not the Latinos. There is this view of immigrants and Latinos as a monolithic entity so if you wanna say Latinos, Latin-American immigrants that would probably be at least slightly more accurate than scapegoating Mexicans.

Oh and Hispanics are not a race. There are many races that fall under the Hispanic label.

No other immigrant group coming to this country felt it necessary to rewrite The National Anthem nor replace the official language of the United States of AMERICA! Latinos, Cubans, Italians, Poles, German, etc legal or border jumper, want to be accepted just as we all do whether we were born here or not. However, the difference between the Latinos and the Asians and the Italians and just about every other immigrant group is that while the others came and ADOPTED the American culture and in turn WERE adopted by the American people, the Latinos’ behavior indicates that they want to CHANGE us and mold US into THEIR image. The term “melting pot” is very clear. When something melts, it changes form and becomes something different and new. The Latinos don’t appear to want to change and become someone different and new; by their actions it is clear they want the rest of us who are here with government approval to change and become like them. That is why Spanish is the unofficial second language of the US rather than Italian or Polish or Gallic or and number of languages of the peoples who came here and assimilated. Latinos appear to not want to assimilate. The appearance is they want to conquer. If the appearance is wrong then it is THEIR behavior and tactics that must change not the behavior and tactics of the rest of the people of the United States. I am appalled at the behavior of the immigrants who say they want to be here and gain a better life yet live 20 to 30 people in a house, or stand,loitering on street corners long after the employers have hired staff for the day, or worse the advocates for the immigrant who instead of bringing them home to their own house to help them will instead sleep on someone else’s property after a legal eviction. Threatening a walkout on May 1st that will cost the schools their children attend to lose state aid whne their children stay home is not an action of someone who loves their “adopted” country. Boycotting businesses and workplaces on May 1st to hurt sales and productivity is not the action of a people that SAY they want to become one with us. These actions are akin to the feet stomping of a petulant child who would rather hurt themselves and others than listen to reason. Until the “advocates” for the Latino community STOP stoking the fires and instead put their money and their homes where their mouths are the controversy will continue. Do I believe in stronger borders? Absolutely. However, I also believe that every immigrant already here should be documented and background checked and allowed to stay as long they are not fugitives from their own country. But, change my language and change my anthem NO WAY!

I read about this project via the Washington Post and am puzzled as to what the coordinators hope to gain by this effort. The national anthem is the national anthem, just as the U.S. flag is comprised of bars and stripes. You would no more add circles to its design and call it the U.S. flag than you should alter the words or music of the Star Spangled Banner and call it the Latino version of the national anthem. The authors and singers of this song would have been better served to offer it up as an anthem to the immigration reform movement (much like “We are the World” was an anthem for African famine relief).

All political opinions aside, the facts remain the same: the National Anthem of the United States of America is the Star Spangled Banner, and this anthem is sung in the National Language of the USA which is English. If you expect to gain sympathy in your struggle to become a citizen of the United States this is not the way to do it. You will find more supporters of your cause if you try to assimilate into the system here in the US rather than isolate yourself from it. This does not mean you should hang the US flag above your native flag, or that you have to give up any of your cultural identity. We are proudly a country of immigrants, different cultures are what make this country so great. Be proud of where you come from, but accept the fact that in the United States the national language is English. Creating a new version the National Anthem, which is a source of enormous pride for all American citizens regardless of where they come from, will do nothing except create animosity towards your cause.

I think that Bush is being biggited and totally unreasonable and I don’t like it. I am moving to the USA after high school, and I am disappointed in Bush’s clear dislike for the latino community. Canada has English and French. Why can’t the United States of America have English and Spanish? I can’t think of a good reason. Can You?

No one is debating why the illegal immigrants want to come to America, it IS for a lot of the same reasons the immigrants came here in the 19th and 20th century. It is the best country in the world. Also, anyone that does not feel some sense of compassion for specifically what the Mexican people have to go through living in a very corrupt country has a cold heart. It is not an issue of “well, these people are good people and just want to work so why shouldn’t we let them?” Please think of a more intelligent argument then that. This is about people blatantly breaking the law and taking advantage of a system that everyone that is hear legally is paying for. Breaking the law is a black and white issue, either you are or your not, that’s why we have them. Illegal workers are NOT good for our economy. The problem starts with the employers who are willing to employ these workers because they are cheap and don’t want to follow the minimum wage laws that have existed in this country for decades or pay taxes to the government. The only reason the stereotype jobs like landscaper’s and fruit pickers are mostly Mexican is NOT because there are no Americans that are willing to do the work, rather the illegals are willing to undercut the American worker so deeply that they wouldn’t even be able to support them selves. They also abuse our healthcare system and social services that we pay for out of our tax dollars. No sane person would have a problem understanding why someone would want to live here, in fact I would probably do the same if I was a Mexican citizen, but I would understand just like they do, that it is illegal and I am taking a huge risk and I would except any and all punishment. Now because we want to enforce are laws and our borders we are all of a sudden racist and inhumane.

I don’t believe in the term illegal when used as an adjective for people. People cannot be illegal. They may commit illegal acts hence why I will not use the illegal modifier.

Oh by the way my family did not come here from Puerto Rico because the U.S. was the best country in the world. They came here because the U.S. invaded and destroyed the island’s independent economy with free handouts and tax breaks to multinationals….hmm sounds familiar?

Honestly, politically speaking I believe in open borders. Capital is allowed to flow through the borders to the benefit of coporations but I am fully aware that is not an option. People who have been here working should not be kicked out for lack of “papers” . So yes I’m pro amnesty. While undocumented workers do not pay some taxes they definately pump money into the economy in numerous ways including paying sales tax.

Are you specifically talking about the U.S. /Mexico border? How are people coming here dangerous? And please don’t use the terrorism excuse, that has been proven to be overexagerated, after all those that have been accused of the 9-11-01 plot over stayed their legally obtained visas no? There are reports that show that tightning the borders will not lower immigration numbers just make the underground network stronger. People who want to come here will find a way. What needs to be changed are the conditions that cause people to come here. That’s the only real way to control immigration.

News Flash Hey guys take a break have dinner.
..more than three-quarters of Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants who have spent many years in the United States to apply for citizenship, according to a poll conducted for CNN by Opinion Research Corp. (Watch how Americans line up on amnesty — 3:22)

Damn, these pendejos can be hateful! All I have to say is, all of you who are trumpeting about how this is America, speak English, yadda yadda - go to England if you want to speak English in its native setting. Here, if you’re so gung ho about learning the native tongue, learn actual Native tongues - the ones luckily enough to be preserved before entire Native cultures were utterly decimated by white European settlers. And for that matter, in many parts of this country, after Native languages, the next language spoken here (chronologically) was Spanish. So, even though Spanish was also the language of the colonizers, in many regards it makes *more* sense to speak Spanish in this country than English.

English is just the language of the culture that was most successful in its colonialism, imperialism, and destruction of other cultures. Punto. It’s the language of the victors, and the victors in this case are fairly morally reprehensible.

Yours truly,
a Puerto Rican who will never again stand up for the flag or the anthem of the nation who raped and pillaged hers.

Use fighting words expect a fight. Can you take a punch? BUTA! Baszd meg a picsádat. Menj az anyad picsiajaba! Te szájba baszott kurva!I am sorry that wasn’t Spainish. Was it? How do you feel. Not very comforting is it? I guess there isn’t a concept of pouring gas on fire in the latino world. TOM TANCREDO FOR PRESIDENT!!!

I can’t belive the kind of reaction this is getting. It’s one of the most beautiful thing’s i have ever heard. Somehow people get offended by this, and yet you ask them if the Bible is any less the Bible because it was translated out of the Origional Hebrew and Aramaic, and they have no answer. Go Figure.

“the flag, the anthem and other symbols of patriotism belong to all of us”

The U.S. Flag, Star Spangled Banner and any other U.S. symbol of patriotism belongs to Americans born and raised in the U.S., NOT TO IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME TO THE U.S. ILLEGALLY.

How dare the ILLEGAL Hispanic community make a mockery of the National Anthem! It’s obvious that you folks truly do not want to be U.S. citizens and only want to stir up trouble. Otherwise you would be acting like you want to be citizens.

Go back where you came from!!!!!

And another note to those who would gleefully endorse entering this county illegally:

Proverbs 13:22. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children; And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.

Yes, WE ARE AMERICANS.

We will take what we want, when we want it. We always have and always will. We took the land, we took the waters, we took the sky. We took the bones and blood of the earth, calling them mineral riches and oil. We took the blood of the former inhabitants of this land, and it lives in most of our veins, just as it does in latin americans. Our modern Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity derived from the Native American Ghost Dance (a strange form of Mormonism), and the Indians have taken over Christianity. We are heirs to ALL traditions and cultures, but beholden to NONE.

WE ARE AMERICANS.

And now, we are confronted with the “Aztlan Revolution”. How PITIFUL!

As we took everything else, we will take your language, we will take your music, we will take your culture, we will take your land, AND WE WILL TAKE YOUR YOUR WOMEN. Your Aztlan grandchildren whom you struggle to leave a legacy to, will be OUR CHILDREN. They will grow up walking like us, talking like us, thinking like us, drinking like us, singing like us, getting their ‘bling’ like us, looking like us, booking like us, AND THEY WILL BE OURS. As my canuck grandfather (a trapper) would say about his 13 kids or 86 grandkids, “ANYTHING caught in my trap is MINE.”

Better that than a bunch of german maniacs — Either that or run back to your own country and go hide in a cave till you die. Then you at least won’t have to know about it.

See?

I’ve already figgered out how to steal your “sledgehammer” !!!!

“Wow American Girl: Stereotype much? Anyway no one is threatning the English language and no one is here to conquer because well last time I checked the history wasn’t it the Europeans who conquered? The language used in your comment and many other comments just shows how easily people can buy into a culture of fear based on stereotypes and misinformation.”

This just goes to prove what the criminals hopping the border are up to. Once again the Europeans who wiped out the natives of this continent and the continent to our south are up to their old tricks. Perhaps you haven’t heard Augustin cepeda of the brown berets saying “we claim this land, it is ours, it has always been ours,and we’re still here and uh none of this talk about deporting. If anyone’s gonna be deported it’s gonna be you. You old white people, it is your duty to die” You can hear the audio for yourself here. http://www.wtam.com/pages/frantz_page.html

If you think that the citizens of this country won’t do something to the criminals you’re sadly mistaken. The criminal government here might not but Americans won’t roll over for an invasion.

What’s wrong with a direct translation?

¿Opinión de O, puede usted ver, por la luz temprana del amanecer, qué nosotros granizó tan orgulloso en destellar pasado del crepúsculo? ¿De quién amplias rayas y estrellas brillantes, con la lucha peligrosa, sobre los terraplenes miramos, tan galantemente fluíamos? Y el fulgor rojo de los cohetes, las bombas que estallaban en aire, dio la prueba con la noche que nuestra bandera todavía estaba allí. ¿Opinión de O, esa bandera estrella-star-spangled todavía agita sobre la tierra del libre y el hogar del valiente?

This is purely silly, and it’s the kind of crap that my Irish and German Catholic ancestors took from Anglo-Americans, yet today 60% of white Americans are of German descent and the rest are probably Irish. Basically, give the Latinos 50-60 years-America is a diverse nation that has only been strengthened by immigration, never weakened. “Nuestro Himno” is pretty, no hablo Espanol, pero anyways I think this debate is meaningless. And translating the song into Spanish makes it more understandable to about 600 million around the globe, thus in an age of anti-American bias globally helping to show to other cultures what the US stands for. I hope this makes sense. The US Declaration of Independence was translated into German and published auf Deutsch within a day of being published in English. And learning a second language never hurt anyone.

To all you people who say for Latinos and Mexicans to get out of America…be quiet…most of the low paying jobs are taken by illegal immigrants because “White” people don’t want to do them…working in the fields is hard…Illegal Immigrants usually work under the scorching sun at about 100 degrees so you white people can eat…and then u say for them to get out…then what about the dumb fence they want to build? If you kick all the Mexicans back to Mexico..who’s going to build it? OR are you going to make them build them while exploiting them..then kick them out?…USA was built on different cultures…by saying that English should be the only language spoken in America seems to be kinda communist don’t you think?…The American society is constructed of different ethnic backgrounds..No one in the USA is 100% American…because Americans do not exist..it is a name given to people do live in this soil..that come from other countries…Be realistic, most words in the American language were derived from other countries. Food as well is a combination of countries around the world. Some of the most delicious foods come from foreign countries!!!So here is something for you people to think about….Roses are REd, Violets are blue, without MEXICANS what would white people do…and for all you white haters…aprendan el español.

No, Maegan la Mala I do NOT stereotype at all. This is the situation in which I live and work helping the Latino Immigrant day in and day out. I know what I am speaking of. There are rules in our organization such as the time we open and time we close and structures in which we must work to assist those who come to us. I did not make the rules, or design the structure but I must live by them to keep everything runnig smoothly. Unfortunately, the clients we meet do not respect opening and closing times, rules and regulations. They want what they want when they want it and are upset when they come after hours and no one is there to help them. That is FACT; not stereotype, not racism, but the most stressful fact of my position. I am responsible for hundreds of children. I need all people who work with or around the children to be documented and background checked. Do you have children? If you do, wouldn’t you like to be sure that when you entrust them to someone else’s care that they are safe? When I have up to 200 people standing outside the building with children coming and going, statistics tell me that at least 1 person in that group is a danger to children. No matter what their nationality, country of origin, language, etc. In our area we have Latino Gangs going by the names: Latin Kings, Bloods, and M13 terrorizing our neighborhoods. I do not think it is too much to ask that every one in this country be documented and background checked. You and I live in a great land of opportunity almost taken away from us by terrorists in 2001. Why does tightening the borders and documenting and background checking scare you so? I can’t get into any other country on the face of this earth, including ALL the Latin American countries and Mexico without a passport or visa and other identification to prove I am who I say I am. I would never insult someone by changing their rules or anthems because it is more convenient for me. I have no problem with Nuestro Himno (which was translated in English in my daily paper today and is NOTHING like the Star Spangled Banner - the recognizable name of our anthem) being used as suggested above as the Immigration Reform Anthem BUT, it is not now and will never be the National Anthem of the United States of America! The Star Spangled Banner written to the tune of another song is American History - we CANNOT change history nor SHOULD we!

Everyone here learns the first stanza to “The Star-Spangled Banner” somewhere along the line. But few know that Francis Scott Key wrote FOUR full stanzas to “The Gallant Defense of Fort McHenry”, which was made our national anthem in 1931.
…
…
…The Gallant Defense of Fort McHenry
…
…Francis Scott Key, 1814
…
…
…Oh say can you see,
….. by the dawn’s early light
…What so proudly we hailed
….. at the twilight’s last gleaming,
…Whose broad stripes and bright stars
….. through the perilous fight
…O’er the ramparts we watch’d
….. were so gallantly streaming?
…And the rockets’ red glare,
….. the bombs bursting in air,
…Gave proof through the night
….. that our flag was still there.
…Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
…O’er the land of the free,
….. and the home of the brave?
…
…
…On the shore dimly seen
….. through the mists of the deep,
…Where the foe’s haughty host
….. in dread silence reposes,
…What is that which the breeze,
….. o’er the towering steep,
…As it fitfully blows,
….. half conceals, half discloses?
…Now it catches the gleam
….. of the morning’s first beam,
…In full glory reflected
….. now shines in the stream.
…’Tis the star-spangled banner, oh long may it wave
…O’er the land of the free
….. and the home of the brave!
…
…
…And where is that band
….. that so vauntingly swore
…That the havoc of war
….. and the battle’s confusion
…A home and country
….. should leave us no more?
…Their blood has wash’d out
….. their foul footstep’s pollution.
…No refuge could save
….. the hireling and slave
…From the terror of flight
….. or the gloom of the grave.
…And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
…O’er the land of the free
….. and the home of the brave.
…
…
…Oh, thus be it ever
….. when freemen shall stand
…Between their lov’d home
….. and the war’s desolation!
…Blest with vict’ry and peace
….. may the heav’n-rescued land
…Praise the power that hath made
….. and preserv’d us a nation!
…Then conquer we must,
….. when our cause is just,
…And this be our motto,
….. “In God Is Our Trust,”
…And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
…O’er the land of the free
….. and the home of the brave.
…
…
…
Okay, so where, exactly, can we find the Spanish words? Links tantalize us all over the web but no-one delivers. Not even Domino’s.

I can trace everything I love about America and everything good that America has done for me to the immigration of my grandparents and great-grandparents — who arrived speaking no English.

What made them good Americans and paved the way for my American experience wasn’t speaking English. It was love of and gratitude to their new country, hard work, and being good neighbors in their new community.

My espan~ol is pretty pathetic, but Where Are The Lyrics to “Nuestro Himno”? I want to sing it and feel a little bit of what my immigrant grandparents felt.

I wish all my Hispanic/Latino neighbors — citizens and wannabe citizens — a great victory of solidarity Monday. Mazel Tov!

My sister-in-law is not a citizen of the U.S., although she lives here. HOWEVER, she is here LEGALLY. And she had to go through A LOT to get here legally. She is Indian, from Trinidad. Let me ask you a question. She did everything right. She filed all the paper work, she waited a long time, she pays taxes, and she is even married to my brother, who is a born American. Yet, she has to wait seven years to be granted citizenship. Yet MILLIONS of people who came here illegally are going to be allowed to become citizens overnight, after they broke our laws?! That is ridiculous! The lesson that teaches is that if you pay taxes, follow procedures, and abide the laws, you get screwed. Yet, if you are a criminal, and break the laws, you will get rewarded with citizenship. Does that make ANY sense?! This country is going crazy. And I am fed up.
P.S. My sister-in-law learned ENGLISH. She DID NOT demand that everyone else learn Hindi to accomodate her.

People are missing the point that it wasn’t even an “american” who produced this whole thing. It was a British person. Where is the outrage against Great Britain????

This whole debate is ludicrous. The illegal alien activists (a concept that is truly amazing to me on its face) have rather adeptly managed to use their support within the liberal media into the non-reality that this is somehow related to “immigrant rights”. Utterly untrue.

As an ILLEGAL immigrant, you have *no* right to the services afforded to those who obey the law, come here legally through the proper channels and pay taxes. That last part is important. Regardless of what any of you may say, illegal aliens, by and large are not paying taxes. Don’t hand me the “they pay sales tax every time they buy something” line, either. That argument is as tired as the idea that giving them driver’s licenses would somehow compel them to buy car insurance. Wake up and smell the refritos, folks. Not happening, not gonna happen.

I challenge anyone on here to give me a remotely reasonable answer as to why those who brazenly flout the laws of our country and contribute nothing to us as a society should benefit from the infrastructure built with and maintained by the law-abiding taxpayers of our country. The quick answer is: you can’t. No rational person would believe that legalizing 14 million lawbreakers is not a direct kick in the teeth to the thousands waiting in line for 3, 5, 10 years to get into this country legally and pay for these benefits.

I’m a long-time conservative, and I’m personally offended by the Bush administration’s audacity in saying that this is anything other than an amnesty ploy. A five year old can figure this out. The only two possible motives for a plan such as this are:

1) You are a bleeding-heart liberal who just loves giving our country away for free and hates to see America prosper as a superpower
2) You are a conservative, but utterly beholden to corporate lobbyists who rely on an illegal alien workforce to maintain their high profit margins on goods and services.

That’s really it. For Bush and his buddies, it’s the latter and for the liberals, it’s the former.

If you’re an “open borders” person, I actually have a bit more respect for you than Bush, because at least the people who believe our borders should just be open (while I think their idea is ludicrous) are at least being honest about it, and not hiding their true intentions with some other false reasoning.

This whole problem can be stopped in large part by simply enforcing the laws already on the books since 1986 and levying fines and jail time to corporations that hire illegals. It’s very simple – you dry up the employment opportunites and these folks will “deport” themselves. They’re not here for any other purpose, for the most part. They work, they make their money, and they send it back to Mexico. Before you jump down my throat and call me a racist, bigot, or (insert your mantra here), I’ll throw this little reality check out there: securing one’s border and enforcing our immigration laws is not racist – it is prudent security. Period. There is nothing racist about it. Read the definition, folks – racism is the belief that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of another. That is NOT what is occurring here, nor is it solely about Mexicans. I don’t want illegal immigrants here from ANY country, Mexico or otherwise. The focus is on Mexico and Mexicans for two very obvious reasons:

1) Mexicans made this issue about Mexicans by flying the Mexican flag at rallies, urging Mexicans/Hispanics to blow off work for the day today, etc.
2) I don’t see a whole slew of Swedes pouring across our borders and hanging out in the Home Depot parking lot looking for work. If I did, I’d be focusing on them as well. Unfortunately, it’s Mexican and South American immigrants that predominantly are the offenders, and as such, are the focus.

Screaming racism is the battle cry of the uninformed and desperate. There is a such a negative connotation with the word (and rightfully so) that the activists all know that if they scream “racism” that they will get plenty of coverage on the news and that the general, uninformed American public will take it as fact because they hear it every day. The reality is that if people hear something like this enough, it becomes fact, even though utterly untrue, and it’s nearly impossible to unravel the populous’ mindset once it’s occurred. It’s unfortunate that people are generally so ignorant that they fall for this claptrap.

I’m just happy for the benefits that this “day without an immigrant” (see there we go again – they drop the word “illegal” and it becomes legitimate) has brought. My commute to work this morning has never been easier, I stopped in at Home Depot without having to watch as dozens of illegals drank alcohol and urinated in public, and my morning routine was not interfered with one iota by the supposed lack of people in the workforce for the day. Well done, folks…

Hmmm… let’s see. I got up and stopped in at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way to work. I was waited on by a person who (finally) spoke English without multiple repetitions on my part to be understood and received exactly what I ordered. Pardon me, but where’s the downside to a day without illegals? Seems like I’m getting better service and paying the same. Good riddance.
—
and, later this morning, I stopped in at the grocery store (tienda) to buy some things. I was waited on by a polite person at the deli who understood (once again) what I wanted without endless repetition. I asked a store employee where a specific item was and was actually taken to it by the employee. At the checkout I felt like I was back in America once again… the America that I know and love.
—
Oh, by the way. I saved up all my purchases from late last week so that I could buy these things today to counteract the efforts of the benefit sucking illegals in America without permission who vowed to not make such purchases.
—
I lived in Mexico some years back… I never lived in a more corrupt, dirty, disgusting environment before. It’s no wonder you want to come here to live… you’ve already ruined your own country, now you want to wreck ours. Go away.
—
Advice to Mexican illegals…
1. Stop the sham of carrying American flags. You don’t want to, you’re just doing it to make us think you’re on our side. We know you are totally phony.
2. Stop trying to usurp our National Anthem. If you thought you’d endear yourselves to us by doing it, you were totally wrong, my friend. Again, we saw through you as if you were a broken pinata.
3. You can’t destroy the greatest economy in the world by taking a day off… in fact, try really hard and take a year off. We wouldn’t miss you for one minute.
4. Go back to your own country and protest there for these things and see how far you get. You wouldn’t get them because a communist/socialist government like Mexico’s wouldn’t care one whit what you think or want.
5. I see many people expressing pride in their heritage - Mexico. Pride in what? Mexico has huge riches in natural resources and other things similar to America but squanders and wastes it bounth instead of using it for the good of the people. Get a life, get a job, get a real country. Go home.

Wow, today I stopped for coffee at 7/11 and did not have to stand in line behind all the illegals while they did their weekly grocery shopping. And, my commute was much less hectic as their were fewer cars on the road.

Did the protest hurt me? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Did it hurt the economy where I live? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I would venture to say that the only places where the economy was hurt is in the states that have ALLOWED illegals to take over.

I got paid for working today, did you???

Maegan,

As for imperialism… who invaded whose country. You’re here uninvited. Not us, we belong here.

At the risk of repeating myself (repeating myself)… GO HOME!

Ok, I’ve read some of your wrong comments over here, and I would like to explain some.

First of all,
1.- Illegals that don’t pay taxes comes from a simple reason… IRS won’t give them a SS# to report their income as an illegal immigrant worker, but their employers would take part of their salary “for that reason”, and never be elegible to receive an over payment refund.

2.- Public services such as health care had never being provided for illegals immigrants. Where would you go for medical assistance if you need to, and you don’t have medic aid? Well, they go to the same hospital, but paying for every service, and every cent paid comes out from their pockets.

3.- Illegals allways pay for their own food, and never ask for food stamps because the goverment had never provided food stamps for illegals. Only the people who lives here legally have rights to those services, so why are you crying? No single cent has never being taken away from our system, ever, by illegals.

The truth is simple, people who don’t care for illegals may have not yet learned something about our history… Everybody living here legally need to learn to be tolerant to those people who only left their country of origin in sight for a better future for their fammily’s just as when the english coloners came to america, invading land of Tuscaroras, Apalachees,Ntchez, Chickasawes, Shawnees, Cherokees, Wichitas, Kiowas, Arapaho, Osage, Yuma Papago, Apaches, etc, etc, etc, … just for a better place to practice freedom of justice and religion.

Another thing, before hearing any anti-immigrant protests: Illegal immigration is no good for nobody, and making change in law to label them as criminals would not resolve the problem, but it could make it worst. Protesters that went on to the streets today only had one thing in common that needs to be recognized: Immigrants (not only latinos) are here, and they are part of our exotic nation.

Hey US Born Citizen, I’ll add to that one by saying that even in “Illegal Alien Central”, San Diego, CA - I was not affected one iota by the lack of illegal alien labor. Not one. Bruegger’s Bagels was operating with utmost efficiency this morning, with the manager and owner chipping in to help out by showing an actual sense of work ethic, unlike some of their employees. I sincerely hope that the majority of these ingrates who blew off work in protest were summarily fired and given a hearty F-You for their troubles. Wait, no I don’t. I’m sure if they were, they’d head straight to the unemployment office, show their phony social security card and apply for public benefits as fast as you can say “freeloader”.

You people have some big, brass cojones coming here and demanding the same rights as legal immigrants. Where do you come off demanding *anything*? I’d like an answer to that one.

And to the guy who goes by the handle “The USA Resident”, you’re either utterly missing the point or you’re just like the rest, trying to muddy the waters by treating illegal and legal immigration as one and the same. The only people you’re fooling with that are those with an IQ slightly lower than a rutabaga.

To say that most of the low-paying jobs are taken by illegal immigrants because “White” people don’t want to do them is laughable. We’re all well aware that working in the scorching 100-degree sun is hard – nobody is disputing that. But the reason these are such low-paying jobs is exactly because the illegals have *made* them low-paying. The illegal immigrants (and specifically Hispanics/Latinos) are typically not a cross-section of the highly educated class of the United States. I’m pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of illegal immigrant CEO’s in this country. I use Mexico as an example because they are the prime offender here and the primary complainant in all these rallies, etc. Mexico is exporting its problem of an uneducated and unskilled population to the United States with such efficiency that if they simply applied themselves to their own affairs, the results would be staggering. This largely uneducated and unskilled workforce has flooded ours and driven wages for unskilled jobs to a low that has not been seen in decades.

If we “kick all the Mexicans back to Mexico”, I’ll tell you “who will build it” – Americans. And by Americans, I mean immigrants of all nationalities, but specifically immigrants who came here through the proper channels. Immigrants who pay taxes and contribute to society in a meaningful way – not leech off of it and contribute to the congestion of our highways, the shutdown of dozens of emergency rooms in Southern California due to the lack of paying customers, the stress on our prison system and schools.

By the way, read the definition of communism – it has nothing to do with dictating what language people speak. It’s a stateless, classless social organization based on the common ownership of property and means of production. Nothing to do with language, law or anything of that sort. Perhaps you meant totalitarian? And there is no “American language”. It’s English.

And to Fernanda – your statement above that Mexicans are “the hardest workers for the least money” – that’s not necessarily something I would be proud of. I had some (legal, through our local hiring center) day laborers over to the house to dig some irrigation trenches, and they quit after about an hour of digging. So much for being the hardest workers. They said that they didn’t feel like doing that much digging, and they just wanted their money. They then had the gall to say “you ain’t gonna buy us no lunch?”. No, my friend, “I ain’t gonna buy you no lunch”. Had you worked for the 5 hours I requested of you, I would have bought you lunch, and I would have gladly paid for it. As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, although you’d certainly like there to be. And free health care, and free college tuition, and free driver’s licenses, and so on and so on. Get a grip. This is not a socialist country. Never will be. Go back to your respective countries and lobby for them to give you these sorts of rights and privileges with no contribution to the coffers that make such things possible. Good luck. If it happens, let me know – I’ll be there in 20 minutes with my hat in hand. Oh, and those irrigation trenches? They were eventually dug by my fiancé – an affluent, white American girl who stepped up and did the job that was required. They didn’t go un-dug because someone else wouldn’t do it.

This is absolutely not about immigration or civil rights, as much as you’d like to make it so. It’s about ILLEGAL immigration. Don’t try to confuse the issue by throwing it all in together – it’s false and completely misleading. I agree with you completely that this country was founded by immigrants. Again… you’re omitting that very important word – Illegal. It’s very easy to make it sound ok by just dropping that one word. If you don’t like the laws on the books – fine. Lobby and change them through the democratic process. As it stand now though – we have laws against this sort of thing, and people who come here without going through the proper channels are breaking the law - read: illegal. Calling them “paperless immigrants” or “undocumented immigrants” is laughable. I think I’ll go to the bank tomorrow and make an “undocumented withdrawal”. Oh wait, that’s called bank robbery – and it’s *illegal*.

I think what amazes me most about this situation is that I would challenge anyone reading this to give me an example of a country anywhere in the world that I could go to with no documentation or identification of any kind, stand on a street corner and find employment and then organize massive groups of protestors demanding that I have the same rights as the citizens of that country. You can’t. Such a country does not exist.

By way of example: France, the bastion of liberalism and surrender, for all its faults at least has gotten something right: immigration policy. France has such tough immigration policies that I could not get a job there simply because I am from a country outside the EU. For anyone outside of the EU, getting a job in France is virtually impossible, for the simple reason that France has a very high unemployment rate and will not give a job to a foreigner if a citizen is qualified. France’s membership in the European Union adds to this hurdle: French law gives priority for jobs first to French citizens, then to other EU countrymen and then to the rest of the world. In order for me to get a job in France, I would quite literally have to prove that I was more qualified to hold that job than anyone in the entire EU. Not likely unless I am in a field of work that is highly specialized and there might not be as many EU citizens to fill the position – like maybe nuclear physics – not field labor. Were we to apply a quarter of this much stringency to our own policies, we’d be in much, much better shape. Until the 7+ million unemployed *citizens* in this country are employed, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we are utterly not in need of illegal alien labor, nor a guest worker program.

Saenz: I don’t even know where to start…

We don’t give illegal immigrants SSN’s for good reason, they’re here illegally. End of story. If they weren’t here illegally, they wouldn’t be working and wouldn’t owe taxes to pay for the services they consume. Topic closed.

You’re *seriously* delusional if you think that illegal immigrants pay for their medical bills. Not true, and documentedly so. I suppose you were correct in saying ”every cent paid comes from their pockets.” The number of cents paid, however is hovering right around zero. So I guess technically, you’re correct. Talk to all the employees of the 84 hospital ER’s in CA alone that have closed due to overuse and abuse by illegal aliens. I’m sure they’ll tell you a very different story. The EMTALA (a ludicrous law) requires every ER and every physician of an ER to treat illegal aliens for free. I don’t know the numbers of ER closings nationwide, but I’m sure it’s more than one can even fathom.

I almost can’t even reply to the statement, “No single cent has never being taken away from our system, ever, by illegals.” Let me clue you in, my friend. If you believe that illegal aliens are not using our public assistance benefits in astronomical numbers, you’re mad as a hatter. Food stamps, welfare and yes, even SSI benefits are routinely taken advantage of by hundred of thousands of illegals – many by means of “anchor babies” born in the US to illegal parents. And if you can believe this… many of these people actually have forged/fake documents allowing them to work and collect these benefits. Hard to believe, I realize, that people who are already breaking Federal law to be here would commit other serious crimes to further their cause, but sadly, they do.

Wow, I’ve written a lot, but I’m beginning to think this is therapeutic. If I didn’t get all this frustration out like this, I’d be down in Arizona helping Chris Simcox and his Minutemen build the fence that the Federal government won’t build. On second thought, maybe I’ll go anyhow.

I’ll say something brief on here just because I heard some of the illegals claiming the opposite of this last night on the news. Their claims are ridiculous. It went like this: America stole this land from the Mexicans way back when so they shouldn’t be complaining about it when Mexicans try to take it back since it was theirs to begin with. This argument might hold water except for one small fact. The Mexicans nowadays act as though we should just back down and let them have the land back –as though we have “finally seen the light.” Well, if I’m seeing any light its the little red dot at the end of a laser scope.

If my memory of history serves me correctly then, well, I think I recall that the Mexicans didn’t just let us take the land to begin with (remember the Alamo). They fought a whole war and killed thousands of us trying to keep us out.

The way I see it, you illegals are damned lucky we don’t turn those same tactics around on you this time. Methinks you would have a little different go at it this time, up against the United States Armed Forces. You would get your serapes jammed up your rear ends is what you’d do.

I still don’t understand what part of this whole land “dispute” you guys don’t get. The land is ours. We won it fair and square in a war. This has always been the way things are with real estate since the dawn of mankind. And if you try to claim that you have rights to it because you –like the “native American’s” claim– were here first, well, that’s bunk! NO ONE was here at the dawn of time. We all pushed out from Mesopotamia and made our way to where we thought we could best provide for ourselves. So, technically we ALL stole the land from the deer and the rats and the cock roaches. Nowadays, just like in medieval times and all times before, you own land because you possess it and do not let others take it from you by force.

Does a farmer protect his land from coyotes by asking them not to steal his hens? No, he gets a shotgun and he shoots the little canine bastard in the ass until he is dead or leaves the place. So it is with human beings.

This land is beautiful and made better by the American nation being on it. Show me one other country in the world that people are clamboring to get into. There isn’t one. Not one single place.

So, what do you think would happen if you made this into an extension of Mexico? It would suck royally. I lived in Mexico for a short while and it was horrific. There are no jobs. So, what makes you think that if we pull out and give you your desert back that you will be able to do something with it this time? You can’t do anything with the territory you have because you’re all too weak and pussified to stand up to the cartels and the Mexican governement and demand something better. Just do it. We did it to the English and look at the results.

You say you have so much pride. You talk about La Raza and all of that. Well, where’s your pride? Why don’t you demand the same things of your own government that you demand of mine? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You want to protest? Fine, do it. Go down to the square in Mexico City and ask Vicente Fox why it is that there are no jobs and little education in the nation of Mexico.

Make demands of him instead of from us. Ask him why it is that 2% of the Mexican population holds like 90% of its wealth. Ask him why and how a vastly larger nation like America seems able to maintain an infrastructure and keep things moving along with virtually everyone happy and content all the time.

Rise up. Stand up. Make a stand and tell Fox and his government that you aren’t going to take it any more. You talk about rights. Well, why don’t you demand those rights in your own country? Who is keeping you from rights over there? Only through your own fortitude will you get anything. The same is true here in America. You guys just see America as the easy way out. We’re already here and established so you’re jumping ship.

Cowards!

When we took this land from The British we didn’t have an America to fall back on. We CREATED one for ourselves. We couldn’t just “take the easy way out” and run accross the border if we didn’t like how The Revolution was going. If it went badly we were fu@ked. Plain and simple. We couldn’t just go to Canada and say “I’m tired of fighting for my rights now. Stop the World I want to get off.” We had to sit in the fire we had made and persevere. And we did. We continue to persevere every day.

My advice to you is to quit your whining and complaining and grow a set of balls (or should I say cojones). Stand up and make Mexico –or whatever nation you happen to come from– great again. If you love your native land then why forsake her? Guide her; help her to become something great and wonderful and be a part of that transformation. Stand tall and proud and tell the world that you’re not gonna take it any more.

You have no more right to be here now than we did when we took the land from Mexico 200 years ago. But if you try to do it the way we did it you will lose. If you can’t even stand up to your own puny governments and citizens what makes you think you can stand up to 260 million angy, gun toting Americans. We’ve shown the world time and again that we will eliminate any foe that assaults us.

I think you have better chances with Vicente and his puppet government.

Please go bitch at him because I’m tired of listening to your whining and crying.

Life sucks. Buy a helmet. Get some balls. Take what you want and don’t look back. Win!

That’s the only way to get ahead in life. Read the Bible. You’ll see it agrees with me.

Adios

Yank…if you do not have anything substantive to say (even if I proufoundly disagree with it) your comments will no longer be welcomed here.

Well, I certainly have substantive things to say… but let’s not lose our collective senses of humor here. I’ll report (at Josh’s request) that I didn’t notice any effects here in New England. There was lighter traffic, but that could’ve been my imagination (and a dose of wishful thinking mixed in). I did seem to notice that the general service in stores and shops seemed friendlier and more attentive. There have always been large demonstrations on the Boston Common in support of the illegal immigrant-alien cause. There was almost no such display of support yesterday. There were reports that some shop owners in the area around Providence, RI closed their doors due to intimidation from the latino community.

My greatest concern is that if we grant amnesty to these illegals, they will enter the work force as legal workers, get an immediate increase in pay and almost immediately be replaced by a new set of illegal workers who will work at or below the previously established hourly rates. Then we’ll have a new set of 11 million workers replacing the current set. Since the number of jobs to be done won’t have increased there will now be 11 million unemployed hispanic workers now collecting unemployment and we’ll be back where we started, but further in the hole.

I think the proper steps are:
1. Close the borders and stop all immigration for some cooling off period to assess where we are without the problem getting worse.
2. Establish what the actual needs are for immigrant workers (this time legal).
3. Establish immigration quotas (like every other country) to meet these needs.
4. Re-open the borders with strict control over who comes in to join our work force.
5. Establish severe penalties (including prison time) for employers who utilize any illegal workers. This will attempt to dry up the need and opportunity for illegal aliens to come here.
6. Deport all illegal aliens as soon as they are found within our borders. Their existence should be a burden on their own country, not ours. After all, there’s no reason that Mexico (for example) has to take care of its own problems if they can just export them to the USA. (the current practice).

I cannot begin to understand how Vicente Fox can consider himself a leader when his government’s reponse to its own citizenry is so pathetically ignorant of their needs. That the Mexicans feel that they can petition a foreign government for assistance, rather than deal with their own government, is indicative of the corruption that is Mexico.

One needs only look around the world and see that governments that are patently corrupt and/or based on dictatorships do not and cannot succeed. The only successful countries in the world are those that are under democratic/capitalist government structures.

Let’s just examine by example:
Corrupt/Dictatorships: Mexico, most of latin America, most of South America, Cuba, Russia (although this is slightly changing), most Islamic countries, most African countries, N. Korea, China, and on and on.

Democracies/Capitalist societies:
USA, Canada, UK, many European countries, Japan, S. Korea, Australia, Scandinavia, many of the new democracies that were former socialist countries under the failed USSR model - Eastern Europe, Iraq.

Show me an example of a strong economy and a happy citizenry in a country ruled by a dictator or socialist regime. There isn’t one.

All in all, my perception is that yesterday’s exercise, designed to demonstrate how dependent we are on this cheap labor, was a dismal failure. We all went on with our lives and had a great day. If anything, it should strengthen our resolve that we don’t need this workforce at all. It’s all a sham.

To Come into this country illegally and change The American People’s anthem is a violation of everything America stands for! What right do a bunch of boarder jumpers have to stand on American streets and sing that crap! You don’t even have the right to protest because that is a right reserved for Americans only! Why don’t you all go back to that worthless piece of dirt you call Mexico and wait in line for a citizenship and if you get rejected then that must be a clear sign that American doesn’t want you flee infested ass!

I think we’re all missing the most important point here: those filthy mick papist bastards in Yonkers. Dirty people, the non-American born Irish. Always popping out babies and leeching government services from the poor, God-fearing American-born white Appalachian lesser deities who really deserve welfare.

Sergey,

Let’s set the record straight - I can’t stand people coming here illegally, whether they are Mexicans, Poles, Swedes, etc… that’s not the point of what my response to HROG.

What HROG said, and what I was replying to was - and I quote, “Why don’t you all go back to that worthless piece of dirt you call Mexico and wait in line for a citizenship and if you get rejected then that must be a clear sign that American doesn’t want you flee infested ass!

I think that qualifies as racist in my book and probably most others’ as well. It IS directed at an entire race, IS degrading and not at all on topic, to boot.

I’m quite aware that being an illegal alien and Latino are not synonymous - give me a little credit. Read my posts above, and I’m quite certain you’ll see I’m rather well informed on this issue - moreso than yourself, apparently.

And don’t be a sarcastic little punk. BTW… I was born here.

Josh,
you spelled something wrong in your letter to Sergey. Just a thought.

Josh,
moreso is not a word. Look at the bottom of your letter to Sergey and you will see that.
Try not to let your sense of flawless superiority to the rest of us blur your vision of your own errors. Also, all I had was a grammatical error in my original paragraph. Just a thought.

Actually moreso is a word…

More importantly though, it’s funny how people mention that the United States never wanted Mexicans here in the first place when during WWI and WWII, Mexicans were shipped in (and im talking about a miilion Mexican workers) to compensate for the lack of workforce. Now while that may be in the past, remember that this never really was an issue until recently… yes its always been there, but it was never given this much importance. Of course when the US wanted Mexico’s support on NAFTA everything was perfect. Mexico did a great job of policing their borders and stopping drugs and illegals from coming in. A few years later and this explodes into the media.

I think this is something that you really can’t stop. The borders are so extensive that u really can’t protect every part of it. Not only that, because of the huge difference in quality of life, in illegal immigrants eyes the risk will always be worth it. I think if u really want to battle illegal immigration, u can start out by making American companies pay fair salary wages when they set up shop in developing countries.

As fo the anthem, well I will agree that it shouldn’t have been done. I am from Puerto Rico and if I ever hear my anthem in English I would take the same offense that Americans did when hearing their anthem in Spanish.

One last comment and this is to Yank’s post…

There is corruption in every government, in all types of forms

There are many places that you group where there are democracies and these systems are simply not working. Colombia has one of the longest and uninterrupted democracies in South America and it is a disaster. Argentina went bankrupt a few years back and they had a capitalist democracy and went bankrupt a few years back. Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela these are all democracies and through these democracies they have elected leftist and populist leaders but is that not part of having a democracy?? For the people to choose, even if not everyone agrees with it?? U group South America in that whole category under dictators yet the only dictator in all of Latin America currently governing is Fidel Castro. And if your want to talk about the past dictators, then you have to begin by the fact that the great majority of them were installed with the help if not because of the United States. And if u want a success story from a dictatorial government, many agree that it is thanks to Pinochet that Chile is the economic miracle it is today, so go figure. What Im trying to get at is that u can’t impose governments on people and think that its going to work the same for some as it did for others. There are different needs and situations to be met in every country and it requires that leaders take this into account when establishing a form of government.

Hey Sergey, well said. I think you and I are on the same page, and were so from the get-go. I think there was a misunderstanding about our take on illegals and their synonymity with latinos, which we both agree is not the case.

You can think I’m a prick - everyone is entitled to their own opinion - that’s what makes this the greatest country in the world, and I’m sure that sometimes I do sound cocky, but there’s a difference between being sure of one’s self and being opinionated. There is opinion, and then there is fact. If I’m getting cocky, it’s ususally when I’m speaking about facts. At least I try to keep it to that - I’m sure it doesn’t always turn out that way.

Opinion is when myself and someone might disagree on the concept of open borders. If you’re (hypothetically) an “open boarders guy” and you believe that there should be no borders and everyone should come and go as they please, that’s fine. I disagree with you, but it’s your opinion vs mine, and I think that’s great.

Fact is when we have tens of millions of people who undisputedly are breaking the law by coming here. I’m not talking about the semantics of why they come here, how they got here, etc. They *are* here, and it is a crime, and crime cannot go unpunished, and certainly cannot be rewarded with the very thing that the criminals were striving for in the first place.

I totally agree that it’s not feasible to round up 14MM people and deport them. Not that I wouldn’t like to, don’t get me wrong. I just think that it’s insane to even for one moment take into account the feeeeeelings (as the liberals love to say) of a group of people who are not citizens of our country, are breaking the law and need to leave. That’s crazy. We’re worrying about splitting up families by deporting them because “these people have established *roots* here, for God’s sake” (Ted Kennedy). Excuse me? Explain to me again why we care one whit what these people think? The thing that liberals love to omit or forget is that these people got *themselves* into this situation. They knew damned well that crossing the border illegally was, in fact, illegal. If they didn’t, they would just try to waltz across at San Ysidro or Otay Mesa border crossing. No, they cross in the middle of the desert, or drive the wrong way down the 805, packed 54 people in a van to avoid the Border Patrol and hit unsuspecting, innocent families in SUV’s and kill them. THAT is what irks me.

If people don’t like the laws on the books, work to get them changed - I have no issue with that. What I take issue with is the notion that our lawmakers are in Washington right now, arguing not over whether or not to enforce the law, secure our border in a post-9-11 world or go after employers who break the law, but on figuring out just how *much* we are going to give to the 14MM illegals who are here.

2 of my brothers paid their own way with out of state tuition to graduate from ASU. Midway through their tenure there, Arizona passed a law providing FREE college tuition for illegal aliens at all state schools. CA has a similar law. What a slap in the face that is. What kind of message does that send to people?

That is what drives me crazy.

Well put HROG and I’m sure if you would have laid it out like that from the start you would have seemed a lot more appealing to most readers.
No Josh, I strongly disagree with open boarders and here’s a couple of examples why. I know some people in a medium sized town in Nevada about 50 miles from the city. Anyway, this town use to be quiet and a crime was j-walking and a parking ticket (sarcasm). Then the illegal alien workers started moving in and with them the crime rate sky rocketed. Now anyone whose not a Latino gets harassed when walking down the street at night. There’s an ever rising drug problem along with Mexican Mafia problems and there’s even been drive by shootings. I’m not trying to stereotype Mexicans or illegal’s as being criminals but I am pointing out that ignorance breeds crime and corruption. What I mean by this is that when the farm jobs fill up and there’s no where left to work then a person who is illiterate and has no other job options open will usually turn to some other means of cash such as crime. Another example is there are businesses that fire employees that they pay let’s say $12.00 an hour to so that they can hire illegal’s to work for $4.00 or less an hour. Now the people standing in the unemployment line aren’t the illegal’s but the former good hard working citizens that lost their jobs because of cheap labor. This kind of falls in line with what was said in you’re last post when you pointed out that your brothers had to pay tuition just so they could see a law passed later that granted illegal’s with free tuition. I am not saying that this is the illegal’s fault because they live in a poverished country that sits next the only real super power and if they want to make money then all they have to do is walk across an invisible line to get here. No, this is the liberals and politicians fault because they allow illegal aliens to not only come here but stay here and live as if they were citizens who get free rides that the rest of us aren’t entitled too. So yeah, I absolutely support tighter boarder control. I think that the Government should build a wall so big that it would rival the Berlin wall. I also don’t think it would be possible to round up 14M illegal’s and send them home, but if businesses that hired them were penalized and fined then a good portion of the problem would be solved. No work, no reason to be here.

Can I just say something here for everyone who keeps slaughtering the beautiful English language? Here’s a grammar lesson for you:

“Your” is possessive. As in, “did you remember to bring your green card…”

“You’re” is a contraction of the words YOU and ARE. As in the following sentence: “You’re an idiot.”

Similarly, there are three general usages of the word (pronunciation-wise) TO. They are, in no particular order: TO, TWO, and TOO.

“I gave the sheet of paper TO you”

“oh, are you coming TOO? I didn’t realize”

“If I give TWO of these TO you, you will have TOO many of them to qualify for the bonus.”

These are not difficult concepts people. Get it right please.

Enlighten me as to why the American economy is “sure to hit rock bottom”. I realize you would have no way of knowing this if you use nothing but the liberal news media as your sole source of information, but take a look - the economy is quite literally booming.

Over 2 million jobs have been created over the past 12 months - and more than 5.2 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate is currently at 4.7 percent - lower than the averages of the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. The consumer confidence index is at the highest it has been in 4 years. I could go on and on, but it’s not even necessary.

So with that said, please tell me, when should I expect this economic collase you speak of? I sincerely hope you aren’t insinuating that the sudden enforcement of our border and interior security and the resulting lack of illegals is going to cause that, because that’s laughable.

How about not translating ANY of these songs into Spanish and calling them one’s own? They’re written in English and that’s our National language. The Star Spangled Banner is our National Anthem and there is no translation necessary. If people were actually interested in coming here and assimilating, you wouldn’t see this sort of thing, but they’re not.

I dont know about all of you but I am only in the US to take advantage of it, great economy and freedom to a great extent. Patriotism is overated. Some of you act like a country is important. It isn’t. Who cares about how great your country is? The question is “How are you doing?”… ?Donde Estas?

I dont care about the stupid song, i just dont want to learn spanish in the near future. Spanish speaking people can have this country when I am dead or when the ecomonomy goe’s bust and I have to move to another country. Then they can call it the United States of Taco Bell?

PS: If bush intends to build the great wall of bush around the border of mexico. Who is going to build it?……. Not the mexicans

Hey…VIVA MEXICO…I love the song, I heard and saw the video a few days ago, and I thought it was great…Not every Mexican over here knows how to speak very good english, and this is a way for them to understand what it means to be ***FREE*** and be treated the ***SAME*** Viva Reggaeton….Proud Latinos stand up and shine

Personally, I believe that just because Mexicans move here, we shouldn’t change everything including our anthem to suit them. Not to sound racist, but we didn’t go to Mexico and change your national anthem. I understand that the U.S. is supposed to be a “melting pot” of all people, and that’s what makes it such a great place to live– the diversity is what makes us unique. This whole new anthem is just starting more problems by making certain ethnic groups angry.