Another Perspective on Mexican Immigrants
Here is a perspective that totally crossed my mind... but I got to talking about it last night.

My wife works with illegal immigrants at her part time job (names, location, and business undisclosed for their privacy). I had a good talk with her last night about this topic. These are her words, and you can quote me:

Quote :

""They don't believe this is their country. Most of the Mexican workers I talk to disassociate themselves psychologically by labeling everyone else as 'Americanos'. I guess it's a mental thing they do to distance themselves. I don't think there goal here is the 'American dream' you're talking about. [co-worker A] hopes to go back home once Mexico's economy gets better. [co-worker B] said that she still has family members in Mexico and hopes to return to her family. I mean, they work really hard. But, I think that's a product of their situation. They work hard because that's their goal. One evening [co-worker C] joked that he would have never worked that hard when he was in Mexico as we were closing up. The vibe I'm getting is that a lot of these people are opposed to the current bill. I don't think they want to be citizens of the United States. I mean, that's a generalization from my point of view. Maybe some of them probably do want to stay permanently, but a lot of them want to take advantage of the system then head back to their homeland.""

My thoughts
Why didn't I think of this before hand? I totally agreed with my wife last night (rare occurance... haha). Because I realized that I knew a lot of older asian folk who think exactly the same way. My uncles are loyal to their homeland even though a lot of them are naturalized citizens. Why get citizenship here then? Because, they basically get a free ride off of the Welfare system. They would fight and die to regain parts of Laos and Vietnam as a homeland. I have an uncle (on my wife's side) in Minnesota who actually leads a committee that supports going back into Laos and Vietnam and fighting for a piece of land. They sit around smoking cigars/cigarettes and concoct grand dreams of their new country. I think they're worse than the Mexicans.

My aunt recently came to the US on a visa. She's here to visit my grandmother (75 years and not looking good). It took her quite a few years and thousands of dollars before her arrival (as I've mentioned in other threads). She's working at my mother-in-law's restaurant. And she's working her butt off. I think it's just a product of her situation. Yes, back in Laos she would work hard, but not until the wee morning hours like she does now. She even begs for more work from discussions with my mother-in-law. Her goal is not to stay, but she's got to make the most of it (i.e. cash) before her visa expires. She's got a family to feed back home.

Conclusion
Is it safe to say that many illegal immigrants are thinking the same way? Do they hope for their country to get better one day? And on that day maybe they'll have the chance of returning to it when it's reached a certain level of greatness. Obviously, this is not how most immigrants think. But in the context of the current illegal population, this might not be too far from the truth.

Just another perspective for Americans to think about (when I say 'Americans', I mean people who don't have close relatives immigrants from another country. If you have immigrant relatives from another country, you might be able to relate to this).

6/6/2007 10:29:13 AM

I thought it was common knowledge that most come for the money and still like wherever they came from.

6/6/2007 10:54:42 AM

Then the answer is obvious: impliment a guest worker program so they can come and then go back home when they please.

6/6/2007 11:45:07 AM

^

yep... How does UAE do it? They've had a guest worker program for decades, but I don't know the logistics of it.

6/6/2007 11:50:46 AM

who gives a shit whether or not they want to be an American. They are here using our social systems and working US jobs without paying the taxes they owe to receive those programs. If I was to illegally enter Canada to get a 75k per year job and not pay taxes I would do it. Don't label me a Canadian though....

6/6/2007 12:18:37 PM

Eh, if the money was given to the Government it would just spend it. At least this way someone is getting some good out of the cash. I just wish we could all keep our money. So why should I be against 1% of the population getting away with what I believe everyone should get away with?

That said, aren't most immigrants poor? If they did file tax returns they'd probably make out on it, thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

6/6/2007 12:26:07 PM

LoneSnark with the win

6/6/2007 12:55:32 PM

Oh, certainly, a fair number do hope to move back, especially the single males who represent such a large portion of the illegal population. But there are also people like that who have subsequently brought up their whole families, or who moved up here as families, and these are the ones who, though they may talk about it, will probably never return to Mexico.

This has happened a number of times in our immigration history. I seem to recall that many of the Irish hoped to return after the famine was done, and then after that they said..."Uhhh...well we'll wait until the British are gone," and so on unto they were a part of the population to be taken for granted.

And let me point out before Republican18 comes in here talking about "la Raza" and all this other shit that there is a world of difference between living and working here while still considering yourself a Mexican, and wanting to take American land and annex it to Mexico.

6/6/2007 1:14:37 PM

Just wanted to update this topic with a recent event:

http://www.twincities.com/ci_6061556

General Vang Pao was the top Hmong general who aided the CIA during the Vietnam war. He was recently arrested from his home in California along with many others by federal FBI agents. Why? Because of a plot to overthrow the Laotion government. They purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in weapons from a federal agent and had a couple thousand mercenaries hired. There's been a 6 month long investigation. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

This goes to back up my claims that the older generation of Hmong immigrants still long for their home country.

6/8/2007 11:34:22 AM

From my own personal experience, most first generation immigrants, no matter why they came to this country (war refugees, persecution, economic opportunities) dream of returning to their homelands to help rebuild their countries. The problem is, once they start marrying and having families, they dream and hope is slowly replaced by a desire to raise their children in a better environment.

For all of her flaws, the United States is still one of the best places to raise children. Compared to many other industrialized nations, children here have more economic opportunities to succeed. This is my personal observation, but I know that compared to South Korea, life is much better here for a young person. High school isn't nearly as brutal of an experience, you have a much better chance of getting into a great college, and you don't have to fight as hard to land a good job.

Besides, for those second generation immigrants, the children of those who first came to the United States, they've grown up here and are much more comfortable and identify with their American heritage than that of their parents' homeland.

6/8/2007 12:19:17 PM

Quote :

"How does UAE do it?"

UAE is different...there is no chance of becoming a citizen unless you are already born a citizen into a local family. Much of the middle east is like that. Also land (not sure about now but it was true when we lived there) ownership was impossible for outsiders. You could only rent from land lords but couldn't actually buy property yourself.

6/8/2007 12:24:02 PM