Illegal Alien's (Part 2)

I had a response to my last Gripe on illegal alien's by an anonymous Griper which made me think a bit more on this subject.  Many of you think that the R2G is only a place to vent your anger on, however it is also meant to make you think and debate topics of interest.   Here is that response followed by the R2G response.

ANONYMOUS:  I agree with much of what you wrote, but at the end, you need to be a little clear on facts. The time of many of our grandparents, coming to the U.S. was as simple as going through Elis Island. There were no passports, visas or sponsors required. What many claim was the right way wasn't really what people think it was.  As far as speaking English. The United States has two states where English is not the native language, plus many territories and of course Nordeast Pennsylvania. These people ARE citizens of the United States. So, do we simply ignore their heritage and/or needs?  Additionally, the press 1, 2, or 3 or literature in other languages is simply smart business. Why should any business owner limit their potential customers to those who only speak English. Are you that fat and lazy you can't press 1?  Larger cities are tourist attractions, even the Poconos get international travelers.

It is true that many moons ago when our grandparents came to America they did not need the mountains of paperwork that is now required.  They also did not have to pay a bucket full of money or have a sponsor to get into the country either.  They came to America with hopes and dreams as many do even today.  However, as anonymous stated they came through Ellis Island which was the correct thing to do at the time.  The current illegals are being trucked in, tunneled in or running in from everywhere and anywhere.  They are not doing it the right way!  If we let our borders wide open to anyone who wanted to come in, our population would be 10 times what it is now.  The government has put rules and laws in place that govern how people become citizens for a reason.  It has checks and balances in place so not every Tom, Dick and Jose can become a citizen.  It also slows down the flow of people coming in so we are not way overpopulated. 

As for the English part, I remember my grandfather who was from Poland saying to my grandmother, "You are in America now, speak English".  He was an American and proud of it.  He thought that part of being a citizen of the U.S. was to speak the official language.  I can tell you I cannot remember ever hearing him speak Polish.  His English was somewhat broken, but it was English.  As for the two states where English is not the native language, I can only guess that those two states are Hawaii and Alaska.  I may throw Louisiana in there because they do speak a lot of French.  However, native language and official language are two different things.  My grandfathers native language was Polish, but America's official language is English.

I do agree with Anonymous on his or her point concerning businesses having multi-lingual telephone systems.  Yes it is good business.  However, the Lowes store in Edwardsville, Pa does not need all their signs in English and Spanish.  Hell, in Edwardsville it should be English and Hennabonics if anything.  A store chain like Lowes recognizes that the majority of people coming into the U.S. speak Spanish and prefer to speak their "native" language.  I still believe that if you come to America, speak English.  If I were to relocate to Paris, I would learn to speak French and pretty fast.  I would most likely speak English in my home, but would adapt to my outside surroundings.

I guess the bottom line here is that people are coming into the U.S. illegally and taking jobs.  The key word here is "illegally".  Business owners are hiring them, "illegally", paying them under the table "illegally"and raking in more profits "illegally".  I think I see a trend here.  IT'S FREAKIN' ILLEGAL!