Latinos, and any other minority, have only to look at the pictures of U.S. Presidents, over the past hundred years, to see which party they have the best chances with?
   I try hard to not be biased.  Latinos, blacks, women, and any others, are treated with respect by me, until they show they don’t deserve that respect.�
  Knowing people trying to get U.S. Citizenship through legal means, I DO NOT believe ANYONE should be placed in line for citizenship ahead of them!
   Breaking the law to get here, and breaking the laws to stay, do not enhance someone’s bid for citizenship, with me!
   Latinas and Latinos have been a part of this country, since BEFORE it became a country, and that gives them a voice here, in my opinion.

There are three parties in Mexico,PAN,PRI,PRD.The PRD is the Communist Party(aMY gOODWIN WAS DOWN THERE TRYING TO GET THEM IN),PRI are the Democrats(Carville was down there,working for them)and PAN(Republicans).In 2000 the PAN took over.vIVE Vicente Fox.Mexico is booming because they embrace Laissez Faire.tHEY DON’t have welfare,they have the Nuclear Family.Affluence and technology bloom.

Chavos,Los Mexicanos no necesitan el estado grande,no necesitan el estado  Welfare.Cuidas sus familias.Los Mexicanos no estan communistas,los Mexicanos estan gentes libres.Vive Mexico.Mexico de mi corazon.

The Latino commentator claims that the Latino education gap is the fault of lack of government  financing of Latino pre-schools. That is a joke. This is one of the most bogus explanations for the staggering drop-out rate of Latinos in high schools across the country.

How about the fact that Latino families insist that their children speak Spanish, not English, in the home and in public? How about the debilitating taxpayer expense that the surge of Latino children with poor language and reading skills has caused in the public schools across the nation? And, even with that expense, the Latino students haven’t performed. This points to a Latino problem in the homes of Latino children. Not an American problem or a government problem to be solved on the backs of legal residents/citizens and taxpayers.

The victim culture of the Latino community in politics will reap the same effect as the victim culture in the African-American community. No amount of government intervention will change that as long as Latino families are self-oppressive by not acculturating their children in the home.

If we need immigrants so badly, why do so many come illegally?  

How do we reconcile the economics of population growth and environmental problems, overpopulation, etc?  This is obviously not a long-term solution!

Charlie Gardcia has articulated the critical nature of immigration. Even if immigration was not central to our national identity, it’s effect on economic demographics is a game changer for stance in the world. Because we cannot depend on babyboomer demand for Dentucream to support our economy  we need immigrant family formation to keep our country vital.

I was under the impression that the predominant language of Brazil is Portugese, and that the majority of the bilingual residents of Florida speak English and Spanish.

To the Immigration Lawyer (Liz I think) who called in. The words “Law abiding Citizens” seemed to be on the tip of your tougue.  I am tired of hearing the phrase that these undocumented immigrants are “law-abiding” citizens and should not be subject to deportation.  They broke the law getting here, period.  If they are not willing to come out of the shadows, get in line at the back, then they and their families need to be renting a U-haul. Yes, it is cruel.  Crueler still is to ignore the problems in their home countries which sparked them to make the journey here in the first place.  We need to correct our immigration problem at its source, not where it leaks out.  Our war on drugs, NAFTA, all these contribute to the flow of illegal immigrants. We are all guilty in this since we love to have our lawns cut cheaply, our dishes washed cheaply and our roofs laid cheaply. 

It is our greed, selfishness and fear of inflation that have helped to fuel this most of all. Of course Americans are unwilling to work for $6, 7 or 8/hour without benefits.  But Latinos and others are.  In fact they will work overtime at straight pay because the money means so much to their families back home.  Because of the real threat of terrorism we will probably never be able to do away with our barb-wire as Ron Paul envisions.  But we can do better by our Latin neighbors than we are right now.  I think if you are here illegally you should be given the chance to come out of the shadows, register and get in line. So what if it takes 12 years?  Surely it would be better than having to hide in the shadows the rest of your life in the hopes for an immigration amnesty.  I have been trying for years now to come to a kinder more gentle opinion on this, but this is the best I can do. charles

” There is no difference between race and ethnicity, they are both culturally constructed and have no basis in biology or any other quantifiable science. My Greek grandparents were not seen as ‘white’ when the emigrated.  The perspective of the U.S. dominant culture has changed, but Greek people are still Greek people. ”

posted by oopsie

Pure denial.  Though your Greek grandparents might of been seen as greek; to equate their experiences with the african-american (both latin and North american) is really quite nieve, with all due respect.Greeks, Italians, Jews, etc. were not brought over to the new world (again either latin or north america) in chains and stacked like sardines in the hulls of ships, in the dark for weeks, marinating in their own piss and s**t like trash.  And then for the next 350 years worked to death literally on sugar plantations, cotton, tobacco, etc.Bought and sold, whipped, mother and son separated forever, and when escaped, hunted down like dogs and murdered.Then once freed from the bonds of slavery, oppressed by 150 years of apartheid, sub-jugation and rascist institutionalized exclusion from participating in society.This is the reality for africans either in Brazil, Mexico, Hispaniola, or South Carolina.  The white(european) man, whether in latin america or north america carries this burden.Not to mention the genocide of the indigenous american (again north or south) by the white (european) man.To ignore this historical reality when crafting policy, is hubris and ignorance in my humble opinion.  Respectfully.

I live in and out of Chelsea, Massachusetts for 10 years. I have tons of Puerto Rican friends. I noticed that Central Americans are more violent than other Hispanics. They love to steal and tissed Chinese people frequently.

Why does the mass media and pundits assume that all Hispanics (Hispanophones) and Latinos are concerned with immigration because of their illegal resident status? There are many Hispanics and Latinos that are legal (immigrated legally) and do not support illegal immigration. Hispanics and Latinos are a diverse group of races, ethnicities, nationalities, and status. They are not a monolithic group of people with the same agenda as presented in the U.S. mass media. Unfortunately, the voices supporting illegal immigration have created a mass media myth that immigration is a major Hispanic and Latino issue; it is only an issue for all the shameless law breakers crossing the border.

I want to hear more creative, pragmatic, bipartisan solutions, like these possible ones:

1. Cutting the problem at its root by imposing a hefty fine against employers who employ illegal immigrants, and provide a whistleblower provision giving whistleblowers a portion of the fine if they provide proof (thereby cutting the enforcement costs).

2. Amnesty to certain long-term residents with a family member here by paying a sanction of all back taxes owed since entering the country, with a certain minimum based upon a minimum wage since a lot of people will have been paid under the table.

3. Providing a lot more guest worker permits.

There needs to be some type of mix that involves penalizing employers, cutting the cost of enforcement of checking employers, providing a reasonable amnesty to certain immigrants, protecting our borders, encouraging growth in population, and penalizing lawbreakers but not unduly punishing family members, especially U.S. citizen family members.

The Latino Vote is not defined exclusively by immigration issues. To continually position Latinos as interested in this single issue only is as much a misnomer as trying to define all conservative Republicans by the abortion issue. I’m Puerto Rican and the issues that are most important to family and community are centered around the ENVRIONMENT – specifically, support and create locally owned businesses (to create less of a dependence on job sucking/environmentally ravaging corporate America businesses and to build a sense of pride and ownership in the community); eliminating food deserts in urban neighborhoods (which would have a direct impact on improving the health of Hispanics in urban communities, lowering incidence of diabetes and lower the cost of healthcare!!!).

These are not “Hispanic” issues – these are AMERICAN ISSUES!