Mexican classes hold back U.S. immigrants
by Thomas Elias
REMEMBER the "Hymie Kaplan" short stories in which Leo Rosten during the
1950s comically chronicled the ever-eager efforts of a generation of
immigrants to learn English and assimilate into American life?
If Mexico has its way, there will be no such effort from the largest
current wave of immigrants to America.
For more than two dozen public school districts around California that run
adult education programs are allowing, even encouraging, the Mexican
government to provide education for Mexican immigrants - legal and illegal.
Does anybody see something amiss here?
The so-called Plaza Communitari project is part of Mexico's announced
policy of trying to prevent its expatriates in the United States from
losing ties to their homeland. Other tactics Mexico has tried: a failed
attempt at getting most Mexican immigrants to vote in that country's last
presidential election and issuing of consular identification cards to
illegal immigrants.
The Mexican moves are a concerted effort to prevent their expatriates from
achieving the kind of assimilation that allowed previous waves of
immigrants to become part of the American mainstream.
When Mexican teachers paid by their government are instructing Mexican
expatriates both in live classes held in Spanish and via Spanish-language
teaching sessions offered on the Internet, they are not required to teach
American values of democracy, tolerance and equal rights. Nor are they
promoting loyalty to America in this country's newest large immigrant
group.
The immediate aim is not, as some anti-immigrant groups maintain, to stage
some kind of reconquista, Spanish for legitimate owners retaking land from
conquerors, but rather a hope that many current immigrants to America will
return to their home country and not stay here.
For many current immigrants, legal or not, came to America because they
were unable for a variety of reasons to finish high school in Mexico and
thus could not get work in their home country. They are paid many times
more here for the same kinds of menial work that is about all they can hope
to find at home without a high school education.
Meanwhile, school districts in California and other parts of America say
they hope that when schoolchildren see their parents take studying
seriously, they will too.
Most of the instruction is done in local public schools where the highly
successful 1998 Proposition 227 ban on bilingual education in public
schools, except where a majority of parents sign waivers to bring it back,
does not apply to adult classes.
Because they also try to teach immigrants some English, Mexican consular
officials who supervise the classes bill them as a way to help the migrants
get along better in America.
But the subtext is clearly spelled out in several online statements about
Plaza Communitari: Educate immigrants so they can return to Mexico with the
knowledge and skills to find good jobs.
Nothing there about helping them assimilate and build better lives in
America.
Which means that while teaching literacy in both Spanish and English
undoubtedly makes a positive contribution to the lives of Mexicans living
here, in the long run it may also harm them.
For no matter what Mexico tries, few Mexicans who are here legally have any
intention of returning permanently to their previous homes. Similarly, most
illegal immigrants make constant efforts to stay in America rather than
returning to Mexico.
Anything that causes these immigrants to renew links to their old homes and
discourages them from participating fully in American political life does
them a disservice, whether they know it or not.
American history plainly shows that the more active an ethnic group becomes
in American politics and the quicker its members learn English, the sooner
members of that group begin to advance in society. At the same time, the
more active any ethnic group becomes in politics, the more government
services will come its way.
Which means that while Plaza Communitari may provide a temporary boost to
some of its students, on the whole it will likely have a negative impact on
Mexican immigrants who want to stay in America.
Yes, it's convenient and cheap for public school districts to embrace this
Mexican government program. But in the long run, this is something that can
do more harm than good to the very persons it is intended to help - while
at the same time deepening the resentment many American citizens feel
toward Mexican immigrants.
Which means that the fewer school districts allow this program and the more
that replace it soon with classes in English-as-a-second-language and other
skills instruction, the better.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_5930267?source=most_viewed
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PLEASE EMAIL THESE LINKS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW:
"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather MacDonald
www.City-Journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
www.PredatoryAliens.com
www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org
www.DayLaborers.org
www.Alipac.us
www.ImmigrationWatchdog.com
www.AmericanPatrol.com
www.SaveOurState.org
www.EscapingJustice.com
www.MothersAgainstIllegalAliens.org
See the COLOSSAL costs of illegal aliens to the American taxpayer:
www.ImmigrationCounters.com
---------------------------------------------
"Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
("For The Race everything, for those outside The Race nothing")
-- Motto of MEChA, one of the nation's largest publically-funded
organizations with cells on high school and college campuses across the USA
(Note: Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says he "used to be" a member)
---------------------------------------------
：How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico；
By John Dillin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0706/p09s01-coop.html
Excerpt:
：General Eisenhower ... quoted a report in The New York Times,
highlighting one paragraph that said: ．The rise in illegal border-crossing
by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than
1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation
in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters
of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal
Government ..."
：Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said the
president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took
office.
：America ．was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large
scale,・ Mr. Brownell said. ．When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of
thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint.・"
--------------------------------------------------
Just two of MANY American cops murdered by illegals:
www.DeputyDavidMarch.com
www.KrisEggle.org
"Unfortunately, the majority of illegal aliens who are here are engaged in
criminal activity. Identity theft, use of fraudulent Social Security
numbers and green cards, tax evasion, driving without licenses represent
some of the crimes that are engaged in by the majority of illegal aliens on
a daily basis merely to maintain and hide their illegal status. In
addition, violent crime and drug distribution and possession is also
prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison
population are illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of
felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal
aliens."
-- Testimony of District Attorney John M. Morganelli before the House
Subcommittee on Immigration, Border, Security and Claims [Note: 99% of
warrants for murder in Los Angeles, California -- the USA's 2nd
most-populous city -- are for illegal aliens]
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of
men."
-- Samuel Adams
"：All great truths begin as heresies.；
-- Former Democrat Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm, official of
Defend Colorado Now, a movement opposed to illegal immigration
and public services for illegal aliens
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