Thanks, Strega, I am just now catching up since I've gotten home.

So that makes rioting okay? Shall we just give back Texas and California back then? Would that make something better? How does any country move on from its past evil deeds?

Shari, my response was not a "this is vengeance and doesn't it suck" thrown off post. It's more to do with a specifically post-colonial concern that, especially, Britain is encountering. It isn't about sins of past deeds; it's about real consequences of "owning" a massive amount of land around the world for a couple of centuries (and enslaving a lot of them) and now being responsible for the outcome of those occupations.

"Parenthood" is KILLING me. Gawd I love this show.

As a 1st generation American, with no grandparents who were born here, I realized I just can't process anti-immigrant sentiment at all, legal or not.

Word. I cannot be rational about the discussion of illegal immigration. My father came to the U.S. in 1965 on a tourist visa and never left. He legalized his status around 1968, with assistance from his employer, and became a citizen five months after my birth in 1974. If he would have never come to this country, I would have never been born. This is a man who never graduated from high school, but I consider him one of the most intelligent human beings I've ever met. I'm almost scared to think of what he could have done if he had the education. As it is, he is a successful business owner that is respected in the community, who has paid every tax ever required by the government (as an employer AND employee) for the last 45 years. Yet there are still ignorant people that walk into our restaurant TO THIS DAY, and tell him to go back to his country because he speaks English with a heavy accent. Sorry, he's just as American as you or me. These very same people are incensed when we cannot accept their WIC debit cards for a six-pack of beer. In this scenario, who is the bigger drain on government resources?

And I call bullshit on the language issue too. We speak Italian at home. I didn't really use English until I started first grade. My mother, who was born and raised in PA, LEARNED to speak it at the age of 33 so she could communicate with her MIL and BILs/SIL, regardless of their location. I speak four languages, including English, and that's probably three more than most "Americans," and by "Americans" I mean descendants of European immigrants who came to the New World. They are no more American than I am. Poverty and poor education are not going to be eradicated just by learning English and American ideals. Whatever happened to that basic American tenet that all (wo)men are created equal? I don't see any qualifiers in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution that limit basic rights to English speakers only.

France isn't retaining its culture by shunning and alienating Muslim immigrants; the country is doing what it always does when confronted with people who are not French. My father's sister and her family experienced years of overt discrimination when they moved to France in the early 1960s, from Italy. They weren't French enough then, and they're still not French enough, all these years later because of their last name. One difference - the reaction was different than what's happening now. Condemn the immigrants' reaction if you like (because it violates the criminal code), but don't romanticize France or Great Britain's treatment of the immigrants as a great struggle to maintain a cultural identity. It's xenophobia, plain and simple.

Oh, and Italy is not immune to this either: [link] and [link] This particular incident happened a half-hour from my father's hometown. It's just as upsetting there as it is here.

Immigration laws are absolutely necessary, but common sense should rule. Whatever happened to considering the totality of the circumstances? The current system obviously doesn't work all that well, so let's fix it, WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES of the U.S. Constitution. How ironic is it that Arizona is trying to manage illegal immigration illegally? If you think the feds aren't doing enough of the right things, then vote to change it, or lobby Congress to propose a constitutional amendment that puts immigration enforcement in the hands of the states. Just don't be surprised when a state then denies you entrance because you're Jewish or female or born on a Tuesday.

Or what Erin and billytea have said, much more eloquently and succinctly than I ever could.

Nah, I think you're pretty eloquent yourself, Maria. You should really go into a field where powerful rhetoric is valued. ;)

Maria, thank you for writing that.

Heh. I was thisclose to specializing in immigration law, and then I realized the overabundance of government shenanigans. I couldn't tilt at windmills everyday. Stephanie, I admire your desire and tenacity to deal with it all.

ION, sarameg's guest room is perfect as is. Rubbermaid tubs disappeared in the face of multiple snuggles from a certain Mister Kitty. His owner wasn't a half-bad companion, either.

edit: Plei and Cass, you're welcome. It just isn't my story; I'd venture to say that it's similar to the stories of a vast majority of the children of recent immigrants in this country today. Too bad we only hear about the stuff that paints immigration in an overwhelmingly bad light.

Maria, thank you for writing that.

Seconded.

Poverty and poor education are not going to be eradicated just by learning English and American ideals. Whatever happened to that basic American tenet that all (wo)men are created equal? I don't see any qualifiers in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution that limit basic rights to English speakers only.

::also loves Maria's very spicy brains::

Grazie, sorella.

Thank you, Maria. And everyone else who's had intelligent and thoughtful things to say on the subject.

Or what Erin and billytea have said, much more eloquently and succinctly than I ever could.

I thought you were perfectly eloquent. And with actual legal knowledge, which is always a plus. (During your comment on Britain and France, though, I did find myself asking "What if xenophobia is their cultural heritage?")

Oh, one thing I think is worth clarifying: the French government is not trying to ban headscarves. It's proposing to ban the full burqa. (The current opinion seems to be that their proposal is unconstitutional anyway, so anything that sticks will have to be watered down - possibly limited to places where they can cite separation of church and state, as is already the case in schools and the civil service, and places where security demands that a person's face can be seen.)