Please understand something....my maternal grandparents were Spanish speaking immigrants from Europe (Salonika, Greece, actually...long story). They came over as teenagers with other family members early in the last century. Right through Ellis Island...and not all the family was let in. One lady had conjunctivitis (pink eye) and was rejected for entry and a bunch (as the family story goes) of them went back with her and later died in WW II.
But my mother and her other four brothers/sisters spoke perfect, unaccented English, the kids were all given Anglo first names, and in a nutshell....they wanted to assimilate as absolutely soon as possible. Back in the day, woman didn't get out of the house much so my grandmother sort of spoke English but the entire rest of the family was letter perfect.
And, not a cent of public assistance/welfare/whatever you want to call it was taken...or even asked for. They worked....all of them....and worked hard. Parents and four brothers/sisters paid for one brother to go to college and become an engineer. In my generation, I and all of my cousins had the opportunity to go to college. Not all chose to do so, but many did and the family put out the resources to educate those who wanted it.
Many years later I'm a Lt. at Homestead AFB just south of Miami and I call my mother out and bawl her out for never having taught me Spanish. She asked why I was concerned....and so I told her that if I don't hablo then I ain't getting no dates with those hot looking Cuban girls in Hialeah. lol
And, what I outlined above is exactly what she said....that in her time, immigrants assimilated...immediately...grateful to be here and wanting to be one of us. Hence, me, my sister, and my cousins were not taught English.
And god forbid if one of the boys in the 'hood (Bronx, NYC actually....it was fairly nice once upon a time) committed a crime. If they did, they best hope the cops got to them before the men in the neighborhood who absolutely wouldn't tolerate any behavior that endangered their welcomed status in their new country.
And this ^^...and many other things I could wax on about...is the difference between immigrants who built this country and these fuckers illegally pouring over the border.
I'm sure that there are many on this board who have immigrant antecedents (and not just Spanish...how about Irish, German, Italian, Swedish, etc, etc) and have similar stories of their family coming here...legally...getting job, working hard, and advancing their family along the path of the American dream...one generation at a time.
