" Wow stay home and complain about immigrants taking your jobs. You guys are lame. Go to school, maybe a fresh of the border immigrant named Pedro wont be able to not only take your job but do it faster and way better than you could possibly do it. And tax money, tell me what illegal alien gets benefits from the government. You guys are probably mistaking legal residents and most of you lazy sorry S.O.B's for undocumented immigrants. They're taking over our states remind me of what used to happen in the 60's whe a black family moved to a surburban neighborhood. The truth be told you guys are illegal immigrants too exept your forefathers killed a bunch of natives to be here. I read an article about the dream act and bloggers wrote that they didnt care if a child was brought here by his/her parents when he/her was a baby the baby should still be considered a criminal, that's just ignorent. This just has to stop ... "

" We have a legal system for mmigration, even for temporary workers. Lines mean you have to wait your turn. If your not here legally we shall deport you legally. Caught a second time and any bills for your incarceration will be presented to your country and collected from them before your release. Non payment means your free labor for the state you were picked up in, until such time as the bill has been paid. None payment means your country doesn't care for you. "

" Wow. Can't we all just get along?

A modest reform would be ideal at this point. (ie: if granting amnesty, do it to the ones who deserve it). Now alot of people are going to argue "none of them deserve it, they're illegal and eat up taxpayers money." I agree with the taxpayers money, I myself don't want my enormously (about 8-10% Federal) large chunks of my paycheck being spent on the wrong people (people who mooch the system when they don't contribute).
But on the other hand, I don't want a hell of a lot more going to waste over the next decade or 2, or 3 til they "fix" it by sending everyone home. (ALL foreign individuals, not just Latinos. Latinos tend to ring in everyones ears, but if I remember reading correctly, the terrorists from 9/11 came in through Canadian borders, so go pitch a tent up north minute men :D)

I would much rather bite the bullet now, before the economy gets any worse. Sure, job markets will go up, but so will inflation due to the fact that everyone will be getting paid minimum wage (which is rising and causing inflation).

So, things like the DREAM ACT are on the right track. The past immigration reform that failed (while I hate rating people on a point based system, and treating them like a bunch of numbers. I too myself am treated like a number from our government) I believe, are steps in the right direction.
Give amnesty/hope/visas/legal working rights to the people who are hear to try and truly better the economy but can't because they're missing a visa and an inspection form (a personal interview, it has nothing to do with vaccinations, get it out of your heads). That's all that any "illegal" immigrant is missing to become legal.

So yea, let the government fix its poop and hopefully, with a sensible and rational minds, it will find an alternative solution as opposed to kick/amnesty all of em. "

" Yes, Ken is right. The only rational way to deal with this issue is to either change the 14th amendment, or pass legislation that defines what it really means. If children of illegal aliens were not automatically granted citizenship, the immigration problem would be helped immensely. "

" Love hearing from the lets just "hug everyone" people. "We are all immigrants".
etc. etc. How about putting pressure on Mexico to change, change the 14th amendment (anchor baby), take away business licenses who do not check the citizen status of its employees, we need to put actions in front of our mouths and mow our own lawns, yes the fence, no services except medical and that doesn't mean give a new baby citizenship from an illegal. "

" The pro-illegal immigrant special interests groups use the same MANTRA, as though by confusing the words is going to change the demands of the majority of logical thinking citizens and legal residents. Most national newspapers and the media, always categorizes ALL people who enter America as immigrants! There is a stark difference between those people who are inspected for contagious diseases, criminal backgrounds and have been issued a entry visa. People who ignore THE PEOPLE'S laws are illegal immigrants or illegal aliens? In most newspapers the editors have been brain-washed or lobotimised, because they refuse to illustrate the massive difference between legal and illegal. Their IS no exception to this rule. It is a travesty of our immigration enforcement laws!

Neither political parties can be trusted when it comes to the illegal immigration occupation of our country. More states are trying to enact strict laws for enforcement against predator employers. However, THE SAVE ACT has the teeth and packs the punch, to halt this pestilence overwhelming our wilting economy. Very few Senators and Representatives have THE PEOPLE' S best interest in mind. The Democratic hierarchy have specifically been pandering to special interest groups, and very few have offered to co-author THE FEDERAL SAVE ACT.

Keep calling your Democrat Representative today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-224-3121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to keep our country from enforcing its immigration laws!

Learn the suppressed news about the border fence at:
AmericanPatrol
"

" Illegal aliens are a plaugue they kill Americans at the FBI reported rate of 25/per day violently and in drunk driving. Illegal aliens sexually assault 8 American children/day. They mooch billions of dollars in welfare, foodstamps and 1005 free taxpayer funded education and 100% taxpayer paid healthcare monthly, all the while actual voting American citizens are left out.

It is clear that American's house and senate as well as our worthless president have sold their souls to their drug lord masters in Mexico City. It is tuime to vote these vermin out.

Call write, email and protest the invasion of America by the illegal alien invasion.

If peopel want to immigrate here and follow the rules we will open our arms and our country to them. If they come here illegally they need to be arrested, fined, jailed and deported roughly. "

" Maybe we immigrants have a chance with the uppcomming president!!!!
oh ! what happened my dear McCain with immigration issues?
Why, after your support to immigration issues, now you just do not say a word in your speaches and you totaly erased the word "immigration" from your site.???
now we can read "border security" only. Why did you changed so soon?
I S T H I S kind of person now the one trying to preside our country!
the metamorphosis reflects McCain's intensifying effort to consolidate his support among conservatives, who deride the Arizona senator's past proposals on immigration as offering amnesty to lawbreakers, and bitterly resent his work with Democrats, including Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, on the issue.
Republicans who support McCain say he has no choice but to abandon his past approach on immigration in favor of one that causes less consternation among conservatives virulently opposed to providing undocumented people with legal status.

"What kind of an idiot can't figure out the route that you took didn't work? You don't keep charging the center line when you're getting your head bashed in, and John was on this," said former Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss
You should still keep your promise to those 12 million tax payers...maybe if you keep your promise i can still suport you!!! and I am not alone , i am the voice of a lot of precious voters!!!
"

" Maybe we immigrants have a chance with the uppcomming president!!!!
oh ! what happened my dear McCain with immigration issues?
Why, after your support to immigration issues, now you just do not say a word in your speaches and you totaly erased the word "immigration" from your site.???
now we can read "border security" only. Why did you changed so soon?
I S T H I S kind of person now the one trying to preside our country!
the metamorphosis reflects McCain's intensifying effort to consolidate his support among conservatives, who deride the Arizona senator's past proposals on immigration as offering amnesty to lawbreakers, and bitterly resent his work with Democrats, including Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, on the issue.
Republicans who support McCain say he has no choice but to abandon his past approach on immigration in favor of one that causes less consternation among conservatives virulently opposed to providing undocumented people with legal status.

"What kind of an idiot can't figure out the route that you took didn't work? You don't keep charging the center line when you're getting your head bashed in, and John was on this," said former Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss
You should still keep your promise to those 12 million tax payers...maybe if you keep your promise i can still suport you!!! and I am not alone , i am the voice of a lot of precious voters!!!
"

" very soon illegal or legal immigrants will leave this country. cause with this current economy and dollar value dropping, people will wipe their a-- will dollar. or there may be better jobs in canada or mexico. greed and selfishness has destroyed many nations in the past. and this is an example here. so my mexican and canadian friend i hope you will treat me right if i move to your country one day for a better life. not like some people digging arab oil and kissing arab a-- for oil, killing arabs for oil, murdering arabs for oil, invading arab lands for oil legally or illegally does not matter for them. "

" It is sad. And it will be even worst soon what is going to happen with the American people when they leave their country. Many will pay because of some ignorants who live here and like to spread hate. In a country I came from, many people won't talk to me anymore just because I live here in US and write good things about US on my blog. It is amazing the hate towards the Americans. When I left there six years ago this country was considered a paradise, but now, because of a stupid war and lots of idiots who doesn't know s..t about immigration laws but like to raise hell about any foreigner living here legaly or not, everybody hates this place and every one living in it. It is not gonna take long until they start mistreat American tourists, wai and see it. We all depend on each other and we all should find a common ground where we can give illegals, (GOOD illegals, the ones who are interested in make the things right, starting with paying taxes like everybody else, back taxes included, learn English and respect the laws and not try to change America), a chance to become legal, not citizens, legal first, then, if in ten years they proved their good enough, then they can apply for citizenship. We don't want United States to become a latino country, when can make this country better with a little bit of latin spice on it, but, if they want to change this country to become like theirs, then is better they go back. We need good latinos and there is a bunch of them crazy to have an opportunity to come here and taste the American dream and they would do everything to do it, so, the ones already here must understand they have to do a lot more to pay for their mistakes, this is compreensive. "

" Viva La get yourself back to your own country to fix. You're so proud of your country but leave it due to your govt. can't support you nor does it want to. If you want to stay here how about speaking English first.
Gotta go. Like to mow my own lawn! "

" The only option this country really has is pass a positive immigration reform. You really have to use common sense. Just look around and see economic situation. Housing market and dollar value. Some say that they would rather pay few dollars more for grocery shopping and let Americans do farm job. I am telling you that people saying that will be firs in line facing foreclosure on their property. As far as Americans doing a farm job
I think it is some kind of a joke. Besides other obvious aspects it is physically impossible.
It comes down to the same point what Hillary C. mentioned ones as the health care problem solution, and that is the overweight. An average person born here would have to be on diet for a year at least to be physically able to do a farm work. I know many are angry now but this is the reality.

"

" NOW is the time for the Reconquista! "

" If responsible immigration reform does not occur soon at risk will be Idaho’s multi billion dollar agricultural industry as well as the security of our nation’s food supply.

Congress has for far too long ignored the immigration crisis. This travesty is dividing the American public. Immigration has morphed into a dire national security issue with numerous societal and economic implications. Festering since 1986, the problem has left the American public at an impasse which can only now be conquered by true political leadership committed to change.

This dire socioeconomic issue has been recently recognized and has risen publicly. But, it has been made worse by talk radio and due to a complete lack of congressional will. Immigration reform must now be spun anew in order to successfully move forward. It is no longer an immigration or an amnesty issue. It is an economic stability and security issue. The Idaho delegation must work with others in Washington to find a workable immigration reform solution.

It is amazing, that foreigner’s still wish to labor in the United States shouldering numerous unwanted jobs while facing bigoted rhetoric by those who have become comfortable and in some cases lazy. Striving only for the opportunity to dream about a better life and for some the chance to become a citizen of our great nation is all that the foreign worker really desires from America. These workers make some wealthy but really as a whole they only make what is left of the American middle class even more comfortable. Foreign workers, leave behind their native country and what would often be considered by most Americans unimaginable and unacceptable living conditions. For what? Working hard to support their families at home, by supporting American families and our economy here for the chance to build a better life - this is the only true impact of their labors.

That foreigner labor interests keep coming to America is a good economic sign. It is a sign of a strong economy and healthy society. The day foreigners no longer desire what America offers will certainly be a disastrous global event signaling the societal and economic demise of America.

The nation must ask – “Which is better?”– farms and businesses with a foreign labor force paying taxes and supporting our economy within the US border or farms and US businesses in other countries not paying taxes and taking advantage of the US economy.

The thought processes must be reversed. Twelve to fifteen million undocumented workers are not a liability. The perspective should be that this incredible work force is an asset, a client base and an opportunity. Any profit minded business would never discard twelve million potential clients. And, neither should this nation. Americans must develop creative and supportive means to reverse the talk radio media mentality that has declared ownership of the issue and thus far smothered common sense - making common sense not so common.

Farms and businesses require a willing and accessible labor force. Congress must construct a conduit to get government out of the way, letting good people hire a legal foreign work force. All around the nation, good people want to hire hard working industrious upstanding and law abiding individuals whose only wish is to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers. Only Congress stands in the way.

What can be done? American’s must speak out. The vast majority are not engaging. Only the screaming left and right are being heard and reported upon. Again, common sense is not prevailing. Secondly, an all inclusive modified guest worker program must be implemented. Such a program needs to be user friendly, streamlined and accessible. As a whole, Americans do not realize that there are federal immigration programs that bond workers with jobs, track guest workers, pay wages higher than state minimums, provide HUD approved housing, transportation and hopefully from time to time offer a sense of family and community. Are these federal programs perfect? No! But, that is why together we must ask for responsible reform. That effort must start here at home in Idaho in collaboration with national efforts to move Congress and shut down the talk radio mind set.

We have not lost this fight yet. However, many have not realized that this is a fight and it is going to take courage and a willingness to get up and stand your ground to fight for economic commonsense, social fairness and the American dream. The other side has the momentum. However, it is the hope of many that what the opposition has also failed to realize is that this is a fight. Idahoans, agriculture, businesses, church groups and those who strive for human decency are the proverbial “sleeping dog.” If they continue to abuse those who know what is right without providing means to a working solution the outcome will not be well for those kicking the dog.

The time is now to speak out and support Idaho agriculture, business, the American middle class and a legal foreign worker program that makes sense for the worker and America.
"

" I am NOT racist you dummy. but think about it: whose going to do your cheap labor? Exactly. & we know how you guys oppose illegal immigration: but just Hispanics are closer to the United States, doesn't mean you have to put all the pressure on them. Why don't you clean up aile 7 or tell your mother to do it? "

" Thank you for displaying both your ignorance, and obvious hatred. Very few people are against immigration. Most people are against illegal immigration. Now, cleanup on aisle seven, Terry. Thank you.
"

" To all of those who oppose immigrants: You guys ARE Ignorant. Learn your statistics right, & then run your mouth. In the store I work in, your white people come in with the Food Stamp card all the time. Latinos tend to pay in cash since that's how your race pays them. You came from Europe, then go back. That's all you Caucasians do, want more & more for yourselves, but aren't willing to be just with what you do. I bet none of you are willing to work in the farms at such extreme temperatures, & get paid less. You want things to be done for you, so learn to live with it. Don't run your mouth thinking your bad: YOU AREN'T. Half of you aren't even earning a college degree since you guys are too busy fudging around & also producing too many kids you guys can't support. & then you go into abortion. What's wrong with you? DON'T FUDGE AROUND IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE CONSEQUENCES. Then you try blaming the Immigrants & assume they are taking money away from the Social Security. Please, how can they take out money if they are illegal as you say? Exactly. It's the opposite: they ARE putting money into the Social Security for your dumbasses. & they are least likely to reclaim their taxes unlike you. So remember, learn & think before you speak. "

" Kick those who speak Irish and French out? Are you kidding? America is being overrun, yes overrun!, by mexicans. In the past, those who immigrated wanted to become an American not change America. Can you say that about those coming from mexico? I know, not all are like that, just way to many! Also, I don't want to split up families. If kids came from illegals send them back TOGETHER to mexico. We need to change the anchor baby laws! Open Minded - How about opening not just your mind but your eyes as well! "

" dont worry we have a lot of space here in america, for me everybodys welcome. "

" It's really simple. You either adhere to the law when hiring employees, or you don't. You're either here legally, or you're not. If someone is using someone elses Social Security # to get a job, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for identity theft. We don't need any softer immigration laws. We need the ones that are already on the books enforced with real world punishment, that would make the risks outweigh the benefits. Including, lifetime exclusion to U.S. citizenship if you're caught here illegally, and hefty fines for employers. Additionally, repeal the 14th ammendment that was intended for the children of slaves, not for children of illegal's, and we'll be off to a good start. Rewarding those who willfully break the law with the gift of U.S. citizenship sends the wrong message. I emmigrated to this country legally, and I'm proud to be an American citizen. Or, we can all join Conagra, Tyson, etc., in their conga line, and loosen things up for their temporary profits. If you're looking to Larry Craig as a moral compass in this situation, send up a flare, because you are genuinely lost. "

" This is for ken and vic first of all you know that you do need those immigrants have you ever thought of what might happen if you just kicked all of them out many companies would be out of workers, famalies would be split apart and their children would not get the education needed to suceed in life and they would turn to crime. As for the assimilation how can you prove that many speak spanish and fly the Mexican flag openly what about those people who speak irish or french openly and fly their flags proudly are you going to kick them out as well. "

" CL writes a detailed description of the history of immigration to North America, but starts out with the observation that the Latino immigrants are no different then those who preceded them.
While there is an element of truth in that, there are differences in the current conditions. There are a lot more people in the world today, and the earlier immigrants were coming for keeps. That is, they couldn't just walk back and forth over an imaginary line on the ground. They had to board a ship and spend several weeks getting here. Going back isn't easy.
Perhaps if something could be done to prevent the runaway population growth, and prevent every child of a guest worker from becoming a citizen, there would be less opposition to their coming.
"

" Oh please. Spare me the indians where here and we come from immigrants again argument. If you don't like the LAW then change it, don't break it. We have a way for immigrants to enter LEGALLY. As far as Maria goes. How about sending her back. I cook my own meals, mow my own yard, and believe the American people are not helpless. Take a look at the E.R rooms, the welfare lines, overcrowded schools, etc. and tell me that there are no problems and that these illegals pull THEIR OWN weight. NOT! Get of your la la land. USAUY really needs a reality check. Gotta go, I think a Indian is coming to kick me out! lol "

" Ok! So you mean Legal people pay for illegals leaving here... WRONG!Illegal people pay taxes As a legal immigrant does.Ah ! are you a native american ? You do not seem to be one of them... I could gess , if not you, your parents, if not them your grandparents one day came here as IMMIGRANTS, AS me, as everyone here. HOW would you feel if the real owners of our land I MEAN Native Americans one day tell you Hey Yankee GO HOME!!! YOU WOULD HAVE TO COME BACK TO EUROPE, From most of us came!
EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD THAT EARNS HIS/HER FOOD WORKING DOS NOT DESERVE TO BE TRATED LIKE THAT.
Oh! i forgot to tell you that, while you are showing here, Maria is cooking for you and cleaning your home and Jose , your pool and an other immigrant is waiting outside your home, with your car keys!
"

" Today's immigrants are not different from other immigrants who have arrived here in the past. Throughout the 1800s, there was a huge wave of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, Italians, Polish, Russsians, Jews, who arrived on our shores with no knowledge of English. These newcomers encountered the same racist nativist bullshit that is being heard today. It is estimated that four million Italians and three million Slavs arrived during that time. More than two million Jews also emigrated to the US. These people were poor and illiterate. They could not read or write in their own language, much less in English. Germans and English also arrived in the millions to escape political instability and food shortages in their countries. Newspapers of the day decried that arrival of these aliens and condemned the corrupt governments who sent these people to the shores of the United States.



Riots erupted in opposition to the presence of these immigrants. Just like in the previous century, when Germans were accused by Anglos of being the cause of all ills in society, immigrants were scapegoated.



The Irish fled Ireland starting in the 1840s to escape the deadly potato famine. Millions of Irish arrived to the American continent, almost a third of North America's immigrants. They were escaping political corruption and certain starvation in their country.



Most immigrants came for economic reasons and were part of extensive migratory systems that responded to changing demands in labor markets. The American economy had needed both unskilled and skilled workers through much of the nineteenth century. But after the 1880s, the demand was almost exclusively for unskilled workers to fill the growing number of factory jobs. More than five million immigrants came to the US during the 1880s alone. Southern and eastern Europeans, dislocated from their land and possessing few skills, were attracted to the burgeoning industries in the United States.



Like today’s Latino immigrants, Italian immigrants were particularly likely to take heavy construction jobs after arrival in the US. About half of all late 19th century Italian immigrants were manual laborers. Contracted out by a professional labor broker known as a “Padrone,” Italians dug tunnels, laid railroad tracks, constructed bridges and roads. They were mostly young, single, and had little money. The Irish immigrants had few technical skills, and their agricultural skills were limited to the spade-culture of potatoes and animal tending. They were half-starved, weak and destitute. A New York Times Editorial, June 2, 1874, urged the US government to turn a million Italian beggars into prosperous citizens.



Too poor to leave Ireland when the Potato famine began, families found passage on overcrowded, fever-ridden ships after unscrupulous businessmen discovered they could make money transporting desperate people to the US. On these "coffin ships," as they came to be known, many of them died during or just after the trip, but they had no choice but to leave for a better future or to starve to death in their own countries. These aliens had no skills, no tools, no education. Sometimes immigrant men had to be supported by their wives and daughters who worked as domestic servants in hotels and private homes, while they themselves worked sporadically sweeping streets, tending horses, cleaning stables, cutting fish, and performing any other menial work they could find.



The Italians immigrants were escaping poverty from their country, unemployment, high mortality, no medical care, little or no schooling, poor housing, semi-starvation, and exploitation. The majority of immigrants around the turn of the century were males who worked and saved money to send back to their families back home. Shipping companies made large profits by carrying immigrant aliens to the United States. They would bring cotton, wood, and crop cargoes to Europe and on the return trip bring immigrants to the US. There was hardly a city of any size in US that did not have a section designated as “Little Italy.” Italians would look to settle in these areas, for it was here that they felt free from the discrimination around them. This resulted in the formation of very definite ethnic communities: Irish, Polish and Jewish ethnic enclaves developed.



The majority of these European aliens entered the country illegally. For this reason, in 1891, Congress passed a law stating that those who had entered the country illegally could be expelled within one year. See Reports of the Immigration Commission (61 Cong., 3 Sess., Senate Doc. No. 758.) However, these aliens simply got off the boats, declared themselves to be American, and blended with the larger society.



By blaming immigrants for all the problems in their cities, politicians hoped to easily win election to office. In 1884 US congressmen decried that Italy and Hungary were shipping “as many cattle, large number of degraded, ignorant, brutal foreign serfs” to replace American citizens.



The racist media, which has always been the main conduct of anti-immigrant propaganda, proclaimed:



“These people are not Americans, but the very scum and offal of Europe…an invasion of venomous reptiles…long-haired, wild-eyes, bad-smelling, atheistic, reckless foreign wretches, who never did an honest hour’s work in their lives..crush such snakes…before they have time to bite.” See Public Opinion, I (1886), 82-86, iii (1887), 49 and V (1888), 432.



In 1882, the New York Tribune spoke against Jewish immigrants: “Numerous complaints have been made in regard to the Hebrew immigrants who lounge about Battery Park, obstructing the walks and sitting on the chains. Their filthy condition has caused many of the people who are accustomed to go to the park to seek a little recreation and fresh air to give up this practice. The immigrants also greatly annoy the persons who cross the park to take the boats to Coney Island, Staten Island and Brooklyn. The police have had many battles with these newcomers, who seem determined to have their own way.”



The Chinese immigrants also arrived, but they experienced more direct discrimination because of their non-European origins. There were numerous riots against Chinese miners in California in the mid 1800s. In 1885, the population of Eureka drove all the Chinese out of Humboldt county by threat of force. In 1885, there were anti-Chinese riots in Rock Springs, Wyoming. An Arizona newspaper editorialized against the Chinese immigrants who sent money back to their families: “The Chinese are the least desired immigrants who have ever sought the United States…the almond-eyed Mongolian with his pig-tail, his heathenism, his filthy habits, his thrift and careful accumulation of savings to be sent back to the flowery kingdom.”



The Montanian newspaper in 1873 editorialized against the Chinese: “We don’t mind hearing of a Chinaman being killed now and then, but it has been coming too thick of late…Don’t kill them unless they deserve it, but when they do--why kill’em lots.” In 1869, Montana governor James M. Ashley advocated” …Montana is better adopted to the hardy races of men and women from Great Britain and Northern Europe…” The Chinatowns that sprang up in cities like San Francisco and New York was a defense mechanism against the hatred and prejudice of the society around them. According to the racist newspaper editorials of the time, “The manners and habits of the Chinese are very repugnant to Americans in California. Of different language, blood, religion, and character, inferior in most mental and bodily qualities, the Chinaman is looked upon by some as only a little superior to the Negro, and by others as somewhat inferior. See Frank Soule, John H. Gihon, and James Nisbet, The Annals of San Franciso (1966).



Anti-Chinese riots occurred in San Francisco in 1869, and in Los Angeles in Chinatown, when whites descended on the area and burned and looted businesses, beat the Chinese , and killed at least 19 Chinese during four hours. See “Chinese Massacre at Los Angeles in 1871,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California (Los Angeles, 1894), C.P. Dorland. In 1877, a similar even took place in San Francisco when whites attacked the Chinese ghetto in San Francisco. In the California Constitution, Article XIX was added in 1879, which forbade employment of any Chinese in any public work and allowed any city to expel its Chinese residents. In the 1850s, the California’s Supreme Court stated that Chinese were Indians, and similarly as with Mexicans, they could not testify in court against a white man.



Between 1820 and 1890, fifteen million people immigrated to the US, 2/3s of them from Germany, Ireland and Great Britain. The majority of the British immigrants were paupers.



It was during this period that the Know-Nothing organizations were created in response to the arrival of these new immigrants who were considered different from "true Americans". Immigrants were often lynched by mobs. Riots were common throughout the nation to protest the arrival of these undesirables. Irish immigrants were considered by nativists to be lazy drunks. Poles, Italians and Jews were considered to be racially inferior and to be detrimental to America society.



The Know Nothing Party feared the arrival of Catholic Irish. They advocated banning immigrants from holding office, and a 21-year wait for citizenship. They used criminal statistics to show that Irish were the group with the greatest number of arrest in cities like New York. Eugenicists like Edward Jarvis published studies that indicated that immigrants had higher rates of mental disorders.



In the early 1850s the anti-Catholic Native American Party was established to attack the foreign religious elements of the German and Irish. Convents were burned, priests were driven from their pulpits.



Nativists blamed Catholics for unemployment by stating that Papal agents had unleashed millions of Italians on American soil to take away the jobs from native Americans. They stated that Catholics had started a run on banks to prepare the way for the seizure of the US government by Italy’s Pope. They fabricated a document “Instructions to Catholics”, which detailed a conspiracy by Catholics to control the American workplace. See Washington Gladden, “The Anti-Catholic Crusade”, Century Magazine, XLVII (1894), 790.



In 1855, German immigrants, who were routinely persecuted, were involved in deadly riots against Know Nothings in Cincinnati, Columbus and Louisville.



These immigrants were accused by the larger society of refusing to assimilate. Little Italys and Irelands could be found in major cities like Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, and New Britain, where they were sealed off from the wider American society. New Haven's Italian colony centered around Wooster Square. It was at first a neighborhood for the Irish. There were many large mansions in the area. However, after the Civil War, industry began flourishing and factories moved into the area. Landlords turned the remaining homes into multiple dwellings which became overcrowded and neglected.



In The Children of Columbus by Erik Amfitheatrof, he describes the worst of the padroni as "flesh peddlers" who recruited peasants from southern Italy, stuck dozens of people in disgusting tenements and took over 60% of their pay as their commission. Jacob Riis, an immigrant, described the horrors of these tenements in his book How The Other Half Lives. He reports "one room 12x12 with five families living in it, comprising twenty persons of both sexes and all ages, with only two beds, without partitions, screen, chair or table." In New Orleans in the 1800s, many Sicilians had settled in this area and were employed as fishermen or farmers. Italians were generally stereotyped as mafioso criminals. In 1891, the police chief had been investigating reports of what he considered to be mafia activity in the city. He was assassinated by unknown assailants and the backlash against the Italian community was hysterically racist. Suspicion fell on the Italians in the community and ten were arrested and put on trial for the crime. The mayor of the city had made an announcement to the press that "We must teach these people a lesson they will not forget for all time." All ten of the men were acquitted. However, after the verdict, a mob of 5,000 angry New Orleaneans stormed the jail and shot the men to death in their cells.



In "Restriction of Immigration"(Atlantic Monthly, June, 1896) Francis A. Walker warned that vast inpourings of southern European immigrants threatened to overwhelm and thereby degrade American culture and institutions.



According to Walker "for nearly two generations, great numbers of persons utterly unable to earn their living, by reason of one or another form of physical or mental disability, and others who were, from widely different causes, unfit to be members of any decent community, were admitted to our ports without challenge or question. It is a matter of official record that in many cases these persons had been directly shipped to us by states or municipalities desiring to rid themselves of a burden and a nuisance...while yet the patriotic American of to-day may properly shrink in terror from the contemplation of the vast hordes of ignorant and brutalized peasantry thronging to our shores...The arrival in the United States, between 1830 and 1840, and thereafter increasingly, of large numbers of degraded peasantry created for the first time in this country distinct social classes, and produced an alteration of economic relations which could not fail powerfully to affect population. The appearance of vast numbers of men, foreign in birth and often in language, with a poorer standard of living, with habits repellent to our native people, of an industrial grade suited only to the lowest kind of manual labor, was exactly such a cause as by any student of population would be expected to affect profoundly the growth of the native population. Americans shrank alike from the social contact and the economic competition thus created. They became increasingly unwilling to bring forth sons and daughters who should be obliged to compete in the market for labor and in the walks of life with those whom they did not recognize as of their own grade and condition. It has been said by some that during this time habits of luxury were entering, to reduce both the disposition and the ability to increase among our own population. In some small degree, in some restricted localities, this undoubtedly was the case; but prior to 1860 there was no such general growth of luxury in the United States as is competent to account for the effect seen. Indeed, I believe this was almost wholly due to the cause which has been indicated,--a cause recognized by every student of statistics and economics."



According to a 1911 study of the US Immigration Commission, the new immigrants "...has been largely a movement of unskilled laboring men who have come from the less progressive countries of Europe...They have...congregated together in sections apart from native Americans and the older immigrants to such an extent that assimilation has been slow." Citing from the racist book The Passing of the Great Race, a book by Madison Grant, the Commission stated: "The new immigration contained a large and increasing number of the weak, the broken, and the mentally crippled of all races drawn from the lowest stratum of the Meditarranean basin and the Balkans, together with hordes of the wretched, submerged populations of the Polish ghettoes. Our jails, insane asylums, and almshouses are filled with human flotsam and the whole tone of American life, social, moral, and political, has been lowered and vulgarized by them."



European Immigration to the US:



1841-50: 1.6 million



1851-60: 2.5 million



1861-70: 2.1 million



1871-80: 2.3 million



1881-90: 4.7 million



1891-900: 3.6 million



1901-1910: 8.1 million



1911-20: 4.3 million



1921-30: 2.5 million





Dr. Larry Laughlin, appointed as consultant to the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization in 1922, provided support to the anti-immigrant propaganda, by stating in testimony to congress that Italians, Slovaks, Russian and Polish Jews had three times the insanity rate of American natives.



Today, about 11 percent of U.S. residents are foreign-born, far short of the 14.7 percent who were foreign-born in 1910. "

" If this issue gets your blood pressure going like mine you need to write and phone your mayor, senators, etc. to voice your concerns otherwise you are no better than people who don't vote. We need to make our leaders protect Americans interest! "

" throughout history, mankind explored the world through travelling, warfare and migration in search of peace and harmony for better or for worse.Migration is a necessity for survival.Animals do it and colombus did it in search of a better home.majority of Iraqis r migrating creating a humanitrian crises.No one is happy to leave their home.

I have been around the world, met people, my first visit to US was very exciting and legal.for the first time in my life, I saw all nations, races of the world living side by side in such huge figures.Something u wont find in china or other developing countries.

but i do understand the concerns that American population have. Terrorist threats, economics and vice versa.But what ur doing is exactly what bin laden wanted u to do.They hate the american freedom and all we stand for.right? am from kuwait and would always have a soft spot for US.

AMERICA KEEP UR HEAD UP.GOT NONE BUT LOVE FOR YA "

" If you don't write / phone your mayor, governor, senators, supervisor, etc. and tell them to fix this problem you are wasting your breath complaining. It's the same as not voting. Actions speak more than complaining. "

" pay a decent wage. you'll have workers and you don't have to relay on illegal to do the job. If they get injured on the job it will end costing the farmer more in the long run. take a look at employeers hiring illegals its costing them the shirts of thier back if they have to pay for rehab. hospitalization, and workmans comp. take a close look when or if you hire illegals. We operated as a country more as a whole without illegal immigration. this just has been a hot topic scince 1986 because of Reagan. Cinton inacting new laws in 1996. The illegals are costing us and you taxpayers billions a year. "

" Ken, I'm right there with you. These people (illegals) need to get the message; get out! You're not wanted and not needed!

By the way, anyone opposed to illegal immigration should not even vote for McCain. Don't let him fool you with his rhetoric. He has not changed his position on the issue. Let anyone and everyone you know who plans to vote for that idiot, this fact. "

" OK, I'm gonna come out and say it. MOST of the illegals in this country do NOT try and assimilate. To many speak Spanish openly, fly the Mexican flag, and keep having babies that they cannot afford. They will march against the US, but not against Mexico who doesn't give a hoot about them. I'll pay the $3.50 for a potato is it means kicking these people out! Fine employers who hire them, no social services, no schooling, and do not make babies of illegals citizens. As far as who pays for the children left behind after parents being deported goes, how about the children go with their parents where they belong? What a concept huh? We also need to put much more pressure on Mexico to deal with their own problems instead of just shipping their people this way! "

" who cares "

" Tia .... you're going through this? So, instead of being an "immigrant", can it be assumed that you are an illegal foreign national alien in the U.S.? When haven't you had the chance to become "legal?" More importantly, why haven't you had the chance? "

" To those who responded to my post: Geez, stop whining like someone just gave you an atomic wedgie. Who do I think I am? I'm a disgusted, fed up taxpayer and voter. The poster who asked if I was the original american:
Nope. Never claimed to be. I'm a product of ancestors who came here legally, and in complete compliance with immigration laws that existed at that time. I'm also aware that not all illegals are Mexicans. I'm also aware that the overwhelming majority, however, are Mexicans. I didn't see
illegal irish, asains mideasterners, etc, marching in Los Angeles demanding rights, and burning small US flags. What I did see was tens of thousands of
Mexicans waving their flags, directing
vulgar epithets at any anglo that could hear it, saw their vulgar hand gestures, heard their insults, and saw their banners proclaiming them the only indiginous people of this continent. I also caught their act in Maywood, Ca. too wherein they took our flag down from the post office, stomped on it and raised the Mexican rag in its place. Whine all you want -
I stand by my original post of 1/9. Your have your opinions and I have mine. Deal with it. "

" Bill, who do you think you are. don't you know that this land was made for you & me. from california to the new york island, from the redwood forest to the gulf streams water. you are not God to decide who gets what. "

" What about the immigrants with children and family here. They get sent back they loose everything. I speak of this because I am going through this. The hard working, tax paying, bill payign people are the ones getting sent back. They need a reform that is fair and gives people with families and children here a chance to become legal. "

" When we ship these people out--who is going to pay for their children--who are US citizens by birth? You got it--The taxpayer. If you think our taxes are burdensome now--wait until we ship these "Illegals" out, and then have to raise all their Children. And, I haven't even thought about who is going to dig our ditches, pick our fruits and vegetables, and cut our grass.--Gee, I can't wait to pay $3.50 for one potato. Let's talk about inflation! "

" why bill are you ORIGINAL AMERICAN?? WHO DO U THINK U ARE "

" Hi I'm Larry "toilet tricks" Craig and I support this commentary:

Thanks for the vote Todd, oh yes and the "toilet paper". I'm glad you see me as the honest upstanding man I am for the American people on this issue. I mean we need all the positive press we can get. What with illegals killing some 25 Americans everyday according to the FBI.

Also I am delighted with the way corrupt businesses have found a way to profit by paying slave wages to illegal aliens and shifting the massive financial impact to the taxpayers. This has meant a really steady flow of payoofs & graft coming in uniterrupted to the RNC. Thanks again todd.

Oh yes and keep calling anyone who believes in the rule of law a racist. You all know how I feel about keeping my word or following laws I don't like. Laws are for the "little people" sort of keeps'em in line. You know what I mean, just look at the comments already in support of your position. These people are wholesale violating the law. I mean this is FEDERAL FELONY stuff. But they have the brass to put the common man and the idea of a Republic down. Man we have done some great work here.

I hope we can get more illegals to sue for rights and keep the backing of the ACLU attacking communites and crushing the will of the people. "

"
Bill, open your eyes!!!!, not all the illegal immigrants are mexicans, your comment:"Before you become another California, kick the illegal mexicans out". Is nothing but pure racism. "

" I don't live in Idaho, either. I live in California, which is pretty much over-run by illegals. Kick the illegal suckers out. This is an invasion. No mistake about it. Before you become another California, kick the illegal mexicans out. They will take over your state, too. I guarantee it. "

" For only one example: What does "we are a nation of immigrants" have to do with, in reality, Path to Dual U.S. Citizenship of Mexico (or whatever particularly CAFTA nation following Mexico's lead)as Mexico's central government insists for of its "Mexicans Abroad"---illegal and legal?



"

" Immigration does not effect everyone overtly. But it does effect everyone.

300,000 million people don't give a damn about your life. They care about there own.

So why is the immigration issue important to me?

Because it shapes who we are in America and it shapes our economy and everything we buy, purchase, who we interact with, who are children go to school with, what language we speak and virtually everything that makes up this great experiment called the United States of America.

So lets talk. Let's debate. And let's do it in an open minded fashion that includes the benefits that so many immigrants have provided and downside of our flawed immigration policy.

I hope all the politicians running for President will show the courage required to find the middle ground on immigration reform in the U.S. (I doubt it, but one can always hope.)

Please tell us what you stand for on one of the most complex issues facing America today. We are a nation of immigrants and if we intend on growing this country, the alternative is shrinking it, we need a comprehensive reform plan that takes into account border security as well as the benefits we have received from this growth of population and economy.

Angelo Mancuso
Director
"American Harvest" documentary - The Real Truth About Immigrant America
http://www.americanharvestmovie.com


"

" I don't live in Idaho, so I can't be of much help in building a local coalition, but I do agree that it needs to be done. Unfortunately the farmers do have a legitimate concern. With the hard-nosed approach that I.C.E. is taking toward employers, it is possible that farmers open themselves up to raids by going public. The only hopeful thing I can think of would be to have an umbrella organization large enough and diverse enough so that I.C.E. could single out any specific person or industry. That is what I thought the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was going to do on this issue, but their advocacy was too little, too late. Still, they may be the best group (if they get stronger in their advocacy). And contacting them for advice on starting a local group certainly wouldn't hurt. Thanks for trying, Mr. Nelson. "