Quoted from Admin

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Quoted from Shadow

It's a very different world now than it was when our country was first being settled. The immigrants who came here in 1890 worked hard, became citizens, and contributed to the developement of the country. With the new laws in effect today everyone who reaches 65+ or- is entitled to Social Security whether they paid into it or not. If there are children we have to pay for them thru the welfare system even though they don't pay hardly any taxes. Where are we going to get all the money to fund these programs from if we let all the immigrants who want to come here into this country. I think Rita is living in lala land and is out of touch with reality.

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literate immigrants pose challenge
BY HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH The Associated Press

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Before Bob Jansen can teach English to the adult immigrants in his lowest-level class, he has to show about a quarter of them how to hold a pencil.
    Adult education teachers like Jansen are finding themselves starting from scratch as uneducated immigrants and refugees from confl ict regions of Africa and rural areas of Mexico and Central America fl ock to the United States.
    An estimated 400,000 legal and 350,000 illegal immigrants are unable to read or write even in their native language, according to a July 2007 report from the Migration Policy Institute, an independent Washington think tank.
    “It takes a lot of patience to teach this class,” said Jansen, a teacher at the Don Bosco Community Center.
    During one recent session, Jansen drew male and female stick figures on the board and taped pictures of different modes of transportation alongside the sketches. Students crafted sentences like, “He is on the orange airplane.”
    His students, including five Somali women clad in long head scarves, also recite the alphabet and practice vowel sounds. Others in the class come from other African countries as well as Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
    One of the students, Rebeka Goup, did not attend any school in her native Sudan before she come to the United States in 2000.
    “I need to learn English to talk to people,” said Goup, who is one of the most fluent students in the class but speaks in broken English.
    Asked in English where they are from, many of her classmates respond with their names or addresses.
STRUGGLING STUDENTS
    The immigrants, some of whom attended school for the first time in refugee camps, tend to flounder alongside classmates who attended school in their native countries.
    More states are looking at student performance as they decide how to distribute federal dollars to programs that provide English classes for adult immigrants.
    Those who teach the students say they are penalized for slow progress, and are discouraged from offering them separate classes.
    “One hand of the government is letting preliterate people come here as refugees,” said David Holsclaw, director of Don Bosco Community Center’s English as a Second Language Program, which serves about 2,500 students a year.
    “And another hand of the government is making it hard to serve them because they want to tie our funding to testing.”
    It’s easy to understand why immigrants struggle if they aren’t literate in their native languages, said Barbara Van Horn, co-director of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Pennsylvania State University.
    “They haven’t made the connection between their oral language and the fact that what is printed, those letters represent sounds that are used to make up words,” she said.
    “They don’t have that basic understanding of what literacy is about.”
    Cheryl Keenan, director of adult education and literacy with the U.S. Department of Education, said the completion rate for adult immigrants in the lowest-level classes was greater than for the highestlevel classes.
    But she acknowledged that service providers are “quite challenged in how to address the instructional needs of these beginning literacy students.”
    Service providers first began noticing large numbers of unschooled immigrants after the Vietnam War, when throngs of Laotian Hmong refugees arrived with no traditional written language.
RENEWED ATTENTION
    Heide Spruck Wrigley, a fellow with the Washington-based Center for Immigrant Integration Policy, said the latest immigration infl ux has refocused attention on nonliterate immigrants.
    She said programs seeking to serve the lowest-level students know more about what works and what doesn’t than they did after the Vietnam War. But programs continue to struggle.

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AND PLEASE DON'T DEMAND THAT WE HAND OVER OUR
LIFETIME SAVINGS OF SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS TO YOU
TO MAKE UP FOR ''YOUR'' LOSSES.

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And, because I make this statement
DOES NOT mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE IN MY COUNTRY.
Welcome to come through like everyone else has.
Get a sponsor!
Get a place to lay your head!
Get a job!
Live by  OUR rules!
Pay  YOUR taxes!
And
LEARN THE LANGUAGE LIKE ALL OTHER
IMMIGRANTS HAVE IN THE PAST!!!

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The problem isn't the immigrants, but America's immigration policy
First published: Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Your recent coverage on the new Arizona immigrant laws was good, but simply astonishing in the implications. It never fails to amaze me that our citizens and representatives don't seem to connect the common threads of some social problems.
     
Some see a dire "immigrant problem," where the issue is really an immigration problem: The U.S. has simply fallen into an almost medieval view of the world since 9/11 and is severely curtailing access to the country, when we desperately need the talent, energy and labor of our newest immigrants. Who do you think will perform essential services, pay taxes and balance the budget, and pay Social Security in this still-young century?
Few in the U.S. want their children to grow up to be laborers, maintenance staff, highway workers, janitors or service staff, or to change sheets and bedpans in nursing care, or other humble but essential positions. Immigrants are willing to do so. Do you think the Minutemen who so bravely threaten immigrants will care for you in your elder years? Do they do any tangible good? Fear is not the answer. Terrorists get passports and visas!
Our problem is lack of a modern immigration system, and fear by our elected representatives to pass appropriate legislation to deal with this. George Bush proposed a "guest worker program" and other worthy changes in perhaps one of his only good acts as president, in my opinion. But he didn't have the courage to take the heat and do the right thing.
Gov. Spitzer also had good ideas, but didn't build consensus for them, unfortunately further damaging hopes for clear-minded dialogue vs. demagogy. Most illegal immigrants are guilty of a legal "violation," less than even a misdemeanor. Some vigilantes on the borders feel they should be shot -- if so, we should also shoot those heroes when they drive drunk -- it's a bigger threat to our "security."
What we really should do is open our borders, not close them; welcome the eager, hardworking immigrants of this generation -- welcome them with an appropriate system of review and regulation, to ensure our security, but don't get lost in fear and "terror mentality."
Yes, illegal immigrants should go home -- most of them dearly want to, to visit families, but fear for their lives to return. A rational policy on immigration and guest workers would encourage regular returns to their homes, provide immediate guest worker visas, and have them return to do the many jobs waiting for them. They are our hope for the new century -- losing ourselves in isolationism will ensure our decline as a nation.
Let Lady Liberty continue to "lift (her) lamp by the golden door" of this dear nation.
PETER DESROCHERS
Ballston Lake

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Evansville, Indiana - Population 121,582

I know what you are thinking, "what does Evansville Indiana have to do with protecting our borders?" Well, let me tell you. It all has to do with The Shield, the University of Southern Indiana's student newspaper and an article written by J.I. Lutz. The article, should you choose to check it out, is called 'Insight on Illegal Immigration'. I can't type the first thing that came to mind after reading the article, but let's just say it had something to do with bulls and what they excrete.

I lived in Jeffersonville Indiana which is just across the Ohio River from Louisville Kentucky. I lived there for 3 years. The city, and the whole state for that matter, is so far removed from the actual problem of illegal immigration. Don't get me wrong, illegal immigration is everywhere but just not as concentrated as it is in a state such as Texas, a border state. Evansville Indiana had a population of 121,582 in the year 2000 and an estimated population of 115,738 in the year of 2006. Arlington Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas and sits between Dallas and Ft. Worth, had a 2006 population of 367,197. Just a tad bit bigger than, let's say, Evansville Indiana.

Back to the article in The Shield written by J.I. Lutz. The article starts out like this, "The presidential election season has kicked off an open season on immigrants". Okay, let's make a correction right off the bat here: it should read "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". J.I. Lutz is so mistaken here. The candidates are not, I repeat, are NOT making an issue of immigrants, but rather ILLEGAL immigrants. Big difference and if J.I. Lutz does not know that, then if I were Mr. & Mrs. Lutz, I would think about paying tuition to another school other than the University of Southern Indiana. J.I. Lutz goes on to say "The war in Afghanistan is not going well, and despite claims of progress by President Bush, we are stuck in a horrible quagmire in Iraq with no end in sight." Again, correction needed. When did we declare war with Afghanistan? For that matter, we haven't even declared war in Iraq. But if I'm not mistaken, Bush is getting slammed by Democrats and Republicans alike for pulling out of Afghanistan and turning our efforts towards Iraq. Again, I question the University of Southern Indiana if this is the best we can do as far as teaching our children.

J.I. Lutz goes on to write: "These are real problems that call for bold action from brave, visionary and courageous leaders.
Unfortunately, only a few of those people currently holding or running for office in this country possess those qualities.
Instead we seem to be stuck with a bunch of blow hard demagogues.
It's much safer for politicians to stay away from issues that really matter because taking a stand on any issue of real importance is bound to alienate someone, resulting in loss of votes.
Immigrants have provided a convenient solution to this dilemma for over 150 years.
They are the perfect group to attack.
They can not vote, and they are generally poor.
In this world, poverty is synonymous with powerlessness." Again, let's go back to the part where it says "immigrants". This again, should read, "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". What is it that people don't understand? There is a huge difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants. For starters, one is legal, one is not. Period. J.I. Lutz calls for a "Courageous Leader" to stand up to these issues. Uh....hello? Does the name Congressman Duncan Hunter ring a bell?

Here is another real interesting thing that J.I. Lutz had to say in the article, "Meanwhile, at the urging of U.S. corporations, Congress has repeatedly opened the flood gates out sourcing jobs to come into the country through programs such as H-1B. Thousands of technology workers have lost their jobs or had their wages reduced because of legal immigrants from counties such as India.
Tech companies like these workers because they are willing to work for lower wages than U.S. workers. These people represent much more of a threat to the U.S. economy than a bunch of people from Mexico here to do yard work and pick tomatoes. But the companies that benefit from their presence have the money to make large campaign contributions." Can we go directly to the part in which it says "....a bunch of people from Mexico here to do yard work and pick tomatoes"? Was that not a racist and bigoted thing to say? Trust me, illegal immigrants do FAR more than just the above described. They do construction work on roads. They roof houses. They work at meat packing plants so that J.I. Lutz has something to eat. They cut tobacco on tobacco farms in Kentucky. And let's not forget the ongoing drug problem that we have that the illegal immigrants have contributed to. Due to the fact that companies pay illegal immigrants, in most cases, with cash, they are able to offer lower wages which in doing so, keeps legal immigrants and native Americans out of jobs. Approximately 28 miles from Evansville Indiana, sits a little town called Princeton Indiana. Why is this of any importance? Well, let me tell you why. Toyota has a plant there. I wonder just how many family members J.I. Lutz has that work at the plant or how many relatives J.I. Lutz has had that worked at the plant. With a population just a little over 8,000, I am sure that Princeton relies on the folks over in Evansville to come to work at the plant each and every day. 24 hours a day. I wonder what will happen when the illegal immigrant has migrated to Evansville Indiana and decides that he or she wants to help build those pretty Japanese cars and trucks? J.I. Lutz goes on to say "Illegal Mexican immigrants, on the other hand, do not make campaign contributions so their only value to a politician is as political tool to be used during election campaigns". To that I say, "uh.....WRONG!". I wonder if J.I. Lutz has ever wondered just how much money is being payed to politicians by the so called 'Illegal Mexican Immigrant' to keep their mouths shut while they cross tons and tons of illegal drugs into this nation on a daily basis? Trust me, the illegal immigrant is very important to the politician. They have to be or else why hasn't the fence been built? What fence you might ask? The one that Congressman Duncan Hunter authored into law and was signed by President Bush. The wall that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas keeps finding a way to postpone the building of. Hmmmm, wonder if she could be taking some of that good 'ole green stuff called "hush money"? My bad, back to the wonderful article written in The Shield by J.I. Lutz in which Lutz has this to say, "....In 1867, California politicians successfully scared the public into thinking that there was a plot by the Chinese to annex the western United States by means of mass immigration."....hmmmmm, has J.I. Lutz heard of the ongoing LEAD BASED PAINT problem that we have going on in this country? If not, let me fill you in. It's coming from China. Does J.I. Lutz know who owns the majority of this nations debt? If not, let me fill you in. It's China. Does J.I. Lutz know what the theme of this years Olympics being held in Beijing China is? If not, let me tell you. It's "One World. One Dream" We didn't come up with that slogan. People of Evansville Indiana damn sure didn't come up with it. You know who did? I'm guessing the folks of China. The same people that J.I. Lutz refers to that pose no threat to The United States of America.

I will end with this: obviously the editors at The Shield, (student paper of The University of Southern Indiana), and teachers at the University do not want their students knowing the truth. I would suggest that J.I. Lutz do just a little bit more homework before writing such garbage. This is nothing more than an article written by someone trying to please a left-wing professor and get a good grade so that he or she can go out into society and become a part of the very biased media that has plagued this nation. Good job University of Southern Indiana. You should be proud of yourselves. Do something GOOD for your students and turn them on to Congressman Duncan Hunter. http://www.gohunter08.com/ I am sure once you get the facts on this man, you will see that he is ready and willing to address many, if not all, of the issues brought up by J.I. Lutz's article.

KP