One of the arguments constistently put forth by the advocates of large scale, unselective immigration (illegal and otherwise) is that immigrants from Mexico and Central America will eventually assimilate into American culture—just as previous generations of Germans, Irish, Czechs, Chinese, Vietnamese and others have done so willingly and completely.
Poke a pro-immigration “reform” politician with a sharp stick these days and instead of saying “ouch,” they blurt out a story about their tired, poor immigrant grandparents who were part of a huddled mass yearning to breathe free. Invariably, Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, the American Dream and, occasionally, Yentl are invoked. The next sound you hear is an assertion that all today’s smuggled-in, undocumented, law-flouting, Western-Union-money-sending-back-home-to-Mexico, no-income-tax-paying, social-services-straining, huddled masses want is the same thing.
But is that accurate? I’ll address that question in Part 2 of this post, but for now I commend to you (and especially to any recent immigrants reading this) Roger Clegg’s ten practical keys to smooth assimilation“:
- Don’t disparage anyone else’s race or ethnicity;
- respect women;
- learn to speak English;
- be polite;
- don’t break the law;
- don’t have children out of wedlock;
- don’t demand anything because of your race, ethnicity, or sex;
- don’t view working and studying hard as “acting white”;
- don’t hold historical grudges;
- and be proud of being an American.
Sure, we all know people whose ancestors probably came over with the Vikings who ignore about half of these rules. But it doesn’t change the fact that any new arrival that follows them will have put him or herself on a fast track to following the example of all those immigrants of yesteryear that are now being invoked with such vigor.