fushj00mang, I was a resident alien for about 20 years from when my family moved here until I was naturalized after I graduated from college. My family’s English, so we tend to be better thought of, as a rule than Hispanic immigrants. After all, we can hardly ruin the culture we helped create. 
Resident aliens do have legal concerns native born U.S. citizens don’t. When I started college, my parents told me there was a chance I could be deported if I were busted for underage drinking (I admit this could have been scare tactics). I had to go to greater than usual lengths to prove I was a resident of my home state so I’d be eligible for in-state tuition. Those greater than usual lengths included getting a fresh Alien Registration Card (green card) because the photo on the one I had was taken when I was a toddler.
Even though I’m now a citizen, I still have to have access to more piece of paper than native born citizens. Many years ago, the company I worked for was audited by Immigration and Naturalization Services because of the possibility we had hired illegal immigrants (we had; I don’t know if my employer knew or simply didn’t check documentation accurately enough). Even though I’d been naturalized years before, I had to produce a my naturalization certificate to prove I was a genuine U.S. citizen. Since I’d foolishly lost it, I had to take a morning off of work getting it replaced. If I hadn’t been able to produce it, there is a possibility that I could have been deported.
If you’re a native born U.S. citizen and you cause trouble, the worst that can happen is you get thrown in jail, probably with a few extra bruises. If you’re an immigrant and you cause trouble, the worst that can happen is you get the above plus a trip back to the country you were born in. Now, I’ve nothing against England. Indeed, I like it, and I’ve still got relatives over there who’d be happy to help me get back on my feet. However, I have a home, job, and friends here who I’m quite fond of, and I’d really prefer not to have to give them up. Not to mention, can you imagine filling out a job application and, where it asks “Reason for leaving” writing in “Deported”? :eek:
By the way, a hundred years ago, Chinese immigrants, legal and illegal were seen as a threat to this country’s national and moral character and were even referred to as an invasion. Popular opinion of them, including their refusal to learn to speak English, was at least as low as it is of Hispanic immigrants today. Check a book on American history if you don’t believe me. It seems the arguments remain the same; only the nationalities change. I wonder who the Hispanics will be complaining about a hundred years from now.
Getting back to the OP, what amuses me is I know a few completely non-Hispanic folks who’ll occaisionally toss out something in Spanish. I never did know what to make of the sales rep who was no more Hispanic than I am who habitually signed off his e-mails with “Gracias”. I’m glad he didn’t go to that school, though. I’m bilingual myself in Japanese and English and I agree with what the kid says. It’s natural for me to reply to someone in the language they speak to me. I don’t even consciously switch gears; it’s just automatic. It’s led to some odd conversations at times, switching from Japanese to English and back in mid-sentence at times, but it really does feel as natural to me as staying in one language, and I’m not even a native speaker of Japanese. I can see how his replying in Spanish would have been a natural and even polite response.
By the way, does anyone know what happened to the kid who asked the young man the question in Spanish in the first place? It seems to me there were two young men who weren’t speaking English in school, yet only one of them got in trouble for it. If anyone has more information, or if it was in one of the linked articles and I’ve forgotten that, I’d appreciate the chance to read it.
CJ
Feh.