# Immigrants **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897 "2016-01-12T03:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![garyg7890](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6de8d8/32.png) [@garyg7890](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garyg7890)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/1 "2016-01-12T03:56:47Z")
Immigrants One of my deceased brothers – in law landed at Ellis Island in New York harbor in 1923 when.he was eight years old. He was stationed in my hometown during WWII and met my sister at a USO dance. Love took its course and they were soon married. When the war ended he returned to New Jersey where his family settled after they emigrated from Italy. Together with my sister they had four children. He refused to allow his children to speak Italian saying; ”You’re Americans. Speak English.” Those seeking the blessings of the United States would do well to consider my brother in law’s thankfulness in being able to escape the poverty and lack of freedoms in the country of his birth. When deciding to immigrate to another country the candidate for citizenship in their new home should be willing to adopt their customs and religion. What they do in their own homes is up to them, but when they go out in public they should dress like the rest of the population and speak the language of their new home. They should obey the laws and support the National Pride by adopting its patriotism. Ingratitude speaks very clearly when local customs are ignored and other nations flags are made superior to ours when displayed publicly. If you love Islam so much, go back where you came from. If you cannot adjust to the local form of dress, go back to the country that you came from. Don’t come to America to be a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist. If conditions were so good where you came from go back home and don’t thumb your nose at our benevolence. My first wife, (now deceased), was Black and my present wife is Filipino, so I have no racial hand-ups. Three members of my present wife’s family have become American citizens. They have all contributed to society in very meaningful ways. Two sisters are registered nurses and the brother is a retired bank advisor. A Fourth of July celebration at my wife’s niece’s home spoke of gratitude for being able to live in the United States of America where they can enjoy a much better standard of living and freedom from want. Patriotic banners and American flags decorated the back yard where some 50 or more people gathered to celebrate the birth of the greatest nation God ever allowed to grace the world. Citizens of every major racial group attended in American style clothing. I will end by saying, “Come to America to be an American not a person of another country transplanted here to gain the blessing but refusing to adopt our ways. America is a great place. Love it by adopting its ways, language and religion or go back where you came from.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/2 "2016-01-12T04:00:28Z")
So we should have emulated the Indians. They were here first. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/3 "2016-01-12T04:02:54Z")
And no Irish! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/4 "2016-01-12T04:04:58Z")
Dad, is that YOU? Have you stopped slapping Mom around, yet? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/5 "2016-01-12T04:10:04Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And no Irish! Ah, prairie shit! Everybody! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/6 "2016-01-12T04:17:16Z")
I would say people who are intolerant of other people’s ways of living are the ones who should find some other place to live. The Constitution makes no establishment of religion. People who practice Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism are exercising their rights as Americans, whether they were born here or came from somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/7 "2016-01-12T04:18:29Z")
The OP is pure xenophobia. Immigrants, please disregard it completely and continue to share your native cultures with your new country. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/8 "2016-01-12T04:29:09Z")
> [@garyg7890](#): > > Immigrants > One of my deceased brothers – in law landed at Ellis Island in New York harbor in 1923 when.he was eight years old. He was stationed in my hometown during WWII and met my sister at a USO dance. Love took its course and they were soon married. When the war ended he returned to New Jersey where his family settled after they emigrated from Italy. Together with my sister they had four children. He refused to allow his children to speak Italian saying; ”You’re Americans. Speak English. Well, your brother-in-law ins’t very bright, since it’s possible to speak both. And beneficial, too. > [@](#): > > I will end by saying, “Come to America to be an American not a person of another country transplanted here to gain the blessing but refusing to adopt our ways. America is a great place. Love it by adopting its ways, language and religion or go back where you came from.” What religion is that? ---
**Author:** ![garyg7890](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6de8d8/32.png) [@garyg7890](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garyg7890)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/9 "2016-01-12T04:30:40Z")
The Irish as well as immigrants from many other cultures have become patriotic citizens. They, as well as those of other cultures have supported the American way and have become patriotic Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/10 "2016-01-12T04:44:02Z")
If you want to speak English, go back to England. > [@garyg7890](#): > > The Irish as well as immigrants from many other cultures have become patriotic citizens. They, as well as those of other cultures have supported the American way and have become patriotic Americans. I wasn’t aware that “Muslim” was a language. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/11 "2016-01-12T05:21:28Z")
> [@garyg7890](#): > > The Irish as well as immigrants from many other cultures have become patriotic citizens. They, as well as those of other cultures have supported the American way and have become patriotic Americans. As a transplanted Irishman, if I wasn’t drunk off my ass right now, Boyo, I’d…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/12 "2016-01-12T05:55:23Z")
Questions for the OP: Why are Christian immigrants allowed to bring their religion to America but Muslim/Buddhist/Hindu immigrants are not? And where do Jews fit in? Are Jews allowed to come to America and remain Jews or are they supposed to convert as well? Are you okay with immigrants coming to America as long as they’re Christian? Or do you think Mexicans should be forbidden even if they’re Christian? Why is it okay for a Christian to come to America if he speaks Italian but not if he speaks Spanish? Bonus round: Did you know that less than one percent of the American population was Catholic in 1776? And most early calls for restricting immigration were based on keeping Catholics out? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/13 "2016-01-12T06:03:25Z")
I just looked at the OP’s profile. He’s a retired American living abroad. I wonder… ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/14 "2016-01-12T06:32:37Z")
Check out the current Canadian Minister of Defense, Harjit Sajjan, and then get back to me on ‘patriotism’ and the ‘need’ for assimulation. When did American’s like yourself, decide it was ‘patriotic’ to completely abandon the highest principals contained in your constitution? Specifically the enshrined right to whorship any God and practice their faith? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/15 "2016-01-12T06:42:46Z")
> [@garyg7890](#): > > Immigrants > One of my deceased brothers – in law landed at Ellis Island in New York harbor in 1923 when.he was eight years old. He was stationed in my hometown during WWII and met my sister at a USO dance. Love took its course and they were soon married. When the war ended he returned to New Jersey where his family settled after they emigrated from Italy. Together with my sister they had four children. He refused to allow his children to speak Italian saying; ”You’re Americans. Speak English.” My grandmother’s Italian-born parents had the same attitude. Teaching children to hate their heritage is a horrible thing. I was born and raised in America, but I emigrated. Should I forget everything about being American now? Should I pretend it never happened? Say “fuck you” to the memory of my grandfather, who fought in WWII, or his grandfather, who fought in the Civil War, or his great-grandfather, who immigrated from what is now Germany and fought in the Revolutionary War? After all, I’m in another country now. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/16 "2016-01-12T06:45:15Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > So we should have emulated the Indians. They were here first. And their soft stance on immigration led to their eradication. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/17 "2016-01-12T06:48:45Z")
I just gave myself a medal for a correct guess based on Sajjan’s name 🙂 I like seeing mixed marriages, and how they deal with their specific issues. My classmates who had a foreign parent invariably learned that parent’s language from childhood; my brothers and I have long regretted that our mother didn’t teach us her own. Back then, those languages were German, French, Italian; now you can add Dutch, Arabic, English, Chinese, Japanese. Often the “local” parent insists that (s)he’d like the kid to grow bilingual as much as possible and without forcing the issue, while the immigrant may be less keen; an argument I’ve heard and which convinced the Chinese wife was “I can’t have a conversation with your mother except by gestures, I’d like our child to be able to speak with his Grandma, even if it’s only a little”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/18 "2016-01-12T11:52:01Z")
Note the join date. He doubtless joined just to post that. Off to learn Navajo. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/19 "2016-01-12T12:17:00Z")
> [@garyg7890](#): > > The Irish as well as immigrants from many other cultures have become patriotic citizens. They, as well as those of other cultures have supported the American way and have become patriotic Americans. Yeah, you’d never see them marching down the street in stereotypical Irish costumes talking about how proud they are to be Irish and how great being Irish is. That’d be ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897/20 "2016-01-12T12:26:58Z")
I guess it’s good they came over in 1923. If they’d waited a year, they probably wouldn’t have made it. New immigration regulations were enacted, largely because of [fears](https://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/readings/debate-congress) about language and values, that severely restricted immigration from Italy (and other places, but southern and eastern Europeans were the main target): > [@](#): > > Today we face the serious problem of the maintenance of our historic republican institutions. Now, what do we find in all our large cities? Entire sections containing a population incapable of understanding our institutions, with no comprehension of our national ideals, and for the most part incapable of speaking the English language. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigrants/742897.md?page=2)