Immigrants

A couple nights ago, my beautiful, wonderful wife (hereafter: "bw") and I went to a pizzeria. The young man who helped us with our order turned out to be one of bw's students. Well, for any who do not know bw, I should tell you that she teaches English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESL) at our local high school. Because of the demographics of our community, all of her students are either from Mexico or their parents came from Mexico. All of which means that this young man who helped us is Mexican-American. Most (not all) of the employees appeared to be hispanic. This reminded me of an observation I've made various times in the past. To whit:


It seems to me that I see an unusually high percentage of student employees from non-anglo background. Depending on the community or neighborhood, these student workers may be East Indian, Hispanic, East Asian, Eastern European, or who knows. The point is that they moved here with their families at some point when the student was probably very young. Basically they grew up here and are basically bi-lingual. With that skill edge, they get an after school job. The young man at the pizzeria gets out of school at 3:10 and starts to work at 3:30.

I've heard various people complain at this point. I've received emails that criticize how the immigrants are taking our jobs and taking over our country. I heard a minister complain and criticize that the clerk at a fast food place did not speak clear English (I almost walked out on his sermon).

As I see it: These are the same complaints we've heard every time there was a wave of immigrants. When the Irish came, my ancestors (and maybe yours) complained that they didn't speak English right. When the Germans came, my ancestors (and maybe yours) complained that they didn't speak English at all. Same with the Italians and the Chinese and Japanese and whatever group came in a wave. My ancestors (and maybe yours) complained that these new immigrants were taking all the jobs because they were willing to work for less money. My ancestors (and maybe yours) feared that pretty soon we would all be speaking Irish or German or Italian or Chinese or whatever language was the fear of the day.

None of those fears came true. Instead, what happened?

Within 1 generation--2 at the most--those immigrants' children knew the language, maybe better than children whose great-grandparents came here. In 1 or 2 generations, these immigrant descendants had jobs or had businesses and employed other people. And why was this the case? Because they came with a work ethic that expected--virtually required--their children to get a job and contribute to the family budget. As a result, those children grew up expecting that they would work for what they needed. They grew up NOT expecting special handouts from the government. As a result, they became leaders in their community and even in the nation. (Do I really need to give a list of immigrant children/grandchildren who went on to national prominence?)

That brings me back to the young man at the pizzeria: I expect that in a few years he will have his own business and employ others. He certainly will support his own way and that of others. He will live his life as a responsible member of society. And our country will benefit from his participation.

He is not the exception. He is the norm. We hear about the exceptions on the evening news. That is why they make the news: Because they are not the norm. They cause trouble and we don't want them. But the vast majority of immigrants contribute positively to our society. The children will give more. And their grandchildren may well be community leaders.

Thank you for coming to the United States. We are glad you are here.