La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for July 04, 2010

The English were even ruder, they thought the Irish were less than human and people, Greek like me, were all Turkish black folk that just looked white

Yeah, Us Irish had a great time coming to this country after half our island were murdered by the English in 1848-1850. America just opened up their arms to ‘those lousy Papists.” Some of my ancestors came in chains, but we weren’t the first white slaves in the land of the free. They blocked employment everywhere. We were the laughingstock of every editorial cartoon and editorial. Did we ask for government help or did we work and educate out way out of poverty? Took lowly civil jobs no one wanted. Worked the mines and railroads. We earned respect.

But if you want to enter illegally and expect handouts and health care, a lot of folk have no problem with that. LBJ created the Great Society and I’m sure our current administration would like that to last another 50 years.

Lew. Most “illegals” come here to work harder than any of us are willing too. I hope you are able to eat your strawberries in peace protected by your newly shingled roof.

Being of Irish heritage, I still recall Nina whose name so often appeared in the newspapers employment pages. (No Irish Need Apply.)

There really does seem to be two Lews. One has a great sense of humor plenty of solid human sensitivity and the other seems to have no sense whatever. Kind of reminds me of me.

Sorry, Lew, about talking about you “behind” your back.

leozia2 Teabaggers? Seems you the one doing the hating here. How terrible of people to want our laws enforced & obeyed.

What so many people who post here don’t seem to understand is that until 1882 there were no immigration restrictions in the US. Anyone could come here. The first exclusions applied to the Chinese and then to other Asians. It was not until the 1920’s that we started to put limits on non Asians. So when you say that your ancestors came legally, that was because there were no laws. What might they have done if we had restrictions? Come in illegally?

Latino wasn’t in the language back then, though Ladino was probably spoken at a Sephardic deli in Harlem. We’ve been a mixed bunch from the start.

Lalo,

You left out a word in the first bubble - illegal. Actually, you left out many words. If you had put in the all-important word illegal in front of Latinos, you could have and should have then added words to represent people from every country. Most intelligent people have no objection to Latinos or any other nationality being here. In fact we are the better for them. But control of the borders, a federal responsibility, would prevent lawless, criminal individuals of every nationality coming here and diminishing the quality of life for all of us. And it is legal Latinos who suffer disproportionately the consequence of this abrogation of duty.

Get some perspective.

Paula Mochel

I had an uncle who was an illegal immigrant from Canada (to Arizona). In the days before everyone had a birth certificate, you only had to have witnesses to certify that you had lived in the community for a certain length of time and you could vote. No one ever suspected. I think he would have been at least amused.

AGAIN, BECAUSE IT IS STILL TRUE, In AZ & every other state. take away people who employ illegal aliens & there will be no illegal aliens. We reap what we sow. Just about everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence was as “native born” in America as any one descended from the North American Aboriginal tribes, thus, they were NATIVE AMERICANS! Just as the children of illegal aliens born in America are Native Americans & due all of the rights & responsibilities of citizenship.

The only Latinos that our founding fathers would have outlawed are the misguided ones that ignore and violate the nation’s laws and those who try demagoguery in the form of an outlandish cartoon. It’s the kind of bleeep that poses as journalism, and it certainly is not humorous. Try again, Lalo’ it’s you I’m talkin’ ‘bout.

So, are those of you supporting illegal immigration happy with your tax rates?