kulotsalot

click on one of our sponsors! OR REMOVE ADS

Does it help or ruin the countries who accept immigrants? I mean I'm one myself, I work and pay taxes and contribute to the economy, but I constantly hear some people say that there are too many immigrants, we're stealing jobs away from native Canadians, we're diluting Canadian culture and identity into a mish-mash of things, etc. Sounds like the same stuff that people say when talking about ILLEGAL immigration. Does a piece of paper saying that I came here legally make anyone feel better about the fact that I am here, and I am occupying a spot that someone native to Canada could be occupying?

rjsincs

i think its a lot more than a piece of paper that makes you legal. i think being a legal immigrant means you have a semi-traceable record, you pay taxes, you contribute equally to society, etc. being illegal means that theres no concrete record of who you are and what your past includes which includes anything from being a perfect citizen to a serial killer. also theres no real way to verify taxes and governmental contributions like social security etc.

i dont think the majority of people, including myself, have a problem with legal immigrants because at some point 99% of us were legal immigrants. i think the uncertainty of illegals is what scares most of us. also i think its a big deal to have an immigrant incorporate and meld into society by learning customs, languages, and traditions. no one cares if immigrants celebrate their history or speak their languages or follow their traditions but when they expect the country to cater to them more than others as seems to be the trend in America anymore thats when people get up in arms.

so it seem that you have embraced us (USA or Canada) and so we have embraced you. you may not have been born here but since you have made the effort to become a citizen then we welcome you here.

___________________________________________

Jackie-0

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!


What Canadian culture? Poutine???

___________________________________________

Juan.©amaney

Although a joke, I tend to agree as it has a deeper meaning than face value. When people think "american" what exactly does it mean? Indian? British? French? Spanish?

I tend to think of the US as a dynamic entity. It was built by immigrants, it will continue to thrive off of them. If some people can't stand that other people, immigrants, are here doing jobs they are overpaid to do, then tough shit.

___________________________________________

kulotsalot

I'll throw the question back at you. What is American culture to you? If an immigrant asks you "How do I become American?" what would you say?

CD

I think of everyone who bitches about others "diluting" their country as basically being the new KKK members. Seriously, this entire country was diluted from settlers who butchered the Native Americans. This country is a melting pot and will always be that. The intolerance of others is a dangerous thing...

___________________________________________

Krasch

The problem I'm seeing today in Canada, that didn't happen a few years ago, is that unlike the old days where immigrants were encouraged to assimilate and integrate into a cohesive society nowadays immigrants come to this country ostensibly to find a better live but instead choose to isolate themselves from other people and make their own little enclaves a mirror of their old country. Not be part of Canada, but make Canada as shitty as the place they left.

Worse still, our government, the real villains here, promote this behaviour by trumpetting their fricken' "multiculturalism". But it's only allowed to promote OTHER cultures, not the culture that already existed here.

Now the cultures that built this country are becoming strangers in a strange land, only that land is their home.

onlyalad

And I think that is what is upsetting the US people as well. It divides a country. People get into their comfort areas and try to make something familiar. It can add or it can subtract. I enjoy mexican, Indian, Japanese, German, Italian and most other foods and cultures. I think most Americans do as well.

The problem lies when a group becomes an island and isolates itself from the rest of the culture. You go to 4th street in Santa Ana here and there is no unity with the rest of the county or state or country. It is the same as a part of Mexico city. The reason, I believe, most people come to the US is to have opportunities they could have received which they left. Then by ignoring what they wanted to receive and turning an area into a copy of what they didn't want in their country of origin they end up denying themselves what they really wanted.

Now the next issue is legal versus illegal. With legal immigration, the people who are admitted are screened. The admitting country knows something about them and what they can contribute. To use the melting pot theory, we want a good mix of meat, potatoes, carrots and whatever else to the stew. However if someone keeps throwing potatoes in uncontrollably, then we no longer have stew we have potato soup. Also if you think about who comes here illegally, it is not the rich or educated. It is the people who are struggling most. I don't blame them for wanting to better themselves. If I was in their position I would do the same. The problem is the stress on the system. The tax system in the US is a quasi socialist system. The rich pay more in taxes to help support the poor. Now if we keep getting more poor the rich have to pay more. Soon we don't have enough rich to pay for all the poor.

Some of these issue are now starting to hit Canada. As people get fed up with their own countries they see Canada as an escape. With lots of open space people see somewhere they can old into their idea of what a perfect culture should be. They way they think their country should have stayed. However unlike the US, Canada is letting them in legally because any of these people are going to be tax payers. Canada's minority rate is 16%, the highest ever, mostly from Asia. It is expected to reach 20% in the next 10 years. Canada is encouraging this because it needs a younger population to pay taxes to support its aging citizens. Most industrialized countries have low birth rates and as people are living longer you need young people to pay the bills.

Ok you all stopped reading my rant a while ago so I will stop for now.

Krasch

Actually I read the whole thing...

Worse still is that Canada, as of the last figures I read, lets in 48% of all refugee claims, whereas the US was around 25% as I recall, and most European countries were near or under 10%. And on top of letting near everyone in, in an effort not to discriminate against so-called visible minorities, jobs actually end up going preferentially to those "visible minorities" while the rest of us, who were BORN in Canada, get told increasingly in effect we need not apply.

I don't object to immigrants or minorities per se. I have many who are friends, my dad was an immigrant in fact. I object to people coming over here expecting us to remake our country in their image and the government falling over itself to help them. It's a fact that you can write your Ontario driver's license test now in CHINESE despite Chinese not being an official language, and no street signs are in Chinese. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Canada and the US need to start looking after their own people first, because god knows the countries these immigrants come from now wouldn't bend an iota to look after them were the circumstances reversed.

Krasch

While it's undeniable that the settlers got into some nasty conflicts with the Native Americans, let's not buy into the Disney fantasy that those Native Americans were all peaceful and living in harmony until the evil white man came along.

They were equally adept at killing each other as it was, so saying the settlers "butchered" the Native Americans is stretching things a bit.

CD

I never said it was a Utopia here before the settlers arrived. But to say that I'm stretching?? Seriously... even most black people in America will admit the Native American was shafted even more then they were.

___________________________________________

johnbanks

you want to be an american but the first thing you do when you get here is break a law ...christ

kulotsalot

Um, yeah, the thread is about LEGAL immigration, so you might want to rethink that answer...

joerockhead

I have no issue with LEGAL immigration. It is a positive thing, especially for the USA, since we are 90% immigrants. We are changing our country and becoming elitist if we are not careful.

I also do not have a real hard issue with the Illegals, most are hard working people.
There is a small percentage that are scum, just like our own citizens.

What I do have issue with is everything changing to fuckin Spanish! We need to have 1 language. English is the Majority and it should be Mandatory. I do not care if you are Bilingual, but speak English!

At least we do not have to Speak Canuk!!! Eh?

___________________________________________


Visit the worlds best website -
www.badass67.com - Black Sunshine