Tag: <span>immigration</span>

Published December 10, 2024 by

Who Inspires Me

statue of liberty with winnie in front posing as the statue. Photo taken October 2010
Winnie Under the Statue of Liberty

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Last Christmas my oldest nephew, Terry, gifted me a one-year subscription to “Storyworth.com.” This is a service designed to get people writing about themselves, in response to questions the subscriber selects. Storyworth poses a new question every week, and at the end of the year compiles all answers into a book.

I’ve been pretty good about answering the questions. Some have forced more introspection that I’m used to. Which is probably a good thing. One question that I’ve just finished answering deserves to be posted here, in consideration of the current wave of national xenophobia.

This is my answer to the question of “Who Inspires You?”

Continue…Who Inspires Me

Family Stories

America immigration Inspiration

Published January 14, 2018 by

Trump’s Shithole Country

Pres*dent Trump
Pres*dent Trump

So a couple of days ago our Pres*dent expressed his knowledge of world geography by referring to all African nations, the Central American nation of El Salvador, and the island nation of Haiti, as “shitholes.” This presumably also referred to the people native to those countries, as trump used his “shithole” comment to prove why those people should not be allowed to emigrant to the United States of America. 

I have something to say about this. 

Continue…Trump’s Shithole Country

Opinions & Commentary

Donald Trump immigration

Published January 29, 2017 by

We Are All Immigrants

Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty

All four of my grandparents were immigrants. One, my maternal grandfather, entered the US “illegally.” Both my first and present wives are immigrants. My first wife left the Philippines during the final years of the Marcos dictatorship, at a time when conditions in that country were rapidly deteriorating.  

The decree Pre*ident trump issued this past Friday, blocking all Muslims of seven nations from entering America, deeply and personally offends me.

Continue…We Are All Immigrants

Opinions & Commentary

Freedom immigration Statue of Liberty

Published November 23, 2014 by

Some Thoughts On Immigration

Emmigration Around The World in 1885
Emigration Around the World in 1885

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

This past week President Obama went live on prime-time television (with some notable exceptions) and announced he was directing his cabinets to make some minor changes in the way people who crossed over into our part of planet earth were treated. Notable was that we, a culture that boasts about being a nation of immigrants, would no longer gratuitously tear apart families and deport parents of legal American citizens back to the countries they originated from.

Which leads me to share some thoughts on immigration.

Continue…Some Thoughts On Immigration

Opinions & Commentary

illegal immigration Political Commentary

Published November 25, 2009 by

Eighty Percent OK With Discrimination

Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor

Awhile back, I submitted a column to our local newspaper, now named “InsideNoVa.com,” formerly “The Potomac News.”  My column submission was triggered by a report that about 80 percent of Prince William County were “OK” with the way our police department were handling the anti-Hispanic immigration resolution passed by our Board of County Supervisors back in 2007.

I was deeply offended by this information, and submitted my column.

Continue…Eighty Percent OK With Discrimination

Opinions & Commentary

immigration Letters To The Editor LTE Potomac News racism

Published May 13, 2008 by

The Anatomy of an On-Line Discussion Thread

Wherein I Get Called a Traitor with 5 !’s After Eight Short Posts

Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor

I’ve made a point of getting a Letter to the Editor (LTE) of our local newspaper published at least once each month since last summer. Over these past months my writing has evolved from simple rebutting of our local Conservative columnists to writing on original topics. Part of the change from rebutting columnists is that the newspaper has introduced commenting in their on-line version. This on-line commenting is moderated but apparently only filtered for obvious spam, as evidenced by the range of opinions that actually gets posted.

A comments thread I participated in became extremely amusing to me extremely fast today. Unfortunately, it is also a sad example of what now-a-days passes for “educated discussion” on immigration in this Virginia county of Prince William.

Continue…The Anatomy of an On-Line Discussion Thread

Opinions & Commentary

immigration LTE On-Line Debate Politics Potomac News

Published April 19, 2008 by

The hypocrisy of Illegal is Illegal

Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor

I’ve just had another of my continuing series of Letters to the Editor published in yesterday’s “The Potomac News. This letter was another in my recent series of taking on the anti-Hispanic-immigration crowd that is running wild here in Prince William County.

Continue…The hypocrisy of Illegal is Illegal

Opinions & Commentary

immigration Letters To The Editor LTE Politics Potomac News

Published April 13, 2008 by

Yo Hablo Espanol

“Everyone who comes to America should learn to speak English.”  If I only had a nickel for every time I heard this idealistic statement.  This statement might work in a perfect world, but our world is far from perfect.

Continue…Yo Hablo Espanol

Opinions & Commentary

immigration Second Language Spanish

Published April 11, 2008 by

Look Into The Mirror

Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor

A few weeks ago I had another of my letters to the Local Newspaper “The Potomac News” published.  This letter expressed my lack of sympathy towards one of our most out-spoken racists complaining about being listed in the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a “nativist.”

My letter received a direct letter to the editor rebuttal only two days later.  My follow-up was never published by “The Potomac News,” so I’m publishing it here.

Continue…Look Into The Mirror

Opinions & Commentary

immigration Letters To The Editor LTE Politics Potomac News

Published April 10, 2008 by

On Being Inspired

Reach For The Stars
Reach For The Stars

I’ve written recently about the issues of immigration here and the attitudes of far too many residents in Prince William County.  The attitude can be summed up in the statement “There’re against it.”  At least, they’re against Hispanic immigrants who have the temerity to actually expect to be treated as human beings in exchange for doing a large portion of the manual labor around these parts.

Last night, I was privileged to be among a large group of Hispanic people who respected me, just having a good time celebrating their achievements.

Continue…On Being Inspired

Family Stories

ESL Family Hogar Hispano immigration Teaching