I don't care how many are here but I do care that many do not drive with a valid drivers license and no insurance on their vehicles or homes and could care less if they hit or killed someone because they can disappear easily. They are friendly and good workers but many of the first gens to come to America lack respect for others and do not teach their kids respect or keep control of the kids. The third and forth gens that have been here have great respect for the country they adopted and for others and are some of the best people I know.

I have no problem with Hispanics being here legally or illegally. Where I do find a problem though is that the children who do not speak English are getting an education in both English and Spanish while those who speak English do not get the additional language education.
.
We are very well aware that being multilingual can be a great benefit to the person and to the community, so why not give all children this benefit, and stop sacrificing the future of established families for those moving in.

How much do American give to illegals? The cost to counties in southern California is enormous. “When you add this to $540 million for public safety and nearly $500 million for healthcare, the total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers far exceeds $1 billion a year – not including the hundreds of millions of dollars for education,” Los Angeles County Supervisor, Michael Antonovich. Read the whole report at: http://antonovich.lacounty.gov/Pages/Pre...

Unless your a Native American, your illegal too.

officerfriendly,
Are you intentionally uninformed or are you really that tuned out. The Marshal's service inspection is done regularly and only looks to make sure that those being held are having basic requirements met like access to food, restroom facilities, showers and overall cleanliness. Arpaio treated the inspection like some kind of victory over the DOJ, but he still continues to refuse to turn over department records relating to the actual DOJ investigation which prompted the DOJ to sue the department. I'm not sure why Arpaio got so excited about the results of the Marshal's inspections since "the audits do not review records related to deputies' street-level enforcement efforts, nor do they focus on services for non-English speakers in Maricopa County jails, the two issues at the heart of the federal investigation with which Arpaio's office has refused to cooperate since last summer." Maybe it's because he's a raging racist hillbilly, a giant throbbing sore on the state of AZ and an insult to the law enforcement profession

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/a...

officerfriendly,
Meanwhile violent crime has risen under Arpaio's tenure as sheriff while going down everywhere else in the state. 40,000+ felony warrants have gone unserved because Arpaio's deputies spend so much time chasing around people that may or may not illegal. The Department of Homeland Security has stripped him of special jurisdiction it had previously given him to target illegal immigration. Also, the U.S. Justice Department is conducting an investigation into Arpaio and his department for various violations of federal law. In 2009 Arpaio distributed a document he claimed to be a "federal law" that gave him authority to do whatever he saw fit in conducting illegal immigration sweeps. The "law" was actually a fake that Arpaio had retrieved from the website of the known hate group, Federation for American Immigration Reform. God bless Joe Arpaio, indeed! He needs all the help he can get.

well Walter I guess we will have to agree to disagree. My problem with illegals (undocumented workers as you say) is not personal; it is purely financial. their presence drains our economy. take a look at the problems that Los Angeles county has: http://www.examiner.com/county-political...

Why even have US citizenship at all if there is nothing wrong with illegal immigration? Its a free-for-all, everybody from all corners of the earth allowed, no questions asked. Anything less would be racist.

realitybytes,
I really don't have any issue with undocumented workers. I'm not upset about laws not being enforced because I don't think they should exist much less be enforced. I feel much more kinship with Latinos I've encountered over the years (especially the undocumented ones) than with the anti-immigrant types who rant on these blogs as I tend to gravitate toward the fringe of society anyway. I just think it's hypocritical (and kinda hilarious) that most middle-classers that vote Republican are so staunchly against illegal immigration yet the people that run the party work for the rich who, for the most part, favor a laissez faire attitude towards it.
As for me and big business, I'm all too familiar with the evils. I spent years in the belly of the beast, but I escaped; to my own financial detriment I might add. Now, I let my spending do the talking. I buy local as much as I possibly can. I try to keep my dollars out of the hands of large corporations.

officer-not-so-friendly

Walter,
I agree with you that "Capitalism doesn't care about nationality or citizenship or immigrant status as long as the money keeps rolling in". And OF COURSE big business does not want laws to be enforced that hurt the bottom line. That's nature of Capitalism and to expect otherwise is foolish.
If you are so angry about laws that are not being enforced I suggest you shift your anger from corporations and direct it toward the government that is failing to enforce the laws.
I understand that big business pays its lobbyists huge sums of money to gain preferred treatment. Again, that is how business works. Do you continue to blame big business or do you blame the politician that puts corporate needs ahead of American worker security.
You can think that the immigration laws are only there "for show", but they ARE THERE. If those same laws can help reduce unemployment, foster a fair playing field for workers, and generally make things better for Americans then they should be enforced. Simply complaining about the evils of big business will not help fix the situation.

Last I checked, it was not the Mexican Americans who came here illegally and blew up the Twin Towers, nor was it a Mexican -American who blew up the building in Oklahoma City. American terrorists live HERE; they may live next door to you-they may be related to important people in your community. But, anyone who comes here illegally poses a threat to our nations security. So do we close our borders? Not realistic, really. Build a wall? Not cost effective and makes the US look very scared of the rest of the world.....We are not in a position to force Mexican Government to deal with this problem, and we have chosen to fly off the handle in response to illegal immigration. But back to reality, the article was not about the illegals, per se, but the increasing numbers of Hispanics in Rock County. So I leave you with this...eat your veggies grown in Mexico and picked, processed, and delivered by Mexican-Americans, or get in the fields and GET TO WORK, because if it were not for them many of us would starve....

realitybytes,
You just said it yourself: "Businesses are out to make money. It may seem evil and greedy to some people but that's the bottom line." That is exactly why laws are put in place that no one plans to ever enforce to their fullest extent. Large corporations do not want those laws enforced. The immigration laws in this country are simply there for show because there is so much money to be made from the hard work of Mexican workers, both documented and undocumented, as well as the money that can be made from the consumption of such a rapidly growing segment of the population. You can go on and on about fines and other punishments for companies that hire undocumented workers, but here, in reality, the rest of us have realized long ago that that is never going to happen. This country is not ruled by law or right & wrong or the American dream. It is run by the almighty dollar. Business is global, and the borders separating countries only exist on maps. Capitalism doesn't care about nationality or citizenship or immigrant status as long as the money keeps rolling in. If undocumented workers represented a threat to the profits of large corporations in this country, they would be dealt with in a hearbeat.
realitybytes, you have every right to feel any way you want to on this subject, but I believe that your views on undocumented workers are both a little outdated and in serious conflict with your views on business.

Walter, I was neither neither defending nor admonishing my company for paying "only" $1.25 per hour. I was simply stating fact. You assumed I was being critical.
You ask:
"Don't you believe that your company should have been pro-active long ago and paid their workers in Mexico more than the going rate for the area to perhaps keep more Mexicans working in Mexico so fewer would try to illegally immigrate?"
No I don't. The company is not responsible for trying to keep Mexicans in Mexico. That should be the job of the Mexican and American governments. The Mexican government doesn't have the ability to deal with the issue and the American government has decided not to deal with it.
You need to get off your morality soapbox. I hear too many liberals say that these poor Mexicans are only coming to America to make a better life for their families and that we should give them amnesty. Here is a news flash...almost everybody in the world is trying to make a better life for themselves. Using the liberal line of reasoning we should simply open our borders and give benefits to everybody that sets foot on American soil. Heck, maybe US taxpayer money could charter flights from other 3rd world countries so those people could come to America and make better lives for their families. We could add a 20% morality tax on US citizens to help people world wide who don't want to leave their homelands. Then the whole world could join hands and sing Kumbaya.
OK...back to reality. Businesses are out to make money. It may seem evil and greedy to some people but that's the bottom line.

realitybytes,
First, please believe you may have a couple issues with what I said, but you've just plain got issues in general.
Now, to your first point: Earlier you were critical of your company for how little they paid their employees in Mexico:
"My company has a plant in Mexico and they pay $1.25 (USD) per hour. Of course the Mexicans will sneak into the US to work for less than minimum wage."
Those are your words. Now, it seems you are defending what they pay. So which is it? Don't you believe that your company should have been pro-active long ago and paid their workers in Mexico more than the going rate for the area to perhaps keep more Mexicans working in Mexico so fewer would try to illegally immigrate?
To your 2nd point: Right and wrong are relative. Laws are not the end-all-be-all of a person's morals. If someone is poor, can't find work and can't feed their family where they live but can travel at great peril to find a job so they and their family won't starve, I say more power to them. If I were in that situation, I would say to hell with laws, too. My family comes before any laws. If you don't feel the same way, I feel sorry for your family.
To your 3rd point, "Proud of what?": If that's a question you have to ask, perhaps you should find a different place to work.

WalterReuther:
I have a couple of issues with your last comment to me.
1. The company pays its Mexican workers the going rate for that area. The wages are low as compared to the US, but different parts of the world pay different wages. That's the way it is. The wages they pay their Chinese workers recently were raised from $0.90 to $1.30 per hour because they were having a tough time getting enough Chinese workers. If the company runs into a worker shortage in Mexico then wages may rise. It just hasn't happened yet
2. Understanding WHY people sneak into the US and take American jobs does not make it right.
3. Proud of what?

"on" this nonsense

Nothing will be done about ANY of this as long as no one pays attention to anything but "superbowl" "ncaa" "nascar" "nba" and so much other meaningless, useless irrelevant garbage.
How so much of the population can waste so much of their time this nonsense when they have so many problems of their own they need to solve is utterly baffling to me.

okiefed,
If hiring undocumented workers is punishable by death, what other offenses do you think we should execute people for? Financial fraud that leads to an economic meltdown, perhaps?
Also, assuming you are a Republican, I think it's odd that small business people were rallied around as innocent victims during the debate over ending vs. extending certain tax cuts, but when the conversation moves over to undocumented workers, all of the sudden they are referred to as those "greedy" small business owners who, apparently, should be summarily killed for their crimes. If Okiefed had their way, that is.

realitybytes,
So, you work for a company that pays their workers in Mexico so poorly that even you can understand why some people would attempt to come here illegally. You must be so proud of your employer.

Even if these illegals are being paid cash off the books they are still making more than in Mexico. My company has a plant in Mexico and they pay $1.25 (USD) per hour. Of course the Mexicans will sneak into the US to work for less than minimum wage. As long as companies in the US hire illegals, Mexicans will continue to trespass on US soil and steal American jobs.

I am for companies that get caught, getting forced out of business. You seem to want the hispanics shipped out for breaking the law. Why fine a business $1000 dollars? Thats a slap on the wrist! They should Not be allowed to operate if they contribute to the problem. Also try to remember that MANY hispanics attain false SS cards that look real! The funny thing is as well , business owners that are OVERWHELMINGLY republicans, seem to always be the ones publicly denouncing these actions and then turning around hiring large groups of these people. Typical RIGHT -Wing hypocracy. Gotta love unchecked capitalism! Who does that work for?

I'm all in favor of applying a fine of $1000 per day per illegal on any company found employing an illegal alien. You don't even need to do random searches of companies. Simply offer a $500 reward to any citizen that supplies a tip that leads to finding these un-American companies that hire illegals. I am pleased to say that the last company I worked for were very diligent in getting the proper work documents (Social Security cards etc). If a new employee could not supply proper documentation within a few days there were let go. Not all companies are as patriotic.

realitybytes,
Our rules say one thing, but our actions say another. Capitalists love the Latino explosion. Due to the fact that their numbers keep growing regardless of the economic situation, they are the darlings of the recession. Is it any wonder autmoated phone prompts are in English & Spanish. A wide array of businesses from banks & libraries to car dealerships & salons offer bi-lingual services. Whether they're legal or illegal, they are getting jobs and spending the money they earn. Sometimes dollars get sent to Mexico, but Latinos are buying an awful lot of goods here, too. They may be undocumented and the law may not be in their favor, but we all know that the law gets put on the back burner when you become a friend of big business, and that's just what Latinos are, documented or undocumented. They are consumers that are willing to provide plentiful, cheap labor. What's more American than that?

Why should we begrudge any group of people to follow our rules? It is our country. We have clearly posted our borders. We have clearly posted our laws. Mexicans that sneak across a well established international border are knowingly breaking the law. It does not matter their reasons for doing so. Call me hypocritical but I do begrudge them taking advantage of the benefits of the USA when the first thing they do is break our laws. Follow the rules and you get to enjoy the benefits. Break the law and get punished. That is the way every civilized society has been setup to work.

realitybytes,
I have a strong feeling that Native Americans might have a different perspective on that. In fact, given the fate of the Roanoke colony, I'm pretty sure that the indigenous population of the area did have some rules that they felt were violated. It never stopped us from taking over this country from its rightful "owners", so why should we begrudge any group of people that doesn't exactly follow our rules to the letter. It seems a bit hypocritical, no?

belman, EXACTLY. It's easy to blame illegals because they are an easy and visual target. Not so easy is to look at your neighbors and business owners and ask them why they are hiring these folks and breaking the law. I think we all know the prevailing political atmosphere that business owners ascribe to, and it doesn't rhyme with plegmocrat. Boy, do I have some stories about this subject that would curl your toes, and it's not the hard working families that come here from Mexico and C. America that are the bad guys. Years in AZ on the border watching the farce of border enforcement changes your views in a heartbeat. Business wants the labor, it's that simple.

JosephGrand - "Bue acknowledged there likely are a "large number" of Hispanics in Rock County that are undocumented". Undocumented usually means they aren't legal.
.
Also during the influx of immigrants from Europe, sometimes people from different countries didn't get along. However, the vast majority of people came legally. They worked hard and saved everything they had and then came here with nothing.

Marc Perry said the Hispanic population increase is a wake-up call...I say the responses to the article are a wake up call....so much hatred towards fellow humans is UNBELIEVABLE!

The illegal come here to work. Not for vacation. So why don't people look at the real issue. Who hires these people, plan and simple. It is not me. I do not hire them. I wonder who that could be!!!!!!!!!!!

WalterReuther: Since Virginia Dare's parents did not break any clearly established laws I would suggest they were more homesteaders than trespassers and therefore Virginia was NOT an anchor baby.

http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigrati...
.
No, I can't for the life of me figure out which language people need to know and understand to become a US citizen.

To the "You live here (USA), speak English" crowd:

Which one of you can answer these questions, "What is the official language of the United States?" and "What language must you know, by law, in order to be a citizen of The United States?" (Hint: No matter how hard you try, you can not name the language.)

Over 300 languages are spoken in the US, however we have no official language. Twenty-seven states have adopted English as its official language, but Wisconsin is not one of them. Louisiana legally recognizes English and French, although neither is an official language. Maine considers English and French its de facto language, while New Mexico recognizes English and Spanish as their de facto languages. Hawaii is the only US state that is officially bi-lingual, with English and Hawaiian as their languages.

But if we want to adopt an official language in the US, maybe it should be the most prevalent native language of the land: Navajo.

After military service, when I entered the local work force fifteen years ago, I noticed that the majority of hispanic workers had more gumption, enthusiam and a higher degree of work ethic than the local bred work force. At that time, I estimated that if that trend continued, then our children would be working for their children.

The cream of the labor force is/will be rising to the top, as it always has. Get used to it.

The hispanics are rightfully taking advantage of a system that is allowing this to happen.

Other than the stigma of some of them not being legal citizens, their motivation to better themselves through work and an overall positive (albeit different from my/our own) community presence is commendable.

Their relatively new presence in our community is more welcome than a large number of established U.S. citizens that exist merely to sponge off of our government.

Hypothetically, it would be great to swap some of the moochers of society for contributors.

"Hispanic language?" Oh I get it. You're referring to Mexican right? All those Mexicans from Paraguay, Guatemala and Nicaragua speaking Mexican.
I get ticked off when Canadians speak English. Who do they think they are??

hmmm...that's a new one. So let's get this straight, donnaw wants everyone to learn English, but at the same time she wants to cut classes that teach people to speak English. Really? That's your answer? Wow.

Point taken. DB

I object to the catering to the Hispanic language. What's the motivation to learn English when you can do your banking, etc. in Spanish? When calling a company and having to push #1 for English is ridiculous. If you live here, speak and understand English! Also cutting the English as a second language classes is a thought. My mother-in-law started school not knowing English but learned it quickly-no special treatment.

Virginia Dare born August 18, 1587 at the Roanoke Colony in what is known today as North Carolina. She was the first child born in the Americas to English parents. She was also our young nation's FIRST ANCHOR BABY.

i have worked closely with plenty of Mexicans and they are hard working. they have strong family ties and make good neighbors. there are certain social traits that i have observed that may make some people believe that Mexicans are lazy. This is not the case. People should not have any issue with legal Mexican immigrants. With all this being said: break the law and pay the price. You CANNOT start out being a good American citizen by breaking the law. I don't care if you are Mexican, Canadian, or English: sneak into the US and drop an anchor baby and you and your baby should immediately be shipped back to your country of origin. No exceptions.

The best/hardest worker I know (and also my best friend) is an immigrant from Mexico.

WalterReuther... so true... get something for nothing... Its a union member's dream! Bring in our neighbors to the south who just want to work for money. Now there is a conflict. Will they work for less? Will they work hard for a paycheck? You bet! Our society has become so complacent when it comes to an honest days work! My grandfather worked for AMC back in the 40's to 60's. It was hard work. He collected a paycheck for the HOURS he actually put in. NO union backing... he believed his "hands" would feed his family. His wife, my grandmother cleaned houses in Rockford for the wealthy. On her hands and knees... she brought home a paycheck. They were 4th generation Germans here in the states, brought up by farmers... On my father's side... my Dad's Mom was a cook for Woodward Governor in Rockford. Again... No union involvement. She and my grandfather raised their 2 sons in a comfortable home. Well fed, well cared for and successful. This is the American dream people come to the states to experience.
So.. of course, we will have the "criminal element" cross our borders, but when I research what came through Ellis Island, the criminal element was MUCH more catastrophic for our young nation then, than it is now!
We as Americans have brought our OWN country down. I agree that
new" Americans must be "legal", beyond that... move on.

Ah yes, these Latino workers are so lazy (as gardenkiller says) that many American companies are willing to risk being brought up on federal charges to hire them, in the case of undocumented workers that is. I've worked in many different fields (manufacturing, retail, academic), and in my experience my fellow white people are by the far the laziest people I have ever worked with. What's worse, they seem proud of how slothful they are. I've watched white supervisors mock their subordinates (white, black, latino, you name it) for working "too hard". I've never seen that kind of behavior from supervisors that happen to be minorities, ever.

Don’t worry gardenkiller- we are only in TALKS with the Mexican officials. But don’t throw away that old luggage just yet . The talks are taking place at the clocktower in Rockford so that Wisconsin’s democratic senators can be fully involved. We will start by offering 5.7 union workers, but will probably compromise at 4.8.

rocochick, trust me, I have worked in construction for over twenty years and the hispanic workers are far more lazy then the union workers. And they are the most unsafe workers I have ever worked with.

Some people just do not get it like
evensville

Someone who is raised in Wisconsin, goes to school, works, and plays in Wisconsin is a Wisconsinite. Many Wisconsinites are not considered "legal" residents. They don't have equal opportunity to attend university, get meaningful employment, or find reasonable housing. Many of you pretend that the reason you are OK with keeping many people in an underclass is because you believe they deserve it for breaking the law.
-
These are our hard working neighbors, parents of our children's classmates, and customers in our stores.
-
We all pay taxes. Property taxes are paid through the rent we pay. Sales tax is paid through the items we buy. Income tax? Most positions that you can get without submitting your SSN aren't going to pay enough for someone to actually need to pay taxes (just like any other minimum wage earner - legal or not).
-
Want to find a way to get "them" to pay more of their fair share? Let's open the path to self-realization and no longer keep people in the shadows.

I wonder if we could arrange a foreign exchange with the Mexican government - we could give them 4.8 union workers in exchange for one Hispanic worker.

Next thing you know this country will be know as the United States of mexico.

It's no surprise to me that the recent increase in the quality of Wisconsin's workforce ethics and productivity is directly related to the recent increase in Wisconsin's Hispanic population.

It's funny that there is not a single instance of the word "Illegal" in the story, yet the comments are are dominated with that word. Why not discuss what the article actually states instead of small-minded interpretations of the article.

Irrespective of legal versus illegal, the Hispanic community is growing and that is all this article states.

In the 1850's it was the Irish who were met with signs stating "NO IRISH NEED APPLY." when looking for work. Between 1876 to 1976, the US was the largest single recipient of Italian immigrants in the world and they weren't welcomed with open arms either.

So Hispanics are the new Irish. Surprise, surprise.

Again you remove a comment that wasn't even inappropriate. WTH?

The issue here isn't immigration, or how many Latinos there are in Wisconsin. The simple fact is that we have been invaded by an army of eleven-million that is breeding replacements by the day. We can either acknowledge this fact and wake up, or lost our country.

We missed a once in a lifetime opertunity at the end of the cold war to embrace the concept that we are all "Americans" and do much to help South and Central American countries to grow. I worked with many good people from countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Panama. They only wanted to make their homelands mirror the best of what we have and we have let them down because we got lazy. We got rid of Noriega and gained a Chavez. Heck, we didn't even permanently get rid of Ortega. This just shows our lack of interest after the Russians ceased to be a rival.
.
If we had done what we could to help them then, we would not have the flood of people now.

I could spend days trying to explain to these racist people mny things,but this would be my last comment.

!!!!!!!WE ARE BETTER,CHEAPER,FASTER!!!!!!!

LUCK TO YOU.AMIGOS.

Welcome all foreign immigrants, just keep it legal please as my great grandparents had done. And they spoke English once here as it is the American language. Welcome to the land of opportunity.

The point is we are all one race-human! I am American and my ancestors are hispanic and european. I pay taxes, vote, and get paid to go to school. My ancestors came here seeking freedom from oppression and starvation in their homelands. Why, in this day and age, is it so hard to accept culturally diversity? If we were all the same life would be very boring....

Helge1939- you would do well to take your own advice, and learn English.

@helge1939-
But I think that they may have spoken German with my grandparents.
Seriously.
Am I right?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want the tomahawks in Wisconsin.
I can think of a few places where they could do some good, but that is no way to solve problems.
Unless it is in Africa or the Middle East.

Private workers against state workers.
Middle class begrudging lower class their welfare benefits.
Eurocentrics checking out the Latinos and wondering if they are legal.
**********
You're all doing exactly what the fat cats and gubmint want you to- fighting each other over crumbs while they take your cake.
65 million in Tomahawk missiles alone in the first 12 hours of bombing Libya. Would have done WI a bit of good, no? But it is all going to bomb people like ourselves.

Wow I think if a majority of the people would research their roots, they would find that they are originally from another country. IMO race and discrimination plays a major roll in situations like these. They are HUMAN BEINGS and though many of you in here seem to think they are less than is pitiful. I used to think like this and found myself to be misinformed as when I got to know several different coworkers and seen their work ethics and that they were trying to support their families and learned how bad it was in their own country I seen a different side of something and realized they were alot like the less fortunate here in the USA and were just trying to be productive and earn a fair wage. I have worked with many Latino's and have seen how hard they have worked, and I asked one gentleman why he sent a majority of his money back to Mexico and he said to help his mother and 6 siblings as their father had died and his mother could not keep their home and feed the children on her wage there. The living conditions in Mexico are discusting UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY AND POWER. Now does that sound familiar. If you have issues with the Latinos Move to AZ as their government is alot like some of the posters in here cold hearted and racist. Just my Opinion BTW they do pay taxes and a majority is never claimed in Tax returns as they don't usually file or are a fraid to file. So that is BIG money the government has drawing interest that they don't share with the people But then again the way it looks, they don't share alot of TRUTHS with the PEOPLE.

My question to the LAW abiding citizens is, should we enforce every law with the vigor that you seem to stress here? Every time you J-walk, you get a fine. I am also sure that EVERY single one of you hypocrites has risked the lives of your selves and others on the roads by driving intoxicated.
916WI have you never broken a single law in your life? I think that YOU thedn are a criminal because you have broken a law, like the republican senators that ILLEGALLY passed the monstrocity of a law last week. HYPOCRITES!

Westorbust......You can climb down off of your soapbox now......The level for contempt with the businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens is there as well. Systems such as e-verify need to be put into law as far as hiring practices are concerned and strict fines need to be thrown at businesses that support these criminals.

Our country has thrown out the law for people who come here to have many children at our expense. Then they send their money back home. They claim children with illegal social security numbers on their tax forms, so they don't have to pay in as much in taxes. I don't understand how they are more protected by the law than we are. We have seen the Temp Services hiring illegals over the Americans and that is a fact. What has happened to our America that is being trashed by people who don't care for our country? True Americans would never let this happen.

"They are criminals", eh? Where's the level of contempt for your fellow US citizens who also break the law by hiring undocumented workers? Those folks wouldn't risk their life, and their children's lives by crossing hostile deserts with little or no water, abandoned by smugglers, dodging drug cartels, Mexican Federales and US Border Patrol units, making there way by hitching rides from human smugglers taking every last dime they have, JUST to be somewhere where they feel they and their children have a future? They come because, your neighbors, usually dyed in the wool Republican Capitalist business owners, HIRE them.
******

Bue said Janesville has done pretty well adjusting to a new culture.

Since when should we adjust to a new culture?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We live in a global society now," Perry said. "The Hispanic population and other populations as well are all coming into the states and changing the dynamic of what we think of as American."

What a shame.

We met a doctor at Mayo Clinic in MN who crossed the Rio Grande in the middle of the night when he was fourteen years old, alone. He picked crops and went to school. He made his way all of the way through hard work, all of the way through Mayo Medical School. He graduated debt free and became a leading physicin in the Mayo system. He did this because his mother died of cancer and he wanted to do what he could to cure cancer. He is one of the finest people I have ever met. He is now a US citizen. He is an example of The American Dream.

916WI,
Yes, that's just one state. The biggest state in the union and one that shares a border with Mexico. I imagine that illegal immigration might just have a slightly larger impact there. What you don't seem to realize is that with the "economy tanking", they are the one group that keeps growing rapidly which makes them much more pivotal in keeping the economy afloat. They are buying all the necessities of life from diapers to automobiles in increasing numbers while other racial/ethnic groups have been buying less. Clearly, if they were more of a burden than a benefit to our capitalistic society, there would be much more aggressive action to remove them.

mgcarguy,
I think Latinos are great for the community and the economy. I couldn't care less if they are legal or illegal. They are filling in the void left by so many that have moved out of this area. How many more vacant properties, both residential and commercial, would there be if it weren't for Latinos?

IF YOU DID NOT COME WITH IN THE LAW LEAVE
LEARN ENGLISH
My grand parents had to learn english

In reading the comments in The Gazette I notice how important money is. Money,money, money! Few of you all ever look at the positive side of a story. The Mexicans who have moved to Rock County seem to have found something that they like or they would not have moved here. Why don't you complainers find something you like and build on it. Maybe if you looked at the new people without so much hate you would find something good about them and maybe, just maybe, you would like them. Our newcomers are just people, like you are just people. Try to find something you like for a change.

It is absolutely ridiculous to whip out the "racist" rhetoric when people speak out against illegal aliens. THEY ARE CRIMINALS. Regardless of their motivation or justification they are still breaking the law. The problem is that people had become too complacent in dealing with this problem. With the economy tanking, the issue of their burden on the system is no longer on the back burner. California is feeling the pain, with the illegal alien problem costing that state right around $13 billion a year. That's just one state........

Looks like they do not want to see the truth.
The HISPANICS las yearcooperate with $88.5 BILLION DOLLARS to this country and,still send money to our families.

There are some hateful people 'round here. I'm ashamed of you, Rock County.

Face it people, Latinos are the fastest growing ethnicity in this nation by far. Whether they're paying taxes/SS or not, they are doing one thing: buying stuff. They are capitalism's favorite thing: consumers. Why do you think so much customer service information and in-store signage is in English and Spanish? In our system it is important to cater to your fastest growing group of customers, and, as the census points out, that is Latinos by far. I think this is fascinating. White people are just not reproducing fast enough, so they start complaining about taxes and the law, but really they're just jealous that they're not getting the attention as consumers that they're used to. Look, hundreds of years ago our ancestors came to this continent and took it over like a plague from the Native Americans (in many instances actually causing plagues that wiped out huge numbers of them). Now we're going to begrudge a group of people because they are coming here in large numbers, getting hired by rich white people that turn a blind eye to their legal status because they work a bit cheaper, and reproducing very quickly. It seems like many people are critical just because they've taken a few pages out of the European-American play book. I say more power to them. A large majority that I've met are nice, hard-working people that are extremely grateful for the opportunities they've been able to find here in America. The Statue of Liberty says it herself, "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Amen, sister!

It has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with money and the law!

Try going to Mexico as an illegal ... That government isn't so friendly.

Why is it the RACE card always gets played .. nothing to do with race but it's the tax dollars that it costs the legal people in this country. Most illegals work under the table so they don't pay taxes or SS payments but yet get medical and other FREE services at OUR cost.Lets look at the real picture here and keep the race card out of this. JMO

This country was formed and will continue,people from around the world who came illegally many years ago and today are example of this country.
Everything is a process tha you RACIST can not understand.
Many of you are children of illegal who came here many years ago.
Study AMERICAN HISTORY as i and many more are, to defend against RACIST PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

Not surprised by the tax payer rhetoric thinking in this area. Millions of hispanics in this coutry pay into the SS sytem and never get a dime back! They also carry many businesses and "job creators" to wealth. Lots of business owners in this country say one thing and do another, not surprising. I would rather have a system that doesn't scare these people into the shadows , but instead would help them become documented. Just imagine what you would do faced with similar situation, and your family was facing what they face in Mexico and other third world nations. Of course they hide , they don't want to go back, would you??
Of course the ones against givong these honest, hard working folks amnesty are the ones that would not benefit at the ballot box because of it! These folks are the furthest thing from lazy, they are scared because they live in the most prejudicial country in the world. The SS system would be much closer to broke if it weren't for them. Also try to remember that 95% of them are peacful and want to fit in. The racist rhetoric that I see does NOT surprise me at all in the Gazette blogs. Kudos to the hispanic lady for speaking up, sometimes its hard to speak your mind, especially in a climate like Rock county Wisconsin. Some of us apreciate the hard work and honesty the latino community brings, and some of us don't call diversity a gang problem.

Then,all the AMERICANS poor,rich,studio,without study,government and all walks of breaking the laws of this country,are good?YOU BREAK THE SYSTEM MORE THAN THEIR OWN WITHOUT PAPERS.

A legal immigrant is a welcome resident. An illegal alien is a burden to all the systems!

I am hispanic,I have lived here for many years and one thing i've learned is tha we work on whatever is necessary to sopport our children,and as in many other culture,we are good and bad people.
You, who are named AMERICANS,is to continue asking the government for more unemployment extensions.
We the(ILLEGAL ALIENS)say no to work,for very heavy or dirty it may be.
So,I would say to the governor to put all his men who are alleged LEGAL MINDS in this country to work,instead of keeping more men useless.
You should understan tha we are like anyone else.I understand tha many of us without papers,but also PAY TAXES.
WE ARE THE SAME CONTINENT (ALSO I AM AMERICAN)!!!!!!!!!!!

Ship the illegals out of here and watch these numbers plummet.