The American Spectator

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However the devastating weather in what is now North Dakota froze the Johnson family out and they moved to Iowa where some of them remain. James Johnson moved to Chicago where he met Theresa Kretz, daughter of a gentleman slipper-maker and symphony violinist who had emigrated from Strasbourg (then in Germany, but in France since 1919). They married and had seven children, two girls and five boys, the youngest of which was my father Benjamin James Johnson.

My grandfather died before I was born but my grandmother lived until I was six years old. In that time she taught me quite a bit of German, which has stayed with me to this day. She did so with my father, uncles, and aunts as well. But none of the children learned any Norwegian, and when asked why this was so, my grandfather would say, "We are in America now. We are Americans and we speak American."

The reason my grandmother spoke German is that she was born in Chicago in a German ghetto where German was the primary tongue and she didn't learn English until she married my grandfather. Does this sound like our Spanish-speaking enclaves, not to mention Korean and Chinese?

There will always be Mexican-Americans who don't learn to speak English because they don't need it. That's OK by me if that's what they prefer, but until they die of old age, their families will not assimilate. If that sounds harsh, remember that the Old Testament teaches us that God kept the Israelites wandering in the desert until all the old Jews who retained traces of Egyptian culture died out. Only then could Moses lead them to the promised land.

p>Our country is much different from the one which attracted my ancestors over one hundred years ago, but the situation has one thing in common: the immigrants who are raising the hackles of our citizens are needed in our economy in much the same way as the Scandinavians were needed along the Northern Pacific Railway. They perform services that we cannot -- or will not -- perform ourselves. br> -- Bob Johnson br> Bedford, Texas /p>

This immigration mess that the Senate is trying to pass is a joke. Do these idiots really think that terrorist, criminals and such are going to rush to sign up and be checked out? If they do believe that then they need to be sent packing. They are mixing apples and oranges, yes we need immigrants, but they need to be LEGAL. Just how are you going to be able to deport these people that don't sign up, since the police can't even ask to see if someone is here legally. Do the people we sent to Washington really think Americans are that stupid? YES, they really do. If you want to help fight ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION go sign up at www.numbersusa.com you can send free faxes to the jerks in Washington.

p>Saw one of the protesters saying "we are not criminals." Well wonder what he thinks ILLEGAL means? Our immigration service missed a great chance to round up thousands of ILLEGALS and ship them home. They are carrying the flags of their countries so we should send them back to the country they love...poor things, maybe they can not afford to go. Swimming that river takes a lot out of you. br> -- Elaine Kyle /p> p> The government knows who I am, where I live and can access my criminal, driving and tax records. I want the same thing for aliens while here in the U.S. The immigration policy that we have right now has a scary resemblance to that of the American Indians. They needed us for trinkets and we ended up owning the place. History might repeat itself if we are not careful.

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