You really need to spend some time in the southwest

Post #252,221 by bepatient 4/14/06 3:40:16 PM Reply	You really need to spend some time in the southwest It really does change perspective when you see it up close. I could go for a very long time in Philly without worrying about the impact of illegal immigration. There's illegals here, I know it. But in the numbers around here, its not a huge impact. In LA its a completely different story. If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. _{Fudd's First Law of Opposition} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #252,223 by Another Scott 4/14/06 3:51:24 PM Reply	;-) [link\|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092902264_pf.html\|Washington Post]: Virginia is struggling with cultural changes brought on by a rise in legal and illegal immigration over the past decade. The state is home to more than 200,000 illegal immigrants, up 50,000 from 1996, according to a study for the Pew Hispanic Center. The number of Virginians born outside the United States has grown from 311,809 in 1990 to 570,279 in 2000, according to the census. A Washington Post poll taken Sept. 6 through Sept.9 showed that in Virginia, 33 percent of registered voters think "the growing number of immigrants" has been bad for their communities, compared with 21 percent who believe it is good. "Virginia has definitely emerged as a new gateway state, and it looks like the politics of immigration there are starting to resemble what we've seen in California or Arizona," said Michael Fix of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington that tracks immigration law. "The big political and legal question that is taking shape right now is, where will we draw the lines on this issue? I don't know how many are illegal, but just about everyone doing lawn-service work, home construction and remodeling, and similar jobs around here seems to be Hispanic. Many fast-food restaurants (Wendy's, McDonalds, etc.) have nearly exclusively Spanish-speaking staff. Most of the big-box stores in the area have bilingual signs. I've noticed the changes. Cheers, Scott.
Post #252,229 by bepatient 4/14/06 4:22:24 PM Reply	wow...200k in the whole state! Mike Fix is off his rocker. Virginia isn't even close to resembling LA. He needs to climb out of that think tank and fly to LA with you :-) If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. _{Fudd's First Law of Opposition} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #252,238 by Another Scott 4/14/06 4:58:44 PM Reply	Um, they're not all in Norton, VA. 6 kB .imgs [image\|http://www.fairus.org/images/content/pagebuilder/19217.gif\|0\|Fairfax County Population\|236\|294][image\|http://www.fairus.org/images/content/pagebuilder/19214.gif\|0\|Immigrant Share of Population\|238\|239] [link\|http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/demogrph/pdf/spanish.pdf\|Fairfax County Information on Spanish Speaking Residents] (2 page .pdf): Profile of Spanish Speaking Parents and Guardians Citizenship .......................Men ................Women Citizen ..............20.7% ...............23.3% Desire Citizenship ...72.0% ...............72.1% Don't Want Citizenship 7.3% ................4.6% [...] Educational Attainment ....................Men .... Women Less Than 7th Grade 28.2% .. 24.7% 7th to 12th Grade ..23.3% ...24.3% HS Degree or GED ...17.8% ...23.5% Some College .......10.4% ....8.9% Associate Degree ....7.4% ....4.9% BS Degree ...........5.9% ....8.5% Post Graduate .......5.0% ....1.6% Other ...............2.0% ....3.6% Years in United States ...................Men .... Women Fewer Than 5 Years 7.2% ....12.2% 5 To 9 Years .....16.9% ....23.3% 10 to 14 Years ...46.2% ....41.6% 15 Years or More .29.7% ....22.9% Years in Fairfax County ....................Men ....Women Fewer Than 5 Years 25.0% ...28.2% 5 To 9 Years ......25.5% ...31.4% 10 to 14 Years ....35.7% ...29.4% 15 Years or More ..13.8% ...11.0% The big increase in Hispanics in my county has happened in the last 15 years. It shows every sign of increasing. Los Angeles, OTOH, has had residents of Mexican and Central American origin for a few hundred years... There are similar trends in Loudon, Arlington, Prince William and other northern Virginia counties. They're attracted by the vibrant economy (unemployment in Fairfax is [link\|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/03/AR2006040301678.html\|2.1%] and was below 1% at times during the .com boom.) Fix is just ahead of the wave. :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #252,245 by bepatient 4/14/06 5:09:09 PM Reply	Do they hang on the corner waiting for work? ;-) If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. _{Fudd's First Law of Opposition} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #252,254 by ben_tilly 4/14/06 5:35:30 PM Reply	As Bill says, come to LA I'll bet that you'll realize quickly that what you're seeing bears no comparison to what I see. Go visit an emergency room for an even bigger comparison. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)

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