I know quite a few immigrants from Brazil, and I am certain that most of them are undocumented. I do various things for them such as teaching English and fixing their computers. Last night I went to a Brazilian’s house to pick up his computer up so I could do some work on it at home.
We got to talking about a few things, and he started to tell me about how cold American people were, how they weren’t happy, etc etc. He said that our food was bad because it seems like the immigrants only go to those chain restaurants such as Applebee’s, Denny’s, etc. I asked him if he knew what our local flavor was (Southern cuisine). He said hamburger and fries lol. So I told him about shrimp and grits, real Southern barbecue, etc, and he was clueless. I also told him that he never had a real home-cooked meal and never spent time with American families, so how could he make such an accusation that we were cold people.
The reason why we got into this discussion is because he asked me if the government was ever going to legalize illegal immigrants. I said, well, probably not because many American people want the illegals to go home… He asked why? So I told him about how illegal immigrants are driving up health care costs, straining social services, etc. I told him that our health care costs are being driven up because many of them get medical services and don’t ever pay for them. So who pays? Us…
Finally, I said, the reason why some immigrants are isolated from the rest of the American people is their refusal to learn English. I told him, if you learn English, and make American friends, things would be a lot easier for you. He said that we should learn their language… I speak Portuguese, but don’t you think that if someone comes to live in a foreign country, they should learn the language of the land? I didn’t find so many people in Brazil that spoke English, nor did I expect it.
Ok, enough ranting for now- you get the point.
