Los Angeles is becoming a “Third World city” with immigrants making up half its workforce, says a new study. A third of immigrants have not graduated from high school and 60 per cent do not speak English fluently, the Migration Policy Institute found. It said this left immigrants ill-equipped to fill California’s fastest-growing occupations, such as computer software engineering and nursing. The organisation added that as the so-called baby boomers reach retirement age, a similar pattern will spread across the US. Ernesto Cortes Jr, of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a think-tank that specialises on social change, claimed Los Angeles was at a crossroads.
“The question is are we going to be a 21st century city with shared prosperity, or a Third World city with an elite group on top and most on near poverty wages?” he said. The US Census Bureau last year predicted that by 2050, minorities will account for half of all residents across America. It registered the largest numerical increases in minority residents in metropolitan Los Angeles, Riverside, in California, Dallas, Houston and New York.
In 2000, according to the Census Bureau, whites were in a minority in 262 US counties, up from 183 in 1990. Nationally, the number of minorities topped 100 million for the first time in 2006, to make up about one third of the population.
Maybe when we in the Southwest become Mexico, outsourcing wont be so painful…or something like that. Its a glass half full scenario.
“The question is are we going to be a 21st century city with shared prosperity, or a Third World city with an elite group on top and most on near poverty wages?” ////
We have already trended so far in that direction across the USA that the only thing that will stop it is – – – – global warming or food collapse or plague wipes out the elite too.
People reproducing until Mother Nature objects cannot have a good outcome.
When the minorities out number the majorities,
the tables are turned.
there’s a “new” mexico?
seriously, america will scapegoat and take out its frustrations on itself over the race war it “lost” during the civil rights era, much like it did over the lost vietnam war. america gets kookier by the minute.
The best the US society can do for themselves is to embrace all these people and train and educate them, and make them as good and prosper as they can get because otherwise you will suffer exactly what we are suffering in Mexico. A race of punks, gangters, and just pure crap society. People is people, the problem comes when the government does nothing to make people intelligent and cultivated. No one did that in 500 years in Mexico (more ignorant, better control of the population) and now we have pure crap within us poor european-descendant population. The rage upon us is also felt. They see us as “the rich” or “the elite” and we see them as the “illiterate”, the “good-for-nothings”, the “irredeemable” as Porfirio Diaz called them. I wish we had a society with no such “elite” as most central and western european countries. If US society, which 99% are immigrant as well (be it 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation, never forget that) embraces newer immigrants and let them feel proud of their new nation and make them feel the may pertain to their new country, and the government (charging them through taxes) help them make their childfen smart, them the US may be a great country, otherwise, US will suffer bigtime.
HELL THE FUCK NO! The best thing to do is catch more illegals and deport their ass, cut off all welfare programs for illegals and their children (Legal or illegal), basically reinstute the measures of prop 187.
#4: So, you want the people who have been displaced from their jobs to pay for the education of millions of adults who don’t even know how to read and write English very well? And you want to pay for their healthcare and their kid’s educations as well? And since this is a much better deal than they can get in their own country, you want to do this for any/all of their family that would illegally immigrate here as well?
The loons in California have figured out the recipe.
Stir in a healthy does of Amnesty, an open border no-fence policy, sprinkle with a healthy dash of politically correct liberal Democrats and warm for a few years.
Buena Nota! Está bien.
White Stripes put it well:
“you can’t be a pimp and a prostitute too”
#5 and #6: First, your federal government is wasting half a trillion a year in I-can’t-understand-what in Irak anyway, and that’s not the government money (there’s no such thing) that’s your money. Second, that’s my recommendation for US citizens to be safe in their country. If you continue segregating, you’ll get hate in return, and that translates into very very bad quality of life for you. For instance, just yesterday UN said that Mexico was the country with the most fire arm robberies in earth just behind the US, and fire arms are absolutely prohibited in Mexico if you’re not law enforcement or in the military. Go figure. That’s because in 500 years no one cared a bit about the poor and illiterate. I know it’s easier to kill’em all, “the final question” for god’s sake, but no one will let you or me do it. You sound exactly as germans in the 30’s with the jewish -“send ’em all to palestine” and that’s why concentration camps were founded for, just to “deport” them.. Yeah right.. Now the most prosperous people in the US is the same people germans were trying to get rid of. The difference here is Jews were smart and studied, indigenous people isn’t, but they are suffering just as much sometimes. Being hated because of something you can’t change (appeareance, place of birth) is not nice. So because no one can either “kill ’em all”, or “send ’em all south of the border” it’s better to accept them, make them pay their a**es in taxes just as everyone else, or even more just because their not citizens (they’ll graciously will, just to be left alone), and help them become a better society by in return, educating their children and giving them healthcare. Remember YOU ARE NOT PAYING, THEY ARE. In Mexico 80% of the working population evades tax paying. That’s why people is so illiterate and under qualified for even the simplest jobs, but petroleum pays for 40% of all government expenses. The other 60% is paid by corporations and their employees. You don’t want that to happen.
Otherwise not LA, but the US will become a third world country in the coming decades.
Si!!!! gringo scum!
#6 – I’d interpret what #4 wrote differently. In brief, it might have been “Scrap NAFTA and if you want a North American union, model it on the EU”.
Failing that “America, take to your bosom those immigrants whom you do accept to your land. If you treat them like dirt, your country will end up like Mexico.”
#4 did represent himself as a member of Mexico’s elite, the wealthy with largely European blood.
Me, I mostly like Mexico, and see that it has been making heroic efforts, and with some success, in areas such as Health Care and Education. #4 of course is closer to the heart of things, maybe too close. Just a couple of nights ago, we rented the movie “Man on Fire”, with Denzel Washington as a novice bodyguard in Mexico City. It’s a movie, it’s fiction, but still…
#4–mal & #10–jbellies
What would you recommend “if you were an American” as the best course of America to take regarding immigration?
I’d give more details, but don’t want to direct your first response?
“he said. The US Census Bureau last year predicted that by 2050, minorities will account for half of all residents across America.”
That is a lot higher percentage than the new colonies of the 1600’s.
¡Sí, Se Puede Cambiar!
#12–tom==what do you mean?
Everyone: Seed hate, harvest hate. As easy as that.
i have an idea!
instead of revamping the immigration system to use simple credentials and an easily checked database using modern technology, let’s spend billions and billions of dollars building a wall that can be tunneled under and climbed over, and let’s pay that money contractors who will probably employ illegal aliens to build it, or better yet use the army corps of engineers — ask anyone along the mississippi delta for a reference!
republicans are so smart
oh, and while we’re at it, let’s blame the actions of california’s republican governor on the democrats, and blame reagan’s amnesty deal on the dem’s too
republicans are soooooooo smart.
Your xenophobia is showing. The City of Angels already has a Hispanic name because it was a part of Mexico. So do many parts of the southwest, naturally.
That there are so many immigrants is a wonderful thing. Except for Native Americans, we’re all immigrants in the US. Even little old white-anglo-saxon me. Some are illegally here, but we didn’t stop them at the border, we encouraged them. I think they should stay, whether from Mexico, Central or South America, the South Pacific, or wherever. They contribute much to our economy. Now, let’s tax them.
We already have a NEW Mexico! it’s a state…
I like the name Los Angeles… I imagine if you do that you will have to rename every city out here…
San Francisco could become East Peking, or San Jose could become Sigon City…
Oh wait, most cities in California already have a Spanish name… ha!
I live in San Rafael…
so what;s the problemo?
Fire the border patrol, Mr Bush; tear down these walls.
As a minority can I have my own white entertainment channel, or National Caucasian College Fund. Sounds good to me.
Let the Canadians use all their new oil wealth to build fences for me to crawl under as I smuggle Americans across the border to a country with job opportunities. Alberta and the Maritimes have oil job openings up the gazoo. For only a couple thousand I can get you into Canada. I see a lot of new opportunities here.
Eh!!!
As you all know, I don’t usually comment on social issues like this, I’m not a politician or sociologist. I’ll point out one oversimplified thought and bow out.
In the ’20s and ’30s, legal immigrants (for the most part) learned English, got jobs and contributed. No problem that they wanted to live in neighborhoods with the same ethnic background amongst people of their own kind, that’s just how we are.
In the last few years, many (not all) illegal immigrants don’t bother to learn English, and thus can’t get a good job. They are also placing great demands on public services.
Oversimplified, I know, but I have no workable solution. Do you? (Other than “deport ’em all” — that will never happen).
Eisenhower fixed this problem during his term, but no one wants to take that approach again. Why not?
That’s just my 2 cents (2 new gold dollars) worth.
#22–Bubba==I’ll offer you a quibble.
When you say the immigrants who don’t speak english cannot get good jobs, I think you project too much of yourself into that evaluation.
They are very good jobs for the immigrants from the immigrants point of view (not the slave chained to their workstations–but I’m thinking outside the garmet industry), and they don’t need to speak english–their children will.
PS–I hope you also chuckled about the declination issue? “Priceless.”
Wow maloconlamaquina, it only took you two posts to invoke Godwin’s Law. Its a good thing you dont have a hate mongering, fear inspiring anti american agenda or anything.
My question is: if Mexico’s socio-political problems are so old and pervasive, then why the hell hasn’t any one done anything about it yet?
If Mexicans worked as hard at Mexico as they do bitching about America, maybe they wouldn’t need to emigrate.
#19 – “Except for Native Americans, we’re all immigrants in the US.”
The American Indians sprang from the soil? Aren’t they immigrants from Asia?
#24:
Totally right.. That was my point. No one can put an “easy” solution as “deport ’em all”, and for the kind of speech from many republicans, and as an important percentage of the US population speaks (given what polls reflect) my perception is that more than half of US citizens really think just stopping immigration and/or deporting is somewhat doable. It’s not. Period. It’s also utopic to think that some problem that has been carried since the country foundation itself can be fixed in one presidential term or two. For starters, the system that ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000 had the open intention to leave everyone in the dark, and the more the merrier. Now that for the first time that Mexico has democracy since it was founded, it’s supposed that change is starting to happen (universal healthcare for all newborns is in the constitution), but it’ll take us like 50 or 100 years more to catch up. In the meanwhile we can’t do really anything in our side to stop neither immigration, nor organized crime. We all are harvesting what was seeded the last 50 years. The best you as US citizens can do is to make them pay their taxes plus a premium for being illegal immigrants, but let them integrate to the system, charge them a “rent” for living there, they’ll happily pay it if in turn you don’t chase them constantly. Let them work, take profit from it, make it for them as easy as if they want to stay, they must learn english (some kind of english for stay program, stop learning, stop living in the US, plus charge for the classes) Use the man power for your advantage! They are willing to die for your country already (now they’re being sent to Irak too in exchange for a green card). It’s not like you have another choice anyway. My own grandparents immigrated to the US in ’89 and they were required to learn english before the government would give them US citizenship. They accepted gladly and took all the night courses in a public school and passed the tests.
#26–mal==quite right. Immigration, legal and illegal, is not an easy problem. It is a hard problem.
Maybe that calls for a hard solution–not politically possible until the pain level increases a notch or two more.
With majority consensus–what was hard, is now easy.
Right on #25 Pat. I hate that tired old line “we’re all immigrants”. This is the only country I have ever known, my father has ever known, my grandfather has every known, my great-grandfather….
Through sweat, blood, tears and toil, my kin has helped build up this country to what it is today.
I find that after umpteen generations, I’m told this still isn’t my country. I am just another immigrant.
#27: You missed the whole point. Is not doable. Story has shown again, and again, and again. You must embrace immigration or suffer. Either take advantage of it or immigrate yourself. Believe it or not we’re having a very similar problem but with people from Argentina, Cuba, and Central American Countries, in other areas we are feeling displacement too! Sad but we can’t stop it either.
Of course! Why don’t we give them the whole country?