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Jalapeno Bob wrote:

I considered the soapbox, but too often all you see are rants

Jalapeno Bob wrote:

as this is an issue that should transcend politics.

You are correct. I

know very little about the actual immigrant experience in a global context.

I am a programmer, not a student of history. I am looking for an understanding of a complex topic, beyond the "sound bites" of the politicians and the media. This is not happening is just one place, but people are being displaced from many countries and fleeing to many other countries. I can see, from articles in the media, what is not working. The question are: What can work? Are the issues different when it is one displaced family versus a mass displacement? How does society deal with their lack of documentation or education? How does the legal system deal with a marriage involving a woman below the age of consent which includes children? And the answers to these breed a whole host of new questions.

I will seriously consider your reading list. I do know that "How the Other Half Lives" and "Angela's Ashes" deal with the lives of immigrants during the same time period as when my fore-bearers arrived. They have been recommended to me before, but I have yet to find the time to read them.

The response from the community was interesting, but not particularly heartwarming. I had hoped for a more informed discussion. From the responses, it is my opinion that although many members have heard of the issue, only a few members of the community are really aware of the reality of this issue.

The good news is that the community was respectful in their responses, keeping within the tone of the Lounge. No "flames" were posted.

We are programmers. Most of us are not movers and shakers in the world. To me, many of us appear to show very little interest in the world at large. I was hoping to shake their complacency a little and get them to at least think about the issue and the philosophical implications. As the famous Hungarian mathematician George Polya said:

This seems so obvious that it is often not even mentioned, yet students are often stymied in their efforts to solve problems simply because they don’t understand it fully, or even in part. (Polya, George, How To Solve It, 1945)

I am very content to leave the practical and political implications of creating solutions to the Soapbox.

By posting this to the Lounge instead of the soapbox, I was hoping to start a serious discussion started. Notice that I did not mention their country of origin, religion or native language. There are many places in the world they could be from. The key scramblers on this story are, for me, their age, lack of documentation, lack of education, and culture shock. Almost every civilized country has some sort of a welfare system that could provide for the basic necessities, once they learn how to access it. But welfare does not provide much assist with the other issues.

Also, I did not want to limit the discussion to those landing on American shores. Many other nations, especially in Europe and southeastern Asia, are receiving substantial, if not overwhelming, numbers of refugees from various nations.

We are programmers. We solve problems and provide the tools that allow our politicians (or in some countries, political class) to implement solutions to the pressing problems of the day. To do this, we need to understand and explore the problems and be proactive in our solutions. As an example of our short-sighted thinking in the past: check boxes on a form labeled "Race:" allowing for the choice of black, white, or asian. In our modern globally-interconnected world, we need to think outside of the narrow boxes imposed by history or our local culture.

Jalapeno Bob wrote:

the ethnic communities in New York welcomed the newcomers, found them jobs and social assistance.

Jalapeno Bob wrote:

Americans have lost the sense of ethnic community

W∴ Balboos wrote:

The current calamity, if you wish to so classify it (I do) as that it's made too easy to remain in the 'ghetto' - where you can speak your native tongue, likely watch TV in that language, take your drivers test in that language, and essentially never have a reason to leave and integrate.

wizardzz wrote:

Just to get this straight, you're saying it took generations for your family to acclimate and become upwardly mobile, and now you are upset that immigrants aren't doing it immediately upon arrival?
(and)
I'm not sure why anyone needs to integrate. It's a process that happens with each generation.
Y