[TavoNYC]

I don't know if this should be classified as a vanity post? I don't think so. The incident discussed is personal, but I think it touches on more general issues.

[Mn_PatriotGuard]

Why is this even a thread?You should be mad at illegal aliens who come here and ruin it for legal law abiding citizens.
I dont blame the woman one bit for openly expressing rage.Sorry it was you.Id have no problem with insulting illegals.

[VOA]

As an aside, I think the concept of anchor babies is largely a myth.

Then you are in total disagreement with an M.D. I know.
She immigrated (legally) from the Baltic States, did undergrad
at UCLA and is now a grad of USC Med.

She's pretty liberal (solid Democrat) and we have spirited discussions.
But she's intellectually honest and says (after years of volunteering
at a Venice Beach free clinic):
"Two classes in the USA get the best healthcare: illegals/indigents and
the very rich; it's taxpayers in the middle that pay and get
little in return."

Anchor babies are the cuddly needle that allows illegals to
tap plenty of indirect benefits from the kindly artery of American charity.

That being said, US citizens only have themselves to blame.
We voted for politicians (Republicans AND Democrats) that are
giving out freebies to those anchor babies (paid for by us) and hoping
they'll get their vote as soon as they turn 18.
A sweet deal for the politicans...using "somebody else's money".

[WashingtonSource]

As someone who has lived in New York City for many years (but not now), let me comment. New Yorkers, no less than anyone, see their city and the nation being destroyed by illegal immigration. New York City also tends to suffer mightily from high crime rates from minorities -- yes, even after Rudy Giuliani.

To a typical New Yorker, every Puerto Rican is a thief (not without justificaiton if one looks at the statistics, as well as from experience for many New Yorkers.) New Yorkers begin with this assumption about all Hispanics, as Puerto Ricans are the dominant Hispanic group. On top of that a lot of the illegal drug trade is handled by Hispanics from South America, who are also numerous in New York. The influx of Mexicans and Central Americans is fairly recent.

Finally, there is welfare. New York City is riddle with welfare rats, mostly black and, guess what, Hispanic. So every "anchor baby" is another mouth for the struggling middle class to feed.

So, New Yorkers are fed up with that and with the influx of Muslims who have left a bitter legacy. So, if there is maximum immigrant fatigue anywhere, it's in New York City. I know people there who are well educated and sophisticated but can barely restrain themselves from attack anyone who dresses Muslim.

Finally, New Yorkers, like everyone else, were outraged at Congress and President Bush for trying to ram through immigration "reform." I do think that if illegal immigration is not stopped we may soon see open warfarwar between Hispanics and everyone else. It's already happening on the gang level.

Also consider that in congested urban areas, there is a lot of strife between all ethnic groups and people regularly refer to other ethnic groups using slurs -- even to their faces. This happens a lot in working class and middle class neighborhoods. Add to that the stress of urban living and you get the potential for explosive confrontations. You should consider yourself lucky that the insult was as mild as it is.

[Mamzelle]

I appologize for our scofflaw president. He has heaped disrespect on legal resident aliens by refusing to distinguish between “legal” and “illegal” and by refusing to protect our borders. That throws those who came here the hard way at a distinct disadvantage, getting lumped together with those who jump our borders by dark of night like thieves and vandals.

[r9etb]

I wonder what the lady’s FReeper name is....

[tioga]

Interesting, you appear to be a one issue FReeper. The fact is illegal immigration is a hot issue here. I think you are overly sensitive about one rude person. Get on with your life, she’s not worth it.

[LibKill]

Ahem.

In my culture

That would be the culture of Mexico. You are not living in Mexico.

In the culture of the USA it is RUDE, RUDE, RUDE to speak in a language other than English in public. Sorry about that, but this is the culture of the USA. If you don't like it you are free to go elsewhere.

I'm sorry that the lady insulted your children, but you were acting just like 20 million invaders.

[GatorGirl]

You were the victim of rudeness, which unfortunately is a common thing in New York in many situations.

However, while people don’t have “anchor babies” to qualify for social security (retirement) the children, due to their status as American citizens, do qualify for all sorts of welfare, including cash benefits, food stamps, Medicaid and supplemental security income (disability), housing and child care subsidies, etc....so the practice of sneaking over the border while pregnant or having children once arrived is unfortunately, very common and that is what is so galling to many citizen taxpayers.

[longtermmemmory]

There are no more anchor babies under the law. Custody follows the parents. Thuse when the parents are deported the child goes with the parents. The End.

(and yes 100% of illegal aliens ARE criminals)

[Old_Mil]

which I'm sure you'll understand is perfectly normal behavior for native speakers of any language when they speak among each other regardless of what country they happen to be in -Americans living in Mexico or France speak English among themselves as they are perfectly entitled to do-), when out of the blue a woman turned to us as we walked pass her and sarcastically referred to my daughters (6 months old and 6 years old) as "anchor babies". Ny wife and I are Mexican citizens (from Morelia). We came to the New York metro region under a work visa, we've lived here for 10 years and are now US permanent residents. I work in investment banking for a bulge bracket US firm. Needless to say (and yet, here I am feeling compelled to state it) we are law abiding citizens that have paid literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes in the past ten years. Needless to say as well, my current and future immigration status have nothing to do with the fact that my daughter's were born here and (will) have dual citizenship.

Sometimes, when enough people do something wrong, innocent people get caught in the crossfire. German immigrants to America, for instance, faced a much more serious situation than the one you describe when Hitler came to power and America went to war with their country of origin. They adapted in a variety of ways. Perhaps you should consider speaking English when in America - just as I would learn, and use, Spanish were I to move to Spain.

[William Terrell]

Go home. Work there. Have children there. Speak Spanish there.

[Rembrandt]

Tavo,

If you went to Saudi Arabia or China or Russia, you’d be subject to abusive attention. Why? Because there is suspicion of the legitimacy of your residence. It is the same way in the Estados Unidos - there are so many illegals that the legals (like you and your family) have to suffer.

If you don’t like it, you should participate in making a change for the better. You should support the construction of fences and similar measures, then you and your family wouldn’t be so suspect.