Speech #1090120271

History is replete with examples of the United States of America being a welcoming nation. But. unfortunately. the public dialog through the years has been less than welcoming. Over the decades. the influx of immigrants of various ethnicities has caused concerns and in many cases heated comments against such immigrants to our Nation. In some cases. there were even laws enacted to limit or ban certain ethnicities from being able to come to the land of opportunity. Before the American revolution. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wrote of the influx of German immigrants to Philadelphia. He said: Those who come hither are generally the most stupid of their own nation. Henry Gardner. the Governor of Massachusetts. in the middle of the 19th century. saw the Irish as a "horde of foreign barbarians." Finally. a 1925 report of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce stated that Mexicans are suitable for agricultural work "due to their crouching and bending habits . . . . while the white is physically unable to adapt himself to them." We should not stand for rhetoric that focuses solely on the weak and says nothing about those who benefit the most from immigrants contributionsthe corporations and. ultimately. all of us. the consumers of these goods and services. Lets face it. we are all a part of the equation that contributes to this unfortunate situation in which we currently find ourselvesthe fortunate among us in our country who have nannies to care for our children. maids to clean our hotels. motels. and even our homes. landscapers who maintain our lawns. and so many others who make a difference in our daily lives. Yet they seem to be invisible to us.