First off let me say that I am a proud support of immigration reform. My ancestors were welcomed into this country, endured hardship, and then prospered, and i feel that every person from every country on earth deserves the same treatment. I feel that the United States should have more liberal immigration laws with Mexico, and other countries around the world. So just to be clear I am not a bigot.
My question is this; When debating with conservatives about immigration, 9 times out of 10 they always bring up the fact that Mexican-Americans do not want to speak English as their primary language even though English is the unofficial majority spoken language. When my ancestors came to the United States from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century, they maintained the pride of their heritage, but learned the language of the country they moved to, to better integrate into society. So why do Spanish speakers seem to feel that keeping their pride about their heritage means not learning English, which seems to hamper their ability to move up in the work place.

So Mexican-Americans can you explain this to me a little bit, so that I can better support the cause of Immigration reform, against bigoted right wingers.

Our existing laws seem to work well except for the Mexican border, so why talk about new "comprehensive" immigration laws?

Rosanna Pulido, Illinois spokesperson for You Don't Speak for Me, a national coalition of American Hispanics who oppose illegal immigration, states, "Actually Elvira Arellano is a testament to the utter failure of the Mexican government. Because of widespread corruption, the government of Mexico has consistently failed to provide economic opportunity to millions of Mexican people and encourages them to violate U.S. immigration laws. The Mexican government could care less about people like Ms. Arellano. What they are really here to protect is the billion a year that the millions of Mexicans living in the U.S. send home to Mexico," Pulido charged.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070209/pl_usnw/mexican_legislators_will_travel_to_chicago_to_visit_elvira_arellano