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Subscribe to RSSNBC News' Ramon Lupercio has fulfilled a dream. This week he became a U.S. citizen, saying, 'If you work hard, somehow you get back everything you have done.'
NBC News engineer Ramon Lupercio came to the U.S. in 1986 seeking a better education and a better life. At 16, his family sent him to live with an uncle, wanting more for their son. He had grown up watching American movies, believing America was the best country in the world. Ramon's citizenship is the culmination of a dream. He longed to vote in his new home and often worked three jobs to support his family. Ramon wanted his kids, who were born in the U.S., to understand how lucky they are to live in this country and be citizens here and to know what can be accomplished with hard work.
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Most Americans will enjoy the 4th of July and have no idea what it means nor will they care as it's just a day off. Those who have come to the US have taken the time to understand and read the US History. How and why this nation was formed from immigrants to the new land. Many officials and elected Law Makers are first/second generation immigrants. Justices Scalia and Alito both first generation Americans born to immigrant parents who came to the US for a better life. Mitt Romney's Dad born in Mexico but came to the US and lived the American dream. SC Governor Nikki Haley and Louisiana Gov. Jindal both have immigrant parents who come to the US to have their children born on US soil. We lost 1,080 brave US immigrant soldiers who died in Iraq that we honored on Memorial Day. Few times in the history of the USA have Americans been called to serve the USA at time of War and the Patriots follow the call as very few Dodge the Draft. Vietnam the call come for young men to serve and protect the USA. Thousands of immigrants joined the Military during Vietnam and many died. Few coward young Americans fled overseas rather then serve the country. Years later they came back but many were listed for arrest as the Draft was the Law.
On this day in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.
It was a sad day to see Americans evade the call to serve the USA while thousands of immigrants volunteered because they loved the USA so much.
LA RAZA propaganda alert.
Where was MEXICO in World War One, World War Two, the Korean War, Vietnam....?
Immigrants joining the military? What bullcrap. I know people who were rejected from service during WW2 because they weren't Americans, they were POLISH. POLAND was an ALLY! Mexico was and still is, hostile to the American people.
Ever since Mexican soldiers murdered American immigrants to Texas in 1836, the world has known of their hypocrisy and cowardise.
Where was Mexico in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam? Mexico had no interest in Vietnam or Korea. We were in there supposedly to fight the Commies and to keep them from taking over. WE CHOSE TO BE THERE. We sort of succeeded in Korea, we took off from Vietnam when the VietCong got to Saigon. Now we're good friends again with them. Mexico in WWI and WWII was so dang poor that they couldn't probably afford to send anybody over to Europe or Asia. And how in the heck would they send anyone over there with weapons from the 19th century? They weren't militarily advanced? And if I remember my history, Texas in 1836 was Mexican Territory as was a big chunk of our country. And actually yes thousands of immigrants joined the military during Vietnam. Immigrants from Europe, Canada, and including Latinos. So why don't you look stuff up before you show people how ignorant you are?
Where was Obama during the Gulf war? -Answer: Hiding and peeing down his leg at the thought of being shot at
Destiny,
Those Mexican soldiers were protecting THEIR LAND from ignorant americans who PLEDGED to be Mexican citizans when they entered Texas which was MEXICO'S territory. You defend people like Davey Crocket without knowing thier stories for instance Davey Crocket was an Indian killer and cannible. If it wasn't for the Braseros in WW2 then American troops would have had little to no supplies. Women weren't the only ones working their butts off, Mexicans where doing their part in the US too. Immigrants did join the Army and became legal citizens if they came back alive. You are so fuled by your hatred for fellow Americans that you won't recognize their accomplishments in times past.
Facepalm-doh
Where were you duirng the Gulf War? Murdering defenseless Iraqis? How many Iraqi kids did you gun down in cold blood?
If I am not mistaken the Mexican Army is only allowed to defend their country against invaders... according to their constitution
They are still cowards.
In 1916, 80% of the US Army was on the US-Mexican border preventing Mexicans from sneaking into the US to kill American civilians.
While Americans were getting killed in Europe, Mexico declares war against Germany then doesn't send a single soldier to fight them.
Now during WW2, the United States sent millions of dollars in weapons to Mexico so they had no excuse. Brazil sent 25,000 troops to the Italian campaign. But Mexico sat on its ass not wanting to waste Mexican blood on a war for gringos.
During the critical first year of the Korean War, the United States requested that Mexico send a division of soldiers to help the United Nations troops fighting there. The equipment the US sent to Mexico to fight in WW2 was still brand new and never fired. Mexico refused.
And no foreigners were sent to help the US fight in Vietnam.
SIR: Please do not use Mexican comic books as proof of their involvement in world affairs.
Another comic book reader.
Yes, American immigrants were lured to Texas, which was Mexico, with promises of cheap land. Mexico wanted Americans to settle in Texas to battle the Indians that were a nusance to local Mexicans.
Cannible? You're confusing Davy Crockett with your Aztec grandparents. You'd still be carrying a spear if it wasn't for Americans
Yes the brave Mexican braceros proudly picked onions while Americans were getting killed in Europe.
By the way, before WW2, the supplier of guns to Mexico was GERMANY.
I personally know foreigners who tried to join the US military during WW2 but were rejected because the US wanted an ALL AMERICAN ARMED FORCES.
Any more propaganda?
@Destiny1945
Mexico did help out in WW2, with Escuadron 201...everything you are saying is false and could be proven wrong with actual facts. I will not stand by and watch you disrespect Mexicans, or Mexican-Americans. I bet you didnt even know about the bracero program, that helped out the USA while they were in WW2. Mexico is not an enemy to the USA. They fight for DEMOCRACY just as much as the USA does, why dont you worry about the real enemies.
And the comment about Aztecs, and cannibalism, (false accusations so the Spaniards could justify their "conquest") dont forget about your "white" ancestors like Elizabeth Bathory, Vlad the Impailer, or Hitler... Tenochtitlan was a beautiful city far superior to any European city at the time, just to give you an example, Aztecs would bathe daily, Europeans would never bathe in their lifetime, unless you were royalty. The Europeans brought disease (which killed off most of Mexico's Indian population, the only and true way they "won") mass murder, rape, and slavery...so what is it your proud of?
With over a million AMERICANS doing battle in 2 areas of the world, you say that Escuadron 201 makes up for all the deadbeat Mexicans that never picked up a rifle?
Are you trying to say that the bracero program, Mexicans replacing Americans in the fields of the US while Americans were dying in battle make up for the over 418,000 Americans who died in World War 2?
By the way, MEXICAN SCHOLARS have discredited the notion that Europeans were responsible for killing off YOUR PEOPLE. They show that huge populations in the Americas would die off on a regular basis even before Europeans set foot in the Americas. And YOUR PEOPLE gave syphilis to the rest of the world!
The Catholic Church is still creating the illusion that Mexicans are church going Catholics, when in fact, most Mexicans only set foot in a Catholic Church to get free stuff or when the police are looking for them.
Sorry to make Mexicans look so pathetic but as Jesus said "The TRUTH will set you free."
At least Mexico helped with Escuadron 201, there is a total of 192-196 countries in the world more than half didnt even participate in the war, and half of that didnt even help out... The Soviet Union lost 8-10 million people, with a population as much as the USA at the time, whats your point? are you saying that because less Mexicans died we werent helping out? What about the Battle of Puebla, when MEXICO stopped the French from invading the USA via Mexico...we saved your as$*es!
I dont think you trying to belittle Mexicans is working out, I know Mexican history and I am proud of it, Im a proud MExican and nothing you say can take that away from me.
Mexicans have died with great dignity fighting for a democratic country. Brave Mestizos defeated a European army (spaniards) for their independence, stood up to slavery and became the first country in the Americas to abolish it... something Europeans brought with them, other than mass murder, rape and diseases.
"We'll reduce all to a common denominator! Complete equality!" (Dostoevsky --"THE DEVILS"-----
and it is a truth universally acknowledged that the devil is in the details) My thoughts & prayers are with
the Syrian rebels as they meet today in Cairo, which hopefully will result in a successful end. God Bless!!
Phyllis Kunz
In regards to the posting it is truly inpirational and tells very much what the Fourth of July is all about to everyone in our nation.
Now with regards to the broadcast of July 2, 2012
Good Evening Natalie, A fine broadcast this evening as always. Nice to see you filling in for Mr.Williams. You do a great job on the Today Show.
First of all the report by Mr.Costello about the numerous power outages in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia which was caused by the terrible storms last Friday. Seeing all the destruction of trees down and power lines it shows how dangerous the work for crews to be able to restore power to so many residents. With the high temperatures one hopes power will be restored soon.
The report by Mr.Almaguer showed how relentless firestorm has caused so many homes to be lost and seeing entire neighborhoods destroyed is heartbreaking. Truly tragic the loss of the crew in the crash of the crew in the crash of the C-130 air tanker in South Dakota. One hopes the residents will be able to rebuild and one hopes the firefighters can quell the flames.
Interesting piece by Kristen Dahlgren about the expedition to find out what happened to Amelia Earhart and the plane she was flying.
Thank You for the broadcast Natalie. Peace to You and to All!
Be Well Everyone!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard!
Take Extra,Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!
Lisa
Good Evening Natalie, A fine broadcast as always this evening.
First of all the report by Mr.Costello concerning the clean-up from the awful storms that came through Washington, D.C. .Maryland and Virginia. One truly hopes the power crews are able to restore power soon to all the residents since the high temperatures and humidity have made it unbearable in many homes to stay indoors. People sleeping in basements since it it too hot to be on the upper floors of hte house and the food spoiling in the refrigerators eventually having ot be thrown out. It is an awful situation and hearing about electrical wires coming alive is frightening. One hopes everyone stays safe and the power comes back on very soon.
The report by Mr.Almaguer from Colorado Springs showed how the firestorms have certainly destroyed acres of land and entire neighborhoods. So very tragic to see homes reduced to nothing due to the horrible fires and nothing is left at all. Hearing there are still 41 raging fires burning in the Western States and 10 fires just in Monanta is proving difficult for all the firemen to battle. Not enough resources to quell the flames. Help is coming form all over even Canada as people thank them for their efforts. It was heartwarming and moving to see the residents lining the streets to cheer the firemen who risked their lives to battle the flames. They are all true heroes.
On another note learning that Pakistan has re-opened the supply route to Afghanistan is encouraging and will help US Troops receive the necessary supplies. Also, vital the route remains open since it is the route US Troops use to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Nice Piece by Mr.Taibbi in remembering Andy Griffith who passed away today at age 86. A very heartwarming piece.
And hearing from Ron Howard who played "Opie" on "The Andy Griffith Show" getting his start for his career in showbusiness was very nice.
Andy Griffith will be missed greatly.
Thank You for the broadcast Natalie. Peace to You and to All!
Be Well Everyone!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard!
Take Extra,Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!
Lisa
are you done with your rant ? anything else you missed ? ? did you forget to take your OCD meds. ? You need to update the dose.
Notice Obammy that this man earned U S Citizenship the way the LAW requires. There was no amnesty and none was requested. He understood the law and followed it
I don't know who Obammy is, I assume you are referring to Obama and that you just can't spell? And I didn't notice any comments by you about Reagan giving MILLIONS of illegals amnesty back in the 80s and doing nothing to secure the southern border, OK there was no internet back then, I'll give you that much. But I haven't seen you say anything about the fact that Obama has deported more illegals in 1 year than W did in 4 and never heard a peep out of you when W suggested full amnesty for illegals.
Obama is fine with giving away jobs to illegals while spending the middle class taxes on educating, feeding and housing them.
Keep this in mind in November
BTW medave @ who is W - It appears YOU have a similar spelling problem...
Facepalm-doh -
It's contemptible, contemptuous AMERICAN COMPANIES which are shipping so-called "U.S." middle-class" jobs overseas to be filled by non-Americans in places like India, Guatemala, Honduras, Bangladesh and Madagascar. They, not Obama, are the ones "giving away" jobs.
In case nobody's ever explained this to you, it's not the so-called "illegals" who are responsible for so-called "U.S." jobs going overseas or being sent to countries where people are so desperate that they will willingly work for less than $20 a DAY.
If you weren't so busy sucking up to and sucking off the rich and trying to be a nice little feller who's deserving of being thrown a scrap or two from their buffet table, maybe you might finally figure out that desperately poor would-be immigrants from Third World countries are not the ones making the job-sourcing decisions that are annihilating the American middle class and forcing US wages down to the levels of Third World countries.
Why are they always LATINOS?
Is Latin America keeping other immigrants from around the world away from the US?
because they can walk or sneak in without anyone noticing.
it's a long swim from Greece
In case you hadn't noticed, nobody wants to come to the United States from anywhere in Western Europe anymore.
This is because all of the countries in Western Europe have universal health insurance and very high standards of living. That's why lots and lots of people want to move "to" there but virtually nobody ever wants to "leave".Even people who are unemployed in Europe have health insurance and are nowhere near as bad off as people in the U.S.
That's why, no matter how desperate things might get in Greece or Spain, people there will gladly move to ANOTHER WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRY but THEY WILL NEVER AGREE to come to America.
Yes, Willy but you will not have the chance to shoot us.
Dear Willy, Seems the European Model isn't working too well. Can You Say BAILOUT ????
They are LATINOS because the media focuses on that. There are millions of illegal Russians, Chinese, Indians in America but I guess talking about them doesn't bring in the revenue that harping about latinos does. And if you actually read the article it says that they are coming from Guatemala and El Salvador, 2 very very poor countries. There aren't a lot of illegals coming in say from Chile or Uruguay or Argentina. And what's keeping immigrants away from the US right now is the messed up economy, thanks to 8 years of complete mismanagement.
There are not "millions of illegal Russians, Chinese, Indians in America". That's total B.S. Over 60% of all immigrants to the U.S. come from just one country -- Mexico. Thanks to 8 years of economic mismanagement by George W. Bush, we are in a Great Recession which Obama inherited and has been doing his est to fix. In case you haven't noticed, the policies to get us out of the recession actually should never, ever be the same pro-free-market and anti-regulation policies that got us iNTO the recession.
So let's manage it Mexican style! That'll show them!
When will we require that Mexico and South & Central American Countries stop the abuse of it's own citizens ? When people flee their own countries in the Middle East and other Countries from that region , we are ready to send Military troops to keep the people safe. Well Mexican Citizens are fleeing their own country out of fear of death by Cartel and gang warfare , yet the Mexican Government does nothing but demand we relax our border security ! Now there are thousands of Children crossing our border and still the Mexican Government does NOTHING ???? So we take these children, and more than likely we will make these children US citizens .how can we turn away children ? What happens when a year from now or 6 months from now we start having parents , Aunts and Uncles show up claiming these (now US citizens) children. Wake up America, before its too late. When will we hold Mexico to the same standards of behavior as any other country ? The thing that bothers me the most is we dont even know how many people are in our country illegally ! Not just the Latinos, if women and children can get in this country un-noticed , couldn't terrorists get in as easy , if not easier ? Our politicians all say , there are too many to deport ! What they mean , there are too many potential votes we could lose by doing our jobs !
Wake up America ! Our country was made great by immigration, at a controlled rate over a very long time. No country was ever made great by uncontrolled MILLIONS sneaking across borders ,living off the grid and taking jobs that are meant for legal citizens of said country. First , its said "they only do jobs Americans dont want". We all know this is no longer true. Wake up America !
John . I agree with you 100% , I think somebody/we could start a movement to give these jobs to americans who need them . I personally know of many know of whom would be glad to get one of those jobs. THe key would be to locate these illegals one at a time if need be and go to the employer and tell them “ I am a U.S born citizen ( not an anchor baby) want the job that this person is doing Mr. illegal . I mean what happened to the good ole times when our young people worked through High School to a sense of responsibility , what it feels like to go out and make your own money and how about when our kids get out of college and there is no jobs available because some illegal or a family member now has that job that our sons and daughters could be doing.
On a short note my wife is actually an anchor baby and she is always talking about how proud she is to be Mexican but yet she is sure taking advantage of all AMERICA has to offer , we get into some pretty big arguments about it , she sas I’m a racist I tell her no I’m a realist.
I know she is my wife and all but sometimes I wish they would take away her citizenship , just to show her how good she really has it and to appreciate the American way. Don’t be fooled people America is being over run by illegals and if we don’t do something fast , well, America just won’t be same any longer.
El Gringo-2226743,
You act like you are somehow "better than" everybody else, you ain't "better than" !@#!%$, you just were LUCKY ENOUGH to have been born in the U.S. You sound like a complete piece of trash, if you want your wife's citizenship revoked then obviously you are a pretty piece-poor excuse for a so-called "husband", why don;t you revoke your own citizenship and move with your wife to Mexico and see how you like living there? You're obviously taking advantage of everything America has to offer you yet you don't seem to feel guilty about that. By the way there's another name for a so-called "anchor baby", it's called AMERICAN CITIZEN which means SHE IS EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS YOU.
Speaking of Sacrifice. Why don’t Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann , and Ann Romney Pose for Playboy and donate the money to the National Debt and Charity? I am sure all of their Self Righteous; Conservative Sheep would buy a copy and run to the closet with it! You Bet Cha...Fer Sure.
On this the 4th of July everyone should remember what Obama said in regards to America; to paraphrase, " Citizenship in the US is crap, it is ONLY a piece of paper"
The President laughs in the face of those who were so stupid as to ACTUALLY wait in line ... he thinks you're a bunch of morons. He feels the smart ones made their way here and stayed.
Facepalm-doh
Why don't you offer some evidence to PROVE your false and lying claim that Obama ever said that at all or else withdraw your false and lying claim for the lie that it is?
If I am not mistaken the Mexican Army is only allowed to defend their Country against invaders,they are not allowed by their constitution to attack any other country..
I think the Mexican Army is there to help the Mexican drug cartels poison Americans with chemical warfare.
What does the President of the United States have to do with people coming over to the United States? Plain and simple he was born in the United States, Period!!! What does Mexico have to do with the Korean, Vietnam Wars, it was the United States who decided to enter the wars, nobody force the US to fight in the Vietnam war or the Koren War. The US will enter or fight a war when it suits us. Let me ask you "Medave" you probably are somewhat with a second class education, who does all the planting and picking of the fruit in the floods, its not white america! Who works in the kitchens? Its not white american! Who landscapes your lawns, its not white america! Who's fighting these drug lords in Mexico, because of the consumption of typical white kids, its not white america! So next time can you do all of us a favor before you want a serious communication with your average american, can you put away your hood or too afraid to know what type of person you are!!!
So much for allies!
You are reading the voices that hate America and its people. They would kill all of you in a heartbeat if given the green light.
Years of sacrifice???? What a load of crap!
The Korean War was the first time the people of the free world were supposed to come to the aid of their neighbor. Since Mexico is the land of Aztec crybabies that think the world owes them a living, they couldn't be bothered.