While speaking before the Colorado state legislature, state Rep. Douglas Bruce argued against a guest worker program and called Mexican workers "illiterate peasants."
"I would like to have the opportunity to state at the microphone why I don't think we need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in Colorado," Bruce, a Republican, said Monday.
Fortunately, he was quickly rebuked by Democratic Rep. Kathleen Curry. "How dare you," she told him. Then she told him he was no longer recognized to speak.
If Bruce wants to rant against legal immigration at least he could make an intelligent argument. Instead, he has to resort to hate-filled speech. He's the one who sounds ignorant here.
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Ok, I understand he sounded pretty ignorant there, but we must see the real picture here. Americans are losing jobs,our taxes are continuously going up,our healthcare is substandard and overwhelming us(tax wise) because illegals are bombarding our hospitals, our food prices are going up,the gas is outrageous and our welfare system is killing us, all because we are trying to accomidate the immigrants (illegal). You have to accept the facts here. Our wages are going down and we cannot continue to sustain our ever day lives/ our families. He was speaking the truth! These illegal are uneducated. They bring nothing productive to our society, but a weak economy. A burden to our health,welfare,educational system. Plain and simple.
I am outraged at Rep. Douglas Bruce's comments! What an insulting comment he made about the Mexican people! I an American of Irish and Mexican descent. My father is from Mexico and so is my father's entire family. My father is a well educated man who happens to speak 4 languages! His brother (my uncle) is a well known biochemist at the University of Mexico, who has written 7 books. His son's ( my cousins) speak not only Spanish but French fluently also, as they have studied abroad. The rest of my Mexican family are also well educated and are hardly illiterate!
Wow. And I thought Republicans couldn't get any more racist.
Come check us out and speak your mind !
I am of Hispanic descent and a citizen of this country (I was born here on U.S. soil) and I must say that Mr. Bruce you are a shame to our government. Does our country need to be tougher on immigration reform? YES. However do we need to use a slanderous vocabulary to bring an already pressing issue into the light. NO.
In Article I. of The Constitution of the U.S.A.,(1787), Section 8 (Powers of Congress, The Congress shall have the power, 'To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.'
It is not that the Mexicans should not be here, in the United States of America, because some are illiterate. We suffer illiteracy in our country, but those persons are here,legally. The situation remains that we must protect the rules of our contract with our government. We must never breach our agreement with The Constitution of the U.S.A.
My children are third generation Mexican Americans. Not, American, Mexican Americans. They were born here, raised and educated here. Yet they still are subjected to comments such as, "You speak English with no accent, or you don't have to work so hard, you do have a green card? No wonder you got an A in Spanish, it's your native language, etc. My point is that many Latinos, assimilated into this country are still not considered mainstream Americans. We are welcomed into labor force only as long as the jobs are what no one else will do. Our children are welcomed into the armed forces but not into universities or the board rooms. We are either illiterate peasants or quaint foreigners to be made allowances for. We are not so different from our fellow citizens of the world, we wish to give our children the opportunity to achieve the American dream, to contribute to this great county as all the other immigrant groups have before us.
Thank you, Ms. Puente, Mark Brown, Neil Steinberg Zay N. Smith and Mary Mitchell for opinions and insights on so many issues.
Good Afternoon State Rep. Douglas Bruce,
I fully agree with and support you in speaking about illegal aliens invading the U.S. of A. More power to you and May God Bless! Thank you.
Joe W.
Stanley Flemmings. Either you are American or you are not. You cannot be both Mexican and American. Make a choice. If you want to be an American of Mexican descent fine. But lose the hyphen.
Julia. Obviously your family is educated. Did your father come to the U.S. legally? I would venture yes.
Therein lies the point folks.
We are a nation of laws. You can feel bad for the people who want to come here but don't have the ways or means to get here legally.
Do you have the same empathy for drug dealers or people who rob a bank or embezzle funds? If the reason for their crimes was to feed their family, does it make their crimes any less egregious? C'mon. Be honest. Douglas Bruce may have been rude, but he has the right to his opinions. You have a right to disagree with him. But is he wrong? Are the illegals coming across our borders educated, skilled workers? Statistics say no. So what are you really mad at? Him for saying it or him for telling an unfortunate truth?
Why is it that everytime the truth is told about illegal immigrants they themselves and their advocates cry racism. This has nothing to do with race.It has to do with people crossing our pourous border who have no education,no skills and the insourcing of our jobs.Just come into the cities,you'll see for yourselves.Illegals are a burden to our economy , they have to many babies and end up on our welfare system.Our scholls are being bombarded trying to get them to learn English. People take off ur blindfolds and take a gooooooood look.
Okay, illiterate, or semi-literate unskilled or semi-skilled persons. Is that better?
Congrats Mr Bruce,
Something must be done immediately. I am getting sick and tired of the politicans bowing down to these people. Politicans under oath are sworn to protect the citizens of this country.
If I went to Mexico, would I have the same rights as a Mexican citizen? I know for sure not because my aunt tried to own a business there and she was not allowed to.
What he said was very rude and and not PC, but it is the truth.
Like another poster stated, statistically most workers coming from the south are unskilled and uneducated. We have plenty of people of that caliber here legally, we do not need to let in millions more because some people feel sorry for them. Legal immigrants that we do allow in should have a skillset, and be able to contribute their skills to our society. Australia & New Zealand have excellent immigration laws. They make sense!
I dont believe illegal immigrants deserve that kind of insult. It is true that our economy isn't how it used to be but they are not the only problem we have. I could think of many more obvious problems with our economy that deserve more attention than this. For him to say something like that is rude and disrespectful, he is in a place of legislation, it is not a place where you give your own personal opinions. Anyone that agrees with him is a racist or the individual is not looking toward the right path for a solution. The issue on immigration needs to be discussed logically, not with words of bigotry and racism.
Wow! I guess we should close all borders lock the door and draw the curtains. What jobs are these "illegals" taking from hard working Americans? If you would stop to think about it these hard working people are just doing the jobs that most Americans can't or won't do. Stop all of the scare tactics and put forth some sensible immigration laws to help those in this country illegally come out of the shadows. We will all benefit!
I started reading your comments and realized you all crazy. Is it really about legal and illegal? This country was built on immigrant's. Look at yourselves blaming other's.
DOES'T THE TRUTH LIE IN THE GOVERNMENT? ARE THEY NOT OUT SOURCING YOUR JOBS?
Are you idiot's not the blind folk that voted them in ?
Drug dealer's are BAD but was America not built on drugs. The only problem is the Government hate competiton. People accused or even convicted of a crime DOES NOT MEAN THEY ACTUALLY did it.
the good U.S. of A. I think instead of forcing freedom on every other country perhaps it would be nice if the American people had a bit of that freedom.
Ignorance is not an excuse. Put the blame where it rightfully belongs.
Any person stupid enough to brand Mexicans as "illiterate" peasants is a moral moron with no respect for human rights or the truth.
No need to worry about the illiterate peasants in Colorado. I think they have all moved to Texas.
Is truth "hate speech" by the way? How quaint! We are importing unskilled, illiterate labor which enriches business and impoverishes the middle-class taxpayer. We need to import talent with a college degree.
Tammy
There is a big distinction between greencard holders and illegal immigrants. The Green Card holders are educated while the illegal immigrants seldom are but they get free hospitalization; free schooling in Spanish no less and their mothers to be get free hospitalization and all the services that regular citizens must pay for; in addition they pay no taxes as they have no social security number.
I LIVE AND WORK IN BRIGHTON CO AND WHILE I MAY DISAGREE WHAT OUR POLITICIANS SAY OR DO I MUST REPORT THAT HE DID NOT SPECIFY MEXICANS FROM MEXICO (OR ANY OTHER ILLEGAL FROM SOUTH OF OUR BORDERS) UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN AFFECTED DIRECTLY BY "REVERSE PREJUSTICE" YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A HUGE PROBLEM THE ILLEGALS ARE TO US IN COLORADO OR ACTUALLY FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (WHO IS SCARED OF IT'S OWN SHADOW) SHOULD MANDATE THAT NO ONE IS ALLOWED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE UNLESS THEY CAN PROVE THEY ARE CITIZENS. IF THEY DON'T GET EVERYTHING FREE AND YES, THEY REALLY DO, AT LEAST HERE IN COLORADO, THEN WE ARE RACIST AND BIGOTS. IF WE EVEN THINK ABOUT COMPLAINING ABOUT EVERYTHING BEING IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, WE ARE BIGOTS AND RACISTS. IF WE LOOK AT THEM CROAKED WE ARE BLA BLA BLA. YOU GET THE IDEA. UNTIL THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GETS SOME INTESTINAL FORTITUDE AND STOPS ALL FREE EVERYTHING FOR THESE PEOPLE, WE WILL HAVE PROBLEMS. THEY NOT ONLY COME HERE ILLEGALLY, BUT THEY BRING ALL KINDS OF CREATURES WITH THEM. LIKE TB--WAS GONE FROM THE US FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN IT'S BACK. BED BUGS...YOU NAME IT. IT IS DISGUSTING. SO I SAY LET DOUG BRUCE SAY IT OUT LOUD, SOMEONE NEEDS TO.
History has taught us that African Americans, were brought here not by choice and that American Indians were all but irradicated by force, how did we miss the chapter in history that states that half of the now US of America was Mexican land and that by know fault of the people was taken from them does anyone even remember that that land is suppose to revert to the Mexican government soon? What are the odds that will happen? We have watches on our hands because of the AZTEC's illiterate peasants from all over the world build this great country and even some criminals and prostitutes from England.