https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/995695213699006465
John Kelly's great-grandfather, John DeMarco, is listed in census records as a day laborer who still did not speak English 18 years after coming to America. His wife still had a “No†in the “Speaks English†category 37 years after her arrival.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-kelly-forgotten-history-lessons
A lot of the old-timers never mastered the English language. My maternal grandfather didn't really speak much English. Grandma, on the other hand, spoke English fluently. Grandpap worked every day in a factory -- you would think being among English speakers all day 6 days a week, he would have learned the language, but he didn't. Bu then again, according to my mother, he was not a good student back in the old country. In fact, he had failed a grade and my younger grandmother caught up with him. That's how they met.
Grandma was a stay at home wife and mother. But she learned English from listening to the radio, watching tv and reading the paper (with help from her children who were learning English in school).
Important thing is that these immigrants came to the US legally, they worked hard and for the most part they contributed to this country -- they didn't take away from it. The only time my grandparents took assistance was during the Great Depression and as soon as they got back on their feet, the welfare stopped. These were good people. The illegals coming in now -- I think they mostly want to live off the taxpayers.
