Given that this is National Hispanic Heritage Month, take a moment to recognize the contributions of Hispanic people throughout American history.
I'll start with Joseph Marion Hernández of Florida, who in 1822 became the first Hispanic American to serve in Congress.
See if I can get into the spirit of this thread. Okay, well the Mexican "Hispanics" contributed a large portion on their traditional homeland to President Polk's dream of a coast to coast nation. As Colonel Hitchcock, commander of the 3rd Infantry regiment, wrote in his diary in 1846;
"...the United States are the aggressors....We have not one particle of right to be here....It looks as if the government sent a small force on purpose to bring on a war, so as to have a pretext for taking California and as much of this country as it chooses....My heart is not in this business."
The U.S. paid Mexico 15 million for the lands in question. And Hispanic Heritage month is still not an illegal immigration topic.