There are more than 320 languages spoken in the US so it's surprising that most bilingual actions by our government are only conducted in Spanish. This sends an ugly message to the majority of immigrants who speak neither English nor Spanish. We're saying that we cater only to a select immigrant population and they're not in the preferred group. Immigrants who can't speak English are ostracized in our society to a great extent so our goal should be to help them learn English, not to help them avoid learning it.
State Representative Scott Perry has crafted HB 888 which calls for all government business, including printed documents, to be conducted only in English. Despite being characterized as prejudiced against immigrants, the proposed law actually benefits immigrants. Perry points out that English proficiency is a requirement of our citizenship tests. We're hardly doing them any favors by providing government materials in a foreign language when in fact they need to be able to read and write in English in order to become citizens.
Immigrants proficient in English enjoy an average income about 30% higher than those who don't learn the language. People living in America but not proficient in English face bleak financial futures with limited opportunities and low wage rates. Their earning potential is equal to that of a high-school droupout with no GED. Conducting government business in foreign languages decreases the need thus the motivation to learn English. That relegates immigrants into a subculture characterized by poverty, a lack of opportunity and being cut off from much of society.
The US Department of Labor has found that immigrants receiving the most foreign-language support learn English more slowly than immigrants who receive less language support or none at all. The DOL theorizes that the large number of Spanish-speakers in the US allows immigrants to live and work here without the need for English while other immigrant populations don't have the opportunity to live and work largely amongst native speakers. Conducting government business in Spanish may actually go a long way toward creating a group of second-class citizens cut off from much of American life. That's not in anyone's best interests and it hurts us all.
Safety is also a consideration. So long as government business is not English-only, people who can't read or write in English can have driver's licenses, including CDL's. They can't reasonably be expected to read signs, construction limitations or safety requirements yet we allow them to drive tractor trailers. If they can't speak, read or write English, how do they get insurance and keep it up to date? How can they safely navigate our roads or obey the laws? In a country where nearly 100 die each day in motor vehicle accidents, allowing people with little or no proficiency in English to have a driver's license, especially a commercial one, should be criminal.
Those who say English-only government is discriminatory are ignoring the facts. Our current system is discriminatory in that it relegates Spanish speakers to a subclass in our society, potentially doing them great harm with little, if any, good.
State Representative Scott Perry has crafted HB 888 which calls for all government business, including printed documents, to be conducted only in English. Despite being characterized as prejudiced against immigrants, the proposed law actually benefits immigrants. Perry points out that English proficiency is a requirement of our citizenship tests. We're hardly doing them any favors by providing government materials in a foreign language when in fact they need to be able to read and write in English in order to become citizens.
Immigrants proficient in English enjoy an average income about 30% higher than those who don't learn the language. People living in America but not proficient in English face bleak financial futures with limited opportunities and low wage rates. Their earning potential is equal to that of a high-school droupout with no GED. Conducting government business in foreign languages decreases the need thus the motivation to learn English. That relegates immigrants into a subculture characterized by poverty, a lack of opportunity and being cut off from much of society.
The US Department of Labor has found that immigrants receiving the most foreign-language support learn English more slowly than immigrants who receive less language support or none at all. The DOL theorizes that the large number of Spanish-speakers in the US allows immigrants to live and work here without the need for English while other immigrant populations don't have the opportunity to live and work largely amongst native speakers. Conducting government business in Spanish may actually go a long way toward creating a group of second-class citizens cut off from much of American life. That's not in anyone's best interests and it hurts us all.
Safety is also a consideration. So long as government business is not English-only, people who can't read or write in English can have driver's licenses, including CDL's. They can't reasonably be expected to read signs, construction limitations or safety requirements yet we allow them to drive tractor trailers. If they can't speak, read or write English, how do they get insurance and keep it up to date? How can they safely navigate our roads or obey the laws? In a country where nearly 100 die each day in motor vehicle accidents, allowing people with little or no proficiency in English to have a driver's license, especially a commercial one, should be criminal.
Those who say English-only government is discriminatory are ignoring the facts. Our current system is discriminatory in that it relegates Spanish speakers to a subclass in our society, potentially doing them great harm with little, if any, good.
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