Language: a bond or a divider of people?

Language seems to serve both as a bond and as a divider of peoples in Hazleton, Pennsylvania at the moment. Mayor Barletta has taken steps to make English the official language of Hazleton in an effort to dissuade illegal immigrants from living and working in the area. The problem with relying on language differences is that some legal immigrants probably don't speak English, while some illegal immigrants might actually be able to. The only thing this ordinance really does is divide people racially, no matter if they are in the U.S. legally or illegally. The only success the mayor will have in seperating people will be outcasting those who don't speak english from those who do, which will only lead to stereotyping and racism throughout the town in rural PA. The fact is, not everyone in the United States speaks english, which the country should be proud of, being a world power and what not. When mayor Barletta uses language to divide the legal from illegal people, he is mostly dividing races.
Even though there may be a visible problem with illegal immigrants in Hazleton, limiting language is not the best way to do it. Setting up laws to prevent services to illegal immigrants may be a better way, but it still creates skepticism in the face of every person that appears to be of latino descent. Like the attorney David Vaidi states in the Time article, the effects of the new laws will be descriminatory in effect, if not in intent. The chance of discrimination happening is amplified by the fact that this is an old and rural coal mining town in an area where there is traditionally not a large hispanic population. Getting "them" out does not seem so clear in meaning when the context boils down to white vs. latino.