Living and Lingo in the US of A...

After reading all three articles, I was surprised to learn a lot about the debates relating to illegal immigration and English Only movements that are so prevalent in American society today. While I tend to look at the issue as something that is affecting the West or something that is isolated in Washington, learning more about the Hazleton case and others seems to make the issue hit home a lot harder than before.

Illegal Immigration, touched on in the two articles on Hazleton, is becoming a very hot debate in the US. While I agree with the fact that some efforts should be made to limit the flow of illegal immigrants in the United States, I think that some of the laws that have been passed in Hazleton are a little too extreme. While crime is being committed by a minority of the illegal immigrants in the city, al of them are being punished with laws that limit employment and housing for illegal immigrants find this to be an unfair solution to the problem, where less stringent laws may be more effective. These people are here illegally, but they should not be deprived of their ability to live here. Just like anyone else, they should be allowed to work and live in safety.

Native Language initiatives are another hot button issue in the US. I think that people who treat English as a “threatened” language are insane. As the “Lingo Jingo” article pointed out, statistics show that immigrants to the US are assimilating into the English speaking population faster than ever and are making more effort to do so. America is referred to as a melting pot of different cultures, and it is important that we respect and observe the traditions and language of other cultures that are part of our collective whole. Saying that a person cannot speak Spanish or Chinese in public is like saying that one cannot express themselves in other ways like wearing a green shirt. It is part of how we broadcast ourselves and should not be limited.