Last Thursday the US Senate voted to make English the official “national language” in a 63-34 vote. However, critics of the measure said that designating it as such would have unintended consequences such a preventing people with limited English from getting language assistance required by an executive order enacted under President Clinton. They instead chose to designate English as “common and unifying language.”
For those that aren't up to speed on Executive Orders, the order they are referring to is EO 13166 and it essentially requires all governmental agencies to make arrangements to provide services to what it calls LEPs – people with Limited English Proficiency. In response to EO 13166 the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a document entitled “Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons (DOJ Recipient LEP Guidance)” on June 18 th of 2002. The DOJ's ‘guidelines' require that if those working for a federal agency notice high numbers of people with LEP, that agency must hire bilingual staff to work with the LEPs in their native language and all documentation must also be written in the LEPs' native language (this is why virtually every federal agency's phone ‘touch' menu starts out with the ‘para Espanol oprima el numero dos' option – an option to direct Spanish speakers to services in Spanish).
Folks, I've read the Clinton Executive Order #13166 issued on August 11 th of 2000 and DOJ's Guidance document and I can find absolutely no evidence that designating English as our “national language” would have any impact on the spirit or letter of EO 13166 or DOJ's Guidance document.
But that's beside what I think is the true point.
To me, the true point is this: the whole idea of EO 13166 and the DOJ's Guidance document are an all-out assault on America 's laws and taxpayers.
Those seeking citizenship in the US are required by law to speak English. Here's the exact text taken from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services web site (www.uscis.gov):
“Applicants for naturalization must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language. Applicants exempt from this requirement are those who on the date of filing:
- have been residing in the United States subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence for periods totaling 15 years or more and are over 55 years of age;
- have been residing in the United States subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence for periods totaling 20 years or more and are over 50 years of age; or
- have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment, where the impairment affects the applicant's ability to learn English. “
There it is, in black and white. Let me restate the requirement again: “Applicants for naturalization must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language.” It doesn't get much easier to understand than that. To become a US citizen and be eligible for assistance from the US government the person must speak English.
If you can't speak English, you can't become a citizen and you aren't eligible for federal assistance. Why, then, should the federal government have to provide services in any language other than English? It just doesn't make any sense!
I wouldn't dream of becoming a citizen of Mexico and demanding that Mexican officials talk to me in English. That's just not the way it works. If you want to be part of a society you must have or create the ability to interact with other members of society in that society's language. If you want to be an American you must speak English, period.
Instead, Clinton created a situation where we, the American taxpayers, have to pay out of our wallets for services for those who refuse to follow America 's laws and learn English. It's really that simple. We're paying for bilingual federal employees, translators and documents because people living in our country choose not to learn English, a choice that is in direct violation of our citizenship requirements.
I am deeply saddened by the capitulation of our legislators as well as our President. They were all far too willing to roll over and allow English to be downgraded from our official language to our ‘common and unifying' language despite the fact that the basis of their argument, assuming that such a move would undermine EO 13166, was completely and utterly not true.
The question I have is this: why? Why is our legislature and President so willing to compromise our laws and pull money out of our pockets for people who willingly refuse to cooperate? Why should we have to pay for their choice not to follow the law? Why does an illegal alien's ability to speak with an employee of the federal government in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, or any other language trump what I feel are my rights as a taxpayer to not have to pay for unfair and wasteful governmental programs?
It's time for our legislators to take a stand and stop this insanity. I live in America and in America we speak English. If you don't like it; if you don't want to learn English, stay in your own country. If, however, you want to become an American citizen and choose to follow our rules, learn English and enter our country legally, I'll welcome you with open arms. |