FW: The new voice of immigration reform: First speak English, then maybe we'll let you in

[Don Osborn]

FYI...

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-MULTIED-L at usc.edu [mailto:owner-MULTIED-L at usc.edu] On Behalf Of
Peter Farruggio
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 10:13 PM
To: Inst for Lang & Ed Policy
Subject: The new voice of immigration reform: First speak English, then
maybe we'll let you in



>From: Dennis Baron <debaron at UIUC.EDU>
>
There's a new post on the now-illustrated Web of Language

The new voice of immigration reform: First speak English, then maybe _
we'll let you in

In early June the Senate passed an amendment to the embattled _
immigration reform bill making English the national language of the _
United States.

The president's immigration package has proved universally _
unpopular.  Liberals condemn the harsh requirements it imposes on _
undocumented workers, who must pay fines, go back to their home _
countries, and learn English before they can re-enter the U.S. _
legally, while conservatives condemn the bill for offering not _
punishment but amnesty to illegals.

Whatever your position on the immigration act, no one should welcome _
the National Language Amendment, which passed with strong bipartisan _
support, drawing little notice in the press, and few public comments.

The left should decry the amendment's clear intent to make life more _=

difficult for all immigrants, legal and otherwise, by reducing _
language services , both in English and in other languages , to _
facilitate their transition to English.  And the right should be _
screaming that, instead of making English official, as they've _
demanded for years, the National Language Amendment gives amnesty to _
speakers of Spanish, a language which Newt Gingrich recently _
characterized as ghetto.  But both sides seem to think the measure is

just fine. . . .

to read the rest, and see living-color pictures of an English-only _
bar in Ohio and Gubernator Arnold Schwarzenegger, go to the Web of _
Language


>www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
>
>Dennis Baron
>Professor of English and Linguistics
>Department of English
>University of Illinois
>608 S. Wright St.
>Urbana, IL 61801
>
>office: 217-244-0568
>fax: 217-333-4321
>
>www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron
>
>read the Web of Language:
>www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
>------------------------------------------------------------