I’ve written about this once or twice before, so anyone who knows me probably knows my stance on this.  But now I’m giving you a nice little link that helps you tell your congressperson how you feel, and it’s even easier if you agree with me (wink)!

I can’t stand how anyone against illegal immigration is assumed to be bigoted or racist.  Illegal is illegal.  I’m all for immigration when done through proper channels, and our existing channels need to be revised and fixed so it’s easier to become a citizen or someone on a work visa.  We’re all immigrants.  I like immigrants.  I even like Phill.

But consider these facts:

1. It is illegal for someone to be in our country without proper papers or citizenship, period.
2. It is illegal for businesses to hire illegal immigrants, period.
3. Declining amnesty is NOT discrimination of immigrants.  It’s being discriminatory against illegal immigrants. 
4. The 12 million illegal immigrants contribute to our community in some ways (primarily in the work force), but they do not pay taxes.

I absolutely love that our country, the great United States of America, is so well-liked that so many people want to get in.  That fills me with a wondrous sense of pride.  Where else but America can someone truly achieve their dreams, work hard, get compensated for it, and be (mostly) free to succeed as much as they want?  I think it’s cool that people want the American Dream.  So do I.

But to reduce our country so that everyone is catered to, everyone gets a free ride, everyone is challenged less and less to conform to an American culture (including English) is to demean the value of America.  I don’t mean to sound selfish, but I served in the military, I paid my taxes, I follow the law.  I want to not have to press 1 for English!  In comparison, the illegal immigrant from Mexico doesn’t serve in our military, doesn’t pay taxes, and doesn’t follow the law.  But they get bi-lingual teachers in schools, extra signs in spanish, and even a law protecting them and catering to them by forcing certain businesses to have bilingual employees.  This is so totally backwards.

I won’t needle the specifics, but in general I’d like to see the bill achieve the following general goals:

• Make it easier to get in legally
  Have an easier, safer way for people to join the great United States of America.  The more the merrier!  Oh wait… the more LEGAL the merrier!
• Round them up and document them!
  Get all undocumented people documented in some way, either in-place or an exit-and-come-back strategy.  I shudder to think of trying to herd 12 million people out and back in, but I shudder more at undocumented people being within our borders.  Maybe the “head of household” answer is a good one, and maybe not.  I don’t have the answer to “how” but we need to stop having undocumented people here.
• Increase our tax base the right way
  We need them paying taxes.  So either they get documented quickly and we start withholding or we do a sales tax or something.  This might be taken care of by the Fair Tax.  There are other benefits to the fair tax, like people who cheat on their taxes won’t be able to as easily (and to me, that’s a GOOD thing).  Not to mention the savings we’d get from massively reducing the IRS expenses.
• Secure our borders!
  I think this is in the ’nuff said category, but it seems there are still lots of people who don’t think a secure border is urgent, or even important.  Mexico has a border security problem, too, for their southern border.  Terrorism.  Bribes.  Problems.  It doesn’t do well to have swiss-cheese borders.  Where’s the 700 mile fence we paid for in 2005?  As of now, only one-side of 11 miles is done.  I think they’re still in the testing phases or something.
• Make English the official Language
  And this is what this post links you to.  Preserving our heritage is more important than honoring someone elses.  Let’s respect their heritage, language, customs in a gracious manner, and not discriminate or unfairly judge anyone on these kinds of tenets, but we need not let someone else’s wishes trump our own.  We must be steadfast here.

So if we make America officially into what we want, as an English-speaking, easy-to-legally-get-in-and-prosper place, and secure our borders, doesn’t it follow that we would have a tax surplus, less burden on more people carrying the load, and less people wondering if they’re going to get deported tomorrow?  Is there any downside in this plan?

Your first language has nothing to do with the politics, democracy and laws of your country. You are putting a disparate ideas together.

Many countries support multiple languages, particularly overseas. Their form of democracy and politics has not required that a single language be defined for the country to enjoy the same benefits that we enjoy.

Additionally, just because someone is against illegal immigration doesn’t mean that they “should” be for a single language for the country.

I see language as nothing more than a means of communication. Period. It is not politicial in any way, shape or form. It only provides the means of communication. Society has placed “meaning”, so to speak, on the languages of which you are concerned: English and Spanish, to be sure. Spanish is considered substandard, and English is elite. This is not the case. In fact, Spanish is a cleaner and more logical language than the English language. English is the second-most difficult language to learn in the world. Spanish is one of the easiest. It follows a distinct set of rules and rarely deviates.

So the next time you associate a formal national language to political endeavors, particularly those surrounding immigration, remind yourself that language has nothing to do with it.

Seriously. Think of the Spanish Language. What images come to your mind? A dirty mexican? Border towns? Or do you just see a method of communication? Are you seeing a set of stereotypes of people in your mind when you think the words “Spanish Language”? If that is the case, then your issue is not with the language. It is with the image in your mind. Those images are what block your vision and cause small-mindedness.

I am opposed to a formal national language. I find no reason why we, as Americans, cannot be like Europeans, versed in three or four languages.

Of course, you will also probably find my beliefs about the immigration issues to be far different from yours. I tend to look more globally due to my global experiences, and I have found that you tend to look more locally at issues as you have not had a lot of experience outside of this country.

Michelle

[...] I am waging war on a friend by giving this link to his blog about making English the official language of the US.  I would love to hear your comments.  Please feel free to post your comments [...]

Wayne, I ask this question earnestly. We have had many converstations about these types of issues. What I have never heard you talk about is questioning the validity of the law. You use existing laws to back up your current beliefs, but I have never heard you question existing laws…

Ooo…Michelle called Mexicans “dirty!” Tisk, tisk.

In case anyone sees this the week of September 19th or so, you can send a FAX to your congressperson to say you do not agree with the new amnesty amendment that Dick Durbin is planning on attaching to the Defense Authorization Bill.
http://www.numbersusa.com/dfax?action=voteyes&series=nm18SEP07

[...] I’m glad other people worry about this stuff for a living and not me.  I’m free to live out the American Dream, funded by our soldiers’ blood and sacrifice, protected by the laws we see fit to pass and enforce.   I just wish we could go through our day in our own language. [...]