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Immigration Bill Highlights Deeply Rooted Fears of Multilingualism
A bipartisan coalition led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed a plan detailing the reforming of the U.S. immigration system on Jan. 22. The plan is called the “Immigration Reform that Works for America’s Future Act.” Below, a portion of the bill. Below that, six problems with it. The bill reads as follows: “(1) create a roadmap for immigrants who are here without legal status to earn citizenship, provided they pay taxes, complete a background check, learn English, and show a commitment to America; (2) allow students who came to America as children to earn citizenship by attending college or joining the Armed Forces; (3) protect the sustainability of the American agricultural industry, including the dairy industry, with a stable and legal agricultural workforce; (4) encourage those who seek to invest in the United States and create American jobs; (5) permit and encourage individuals who earn an advanced degree from one of our world-class universities to remain in the United States, rather than using that education to work for our international competitors;
(6) fulfill and strengthen our Nation’s commitments regarding security along our borders and at our ports of entry; (7) strengthen our Nation’s historic humanitarian tradition of welcoming asylum seekers and refugees and improve existing policies that support immigrant victims of crime and domestic violence; (8) create an effective electronic verification system and strengthen enforcement to prevent employers from hiring people here illegally; (9) implement a rational legal immigration system that promotes job creation by converting the current flow of illegal immigrants into the United States into a more manageable, controlled, and legal process for admitting immigrants while, at the same time, safeguarding the jobs, rights, and wages of American workers; and (10) adopt practical and fair immigration reforms to help ensure that all families are able to be together.”
|Aidan Chalupka |Reporter Here are six problems I have with the bill: 1. The bill doesn’t say “public service.” It says “military service.” While I have great respect for those in the nation’s armed forces, serving in the military isn’t the only way to serve a nation; there are multitudes of other ways as well. 2. The most infuriating part for me is the one pertaining to the learning of English. Currently, for a person to immigrate, passing an English proficiency exam is a requirement. 3. Ironically enough,
though English is basically a “standard” medium of communication, it isn’t even the official language of the U.S., highlighting the confusion of the linguistic identity of this nation, as well as the dilemmas in stating that English is the “top” language here. 4. English is not the official language of our nation. It is, however, a requirement for immigration. This bill errs when it re-states the latter, a redundancy in the legislation that panders to some people’s irrational fear that English is not already required and is declining in use. 5. Perhaps it might
be stated that in this land of “amber waves of grain” and “purple mountain majesties” sacrificing one’s own cultural identity and becoming just another part of a homogenous blog is not just encouraged but almost the norm. This bill encourages that. 6. Often in this legislation the terms of “learning English” mean giving up one’s mother tongue and many parts of one’s cultural identity, which in the end serves to a) hurt internationalization and b) destroy the fragile but infinitely precious sense of longing for one’s ancestral land while belonging to a new one.
COLOR ME THIS. 1,291 STUDENTS AT SCHOOL, 35 LANGUAGES SPOKEN AT HOME.
Annie Kwan art
|Elizabeth Galvan |Reporter Grab hold of those coloring supplies and get ready. The flag chart to the left shows the six most common languages spoken in the homes of students as well as the category “other,” which includes an additional 29 languages. That’s a total of 35 languages. Each flag represents a different language. We know, the flags blend in black and white. That’s where you come in. Refer to the key on this page and have some fun coloring the flags. If by any chance you doubt your coloring, feel free to check our Facebook page. (Search for “Renton Arrow” if you’re not yet a fan. You should be!) And by the way, “other” includes the ever-important languages: Cambodian, Mien, Russian, Lao, Bambara, Burmese, Cham, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Kikuyu, Oromo, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Arabic, Korean, Rumanian, Samoan, Taiwanese, Amharic, Tigrinya, Moldovan, Chamorro, Wolof, Bengali, Latvian, Tongan, Nepali, and German. We struggled in our attempt to visually represent every language. Our apologies. Think of it this way: you’re unique and different. When was the last time you heard of someone who speaks Wolof or Latvian? Consider yourself the unmatched, “other” peoples, and wear your title loud and proud. We certainly do. Now go forth, grab your supplies and get coloring. The “wrong” colors if you would like. We won’t tell.