LOS
ANGELES, May 20, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A US
Senate bill making English the United States' national language has
divided the Americans, with many seeing the move as adding more
burdens on millions of immigrants in the country.
"Making
English the official language hurts our immigrants and we are all from
immigrant descent," Kellie O'Hara, of Davenport, told the Quad-Cities
Online newspaper on Saturday, May 20.
Nora
Dvorak, former director of the Refugee resettlement Office in
Davenport, said the legislation gives an unwelcoming feeling to
newcomers to the country.
The
move was even seen as chauvinistic and an overture to conservatives
claims that immigrants were destroying the American identity.
"It
is cultural chauvinism at its best and reactionary nativism at its
worst," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American
Political Association.
"It
is premised on the false notion that new immigrants cannot be
assimilated, which is false. And that has been demonstrated repeatedly
in history."
The
Senate voted Thursday, May 18, to designate English the national
language of the United States, and to effectively ban federal
government ordinances and services in any language other than English.
The
63-34 vote, on an amendment offered by the Oklahoma Republican James
Inhofe, split the Senate along largely party lines.
Not
only does it overrule any claims to multilingual services, but the
measure also stipulates rigorous testing to ensure would-be citizens
have a sound knowledge of both the English language and US history.
Adding
to the confusion, the Senate also adopted a softer amendment calling
English the "unifying language" of the United States.
Senators take both versions into negotiations over a final bill with
the US House of Representatives.
"Embedded
in Culture"
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"The
president has never supported making English the national
language," said Gonzales.
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Californians
also wondered what all the fuss was about in a state where many of its
names hark back to the Spanish missions.
Bob
Imler, head of a Hispanic organization in Illinois, said most
immigrants are making an effort to learn English.
"A
lot of Anglo students are taking Spanish as second language. You can
argue it's a bit hypocritical to say it's necessary for children to
speak more than one language, and then there's this (legislation) that
says we can only speak English," she said.
"I
think it smacks of hypocrisy."
Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales on Friday, May 19, revealed that US President
George W. Bush had long opposed making English the country's national
language.
"The
president has never supported making English the national
language," Reuters quoted Gonzales as saying.
"English
represents freedom in our country and anybody who wants to be
successful in our country has a much better chance of doing so if they
speak English," Gonzales said. "It is of course a common
language."
But,
Gonzales said, "I don't see the need to have laws or legislation
that says English is the national language."
Unifying
Some
Americans, however, hailed the move as unifying the country under one
language.
"(The
English language is) the one thing in a diverse nation that brings us
all together as one," said Rob Toonkel, the spokesman for US
English, Inc., which is nation's oldest and largest non- partisan
citizens' action group.
"By
having the government put emphasis on English, it will teach you how
you can do business for the rest of your life in America," he
told the American newspaper.
Illinois
citizen Aimee Miller said that English is spoken by all people in the
United States.
"It
doesn't have to be the only language, but you should learn to
communicate."
On
the streets of heavily Hispanic Los Angeles, both Latinos and
non-Latinos said what is decided on Capitol Hill will not change their
plans to learn the language.
"If
you went to France, you would learn French. This country is built on
English so you need to learn it," said Elmira Ross.
According
to a 2005 Zogby International poll, 79 percent of 1,001 likely voters
said they favored making English the nation's official language.
The
debate on English is part of an amendment to the contentious
immigration reform bill to determine the fate of some 11 million
undocumented immigrants in the country.
The
US Congress has been deadlocked over a controversial immigration bill
to determine their fate.
The
bill, passed by the House of Representatives last year, would make it
a felony to be in the US without proper papers, and a federal crime to
aid illegal immigrants.
It
also allows the construction of a 700-mile (1,126-kilometer) wall
along much of the US-Mexico border.
