Monday, 26 October 2009
Why are We Apologizing to Immigrants Who Refuse to Learn the English Language?
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A few days ago a policeman in Dallas TX gave an legal immigrant a ticket for not knowing english. Then a couple of days later, because all the mexicans in Texas starting simpering about it, the police department issues an apology.
I would not have apologized and I would have cited her as did the police for driving on american roads while not knowing our language. Am I in the minority in my own country? I think not.
The details of the affair are pretty simple. Mexican immigrant driver does an illegal U-turn on a busy road. Policeman pulls her over for this. While asking her questions, said driver cannot properly provide information because she cannot speak or understand english. Policeman gives her ticket for illegal U-turn, failing to present a driver's licence and the additional charge of "non-English speaking driver".
First of all, the police should head on down to the local DMV (dept. of motor vehicles) and give them a ticket for giving her a license while she is unable to speak, read, write or understand english. This is common sense folks. How can she read signs and other motor vehicle aids written in english if she doesn't know our national language? Not being able to understand our language while driving on our roads endangers our citizens.
Secondly, she probably didn't know making a u-turn on that street was illegal because she couldn't read the sign that said 'No U-turns'. Drivers of commercial vehicles like buses and trucks must be able to speak, read and write in English, yet there is no regulation covering private motorists in their own vehicles.
Third, she has basically made the statement thru her decision not to get a license that she won't abide by our laws.
Your probably thinking, 'Well, your being awful harsh on her... poor mexican immigrant'. I'm not, She has lived in the United States for over 30 years legally and didn't bother to learn the language of the country she came too. Amazingly another blogger wrote that she was still learning english. Really?! After being here 30 years?! This just reinforces my belief we should have a written intelligence test for all immigrants so that we stop the stupid ones at the border.
To me this basically says she is thumbing her nose at our culture, our laws and our language by not assimilating into the full american experience by learning our language.
Theodore Roosevelt summed it up best in a letter from 1919.
We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birth-place or origin.
But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.
'nuff Said...
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Posted by at 10:56 PM in Illegal Immigrant Problems in America
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Why are We Apologizing to Immigrants Who Refuse to Learn the English Language?
Because there is no law against no being able to speak the English language. Maybe there should be, but there's not. Fining people for non-existent crimes is, itself, a crime. The Police Chief called it 'dereliction of duty', and that may well be understating the case.
Police are there to ENFORCE the laws, not make them up base on their own bigotries.