Illeagal Immigration and the English Language

Illeagal Immigration and the English LanguageBy Victor Davis Hanson
In the fierce debate over illegal immigration, the particular terms used by those who argue our porous borders are not a serious problem can tell us a lot.

There are somewhere between 8 and 15 million citizens from Mexico and Latin America in the U.S. unlawfully. Those who want cheap labor or relatively unimpeded entry into the U.S. for even more people try to mask the almost inconceivable enormity of the problem through euphemism as well as name-calling of their opponents.

"Undocumented worker," for example, is the politically correct synonym for "illegal alien." It implies that those who have crossed the border without the proper documentation have neither broken the law nor are of any different status than American citizens. But it is an inaccurate term. Not all those who come here illegally are working. And most never had, or even applied for, immigration documents.

In other words, there really are millions here illegally. They are not aliens from another planet, but aliens in the literal sense - simply not lawful residents of this country.

"Guest workers," as well, is an inexact, euphemistic term. After all, invited company is rarely asked to wash their hosts' dishes. "Imported laborer" or "contracted worker" would be more accurate. Far better than "guest worker," such terms convey the commercial nature of the arrangement. Even more precise would be "imported low-wage laborer," to take into account the critical issue of wages. Even the old, crude label bracero - "the arms" - better reflected the reality of low-paid, brutal labor than does "guest worker."

Those who object to fortifying the border like to say that constructing a fence would be akin to putting up a "Berlin Wall." The inaccurate image this conjures is enough to send shivers up our collective spines - as if we are heartless Cold War Stalinists with machine gunners on turrets.

And when it comes to stigmatizing their opponents, those who object to strict border enforcement use the term "anti-immigrant" instead of "anti-illegal immigrant." Most Americans do not object to the millions who come here lawfully. So those who see benefits in illegal immigration try to blur the line between illegal and legal. Also, note that "anti-immigrant" is preferable to "anti-immigration," because the former personalizes the issue - as if their opponents are hostile to individuals rather than to the flawed policies that brought them here.

Indeed, at their worse, those who deny the serious problems of illegal immigration employ words like "nativist" to describe their opponents, thus characterizing them as xenophobes rather than people interested in upholding the law. "Nativist," however, is an empty charge, since there are more illegal and legal immigrants here (some 30 million, or almost 10 percent of our present population) than at any time in U.S. history.

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OK I have some insight into this language issue. My wifes people came to this country before WWI from with was then the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and is now Italy. None of them spoke English and there was no effort made by anyone to accommodate my wifes people's lack of English skills. They learned to speak English and in fact wanted to speak English. They also wanted to become American citizens and did so as soon as they could.

What is needed in the US is a Constitutional Amendment that makes English the official language of the US and all government documents/business must be in English only. You don't speak English, tough learn or go back where you came from!