English and Citizenship

Yes, America is the home of the free, and yes, the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. But as much in their own interest as in that of our country’s, immigrants should be required to learn English in order to become citizens. Immigrants come to America because it offers opportunities and a working mobility very few other countries, if any, can boast – in fact, most other nations around the world severely restrict immigration or lack the means to support surplus citizens. It has always been American policy to embrace immigrants, but this could easily change: America supports immigrants by choice, not obligation. (This is not to say we should stop supporting immigrants; it is one of the great things about America, but the problems that go along with our influx of immigrants is so large that one almost has to consider the US’s immigration policy as a favor.) Thus, as a voluntary host to over a million immigrants per year, the American government should not have to linguistically accommodate the hundreds of diverse people pouring in every year, but the other way around. And what better way to assimilate immigrants than by requiring them to learn the accepted language and medium of our country?
Many readers will indignantly cry that it is “unfair” to force immigrants to learn a new language when method of communication should be a personal choice. But no one is asking immigrants to give up their own languages or cultures – they would simply be adding another to their repertoires, an action congruent with the melting pot that America is supposed to be. Just because America is home to so many cultures, ethnicities and lifestyles does not make up for the need for a nationally accepted language so that we can all communicate.
Predictably, inability to communicate has become a massive problem in public schooling. Supplementary course teachers – those who teach electives or help out with core subjects – are being laid off in order to save money for translators, or else foreign language-speaking children can’t learn at all if their school doesn’t have the resources to hire translators. Schools could run down their budgets hiring translators, or we could solve the problem at the core: require citizens to learn English so they can pass on the skill to their children.
In addition, immigrants have a much greater shot at attaining productive jobs and opportunities if they are literate in the language of the global community, greatly reducing the cycle of poverty among immigrants, not to mention every citizen’s basic need to be well-versed in his or her rights and laws. Moreover, having access to better jobs will make it easier for immigrants to reach middle class or higher, where xenophobia and discrimination aren’t as present as they are at lower levels. Of course, if an immigrant wants to continue working at stations in which being able to communicate with most of America isn’t necessary, than that is his or her choice; this paragraph is simply arguing the immense benefits immigrants could get from learning English. Newcomers to any culture are vulnerable already – as an immigrant, why make assimilating yourself any more difficult than it already is?
Furthermore, English is currently the accepted language of the global economy, and as such it is the United States’ obligation to continue to make sure that our country can keep its power and participate in said economy. Not enforcing American citizens to know English, when more people in countries such as China are learning English every day, could have a much worse effect on our global position than one would think.