Thursday, June 3, 2010 8:00 AM
Immigration Debate Fuels State English Laws
By Tom Risen


A ballot option to make English the official state language of Oklahoma is the latest example of regional laws driven by frustrations with the federal response to illegal immigration.

Recent history shows that legislation to make English an official state language has greater popularity in times of frustrated immigration debate. In 1986, 1996 and 2006, immigration bills came before Congress, and in each of these years support emerged for laws to make English the official language at the state or federal level, said Tim Schultz, government relations director for advocacy group U.S. English.

Such state ballot initiatives have never lost and Schultz expects Oklahoma to become the thirty-first state to make English the official language of government and business.

"There was a big period of these laws in the mid '80s," Schultz said. "There was a big discussion about immigration reform around the 1986 amnesty, and some laws came on the heels of that. And there was a big spasm of these laws in the early to mid-'90s. And when the Republicans took control of Congress" former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich "brought it to the forefront more than most people would have."

The same year federal immigration reform passed Congress in 1996, Gingrich presided over House approval of a bill that would make English the official language of the United States by a vote of 259 to 169. The bill idled in the Senate and lapsed at the end of that session.

Schultz' group supports state and federal laws that "align incentives in favor of trying to get people to learn English" by making English the official language of business and government.

"None of these measures actually coerce people into learning a language," Schultz said.

Arizona passed a ballot initiative to make English the official state language in 2006 when immigration reform failed to pass Congress. The bill was sponsored by Russell Pearce, the same Arizona state senator who sponsored Arizona's new law that allows detention of suspected illegal immigrants. Idaho and Kansas have also passed English language ballot initiatives since 2006.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the Arizona immigration law and the Oklahoma's ballot initiative come from the same "anti-immigrant" reaction.

"I think that's the political tenor out there and unfortunately nothing is being done at a national level to counteract it," Grijalva said. "The Republican Party is trying to craft it as a third plank in the upcoming elections. And that has enough of my Democratic colleagues frightened with little political will to act on it. So you combine these factors and you get the Oklahoma initiative, which reflects the mood out there."

A Rasmussen Reports automated phone survey conducted in May indicated 87 percent of adults favor of making English the nation's official language. A separate Rasmussen automated phone survey from May indicated 59 percent of likely voters support Arizona's new illegal immigration law.

President Obama hinted support for English language laws in a May 19 press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, listing "I believe they should learn English" along with paying fines and back taxes as citizenship requirements for illegal immigrants.

In July 2008, candidate Obama commented on the same subject: "Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English ... you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish."

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., called English "the key to success in the United States and the language of commerce around the world" but also said his office has noticed an effort " to exploit concerns people have about immigration for political gain."

"Exploiting people's misperception that English is in jeopardy, or that immigrants today are learning English less quickly than their predecessors, is not very good short-term politics and horrible long-term politics," said Douglas Rivlin, spokesman for Gutierrez.


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