Immigrants and English

Yesterday, Ernestina Mondragon sat behind a desk in Oak Cliff, Texas. She, her interpreter, and her lawyer had called a press conference to explain her indignation, and her lawyer's, at a ticket she received recently for "driving without being able to speak English." She had been pulled over after she had made an illegal U-turn. When the officer approached her, he discovered that she should could not speak English, and so wrote her a ticket.

Many are upset at this. The officer who wrote the ticket has been reprimanded and is under investigation. Unmentioned in the article was whether the fact that Ms. Mondragon's inability to speak, and presumably read, English might have contributed to her error. The interesting thing in the article was the fact that Ms. Mondragon has lived in the U.S. for eighteen years. It seems that even after almost two decades, Ms. Mondragon has not learned enough English to explain herself to a policeman. If this is the case, it is hardly an encouraging anecdote for the pro-immigration movement. Not satisfied that the ticket has been dismissed and the officer reprimanded, she will likely seek some financial compensation for the indignation she suffered. She has already retained an attorney. (Who says America is no longer a land of opportunity?) Perhaps if she wins her lawsuit she will have the time and money to finally get around to learning English; presuming she wants to learn English. She clearly doesn't feel she needs to.

Years ago, I lived overseas while in the military. It was only a matter of weeks before I was out learning the language and customs of the country where I had been posted. Others soldiers, less curious and enthusiastic than I was, were content to stay on the base. If they learned any of the language, it was rarely more than was needed to harass women they found attractive and insult men they found irritating. They were disinclined to learn the language because they didn't need to. They were able to work and socialize amongst themselves, so there was no need to know the local language. Secondly, they were able to get what they wanted, or needed, through merchants who catered to them and their inability to speak the language. Classes were offered on the base for anyone who wanted or needed to learn the language. Few wanted to. Even fewer needed to.

The question we should be asking here in the U.S. about immigration and the need to know English is, of the growing numbers of immigrants in the U.S. who do not speak English, how many of them cannot do so because they haven't had the opportunity to learn it, and how many simply because they haven't needed to learn it?