Official English Will Encourage Immigrants to Learn English

Government efforts to accommodate immigrants’ inability to speak English by operating in other languages remove important incentives for immigrants to learn English. This discourages their acquisition of English skills, limits them to low wage jobs and fosters a growing underclass, segregated and walled off into linguistic ghettos. A century ago such immigrant ghettos were marked by extreme poverty, 80-hour workweeks and child labor. As the industrial revolution matured, immigrants quickly learned that English skills were the key to entering the emerging "middle class." This, coupled with mandatory public education and reduced levels of immigration, resulted in the successful assimilation of ethnic communities into American society.

English proficiency and high wage jobs go hand in hand.  Foreign-born workers with moderate to high levels of English proficiency have higher earnings than native-born workers with the same degree of English proficiency.  The National Adult Literacy Survey found that immigrants with a low degree of English proficiency earned one half of what those with a medium degree of proficiency earned and less than one third of highly English proficient immigrants.

The U.S. Department of Education found that those with limited English proficiency are less likely to be employed, less likely to be employed for a continuous period, tend to work in the least desirable sectors, and earn less than those that speak English.

A skilled workforce operating in an economy unencumbered by language barriers is far more productive and efficient than the reverse.

Official English would reinforce America's historic message to new immigrants - that we expect them to learn English as the first step in their assimilation -- and that we are committed to ensuring that all Americans share in the economic, social and political benefits of having a common language.