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I was in a Bilingual kindergarten class in Texas, which has been a lifelong boon, as a native English speaker. Children pick up language pretty easily. If we're
by sprout 16y ago
I was in a Bilingual kindergarten class in Texas, which has been a lifelong boon, as a native English speaker. Children pick up language pretty easily. If we're putting the adults through ESL courses, that could be a serious drain.
Even more for children born in the states - many won't ever properly learn Spanish, even when their parents mostly speak it in the home.
On the rest of your points, undocumented workers primarily rely on charity, not on the government. They don't want to run the risk more often that they need to. They're not going to go to any free clinics that accept tax dollars, and they're not going to want to attract the attention of the police.
- rdl 16y agoSecond (and more) languages are definitely valuable for the US -- having immigrants living in the US with fluency in their heritage language as well as English makes it easier for US companies to do business in foreign countries, and domestic people learning foreign languages helps as well. I tried to find stats on the net costs of illegal immigrants resident in the US, and really couldn't find anything conclusive. The best information seems to be that they could impose slight net costs on some communities, but that it's a relatively minor amount relative to the size of budgets. I definitely wouldn't say California's problems are mainly due to illegal immigration. I'm just curious why it is so much more of a political issue in some states than others.
- protomyth 16y agoknowing the language of the majority makes you normal; knowing your own language and the language of the majority give you an advantage; not knowing the language of the majority sets you up to be a lifelong victim and pawn of people who seek power in your name