By Gary Nodler
Globe guest columnist
Concern about illegal immigration is one of the deep underlying issues in this year’s election.
Missourians want elected officials who understand their concerns and are willing to act to do something about them. While this issue has been discussed for years, I believe it took on increased urgency in the minds of Americans after the widespread demonstrations last spring.
Most Americans and most Missourians were offended by the spectacle of illegal aliens demanding rights from our country and our state. Particularly offensive was the image of Guatemalan and Mexican flags waving. A line was crossed and to many it appeared not to be about immigration but invasion.
It was this increased urgency that built public pressure to successfully move Congress to pass the border security legislation. I believe Missourians want their state legislators to act as well.
One way we can respond is to pass legislation making English the official language in Missouri, as it is in 27 other states. There are a number of reasons to do this beyond responding to the desire of the people to see some action. First we need to save our state the expense of some day being required to publish official documents in multiple language versions. In countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, those costs are present because of multiple languages. We already face the costs of mandating schools to offer English as a second language in teaching environments.
This is a litigious society, so one need not possess a great imagination to foresee some clever lawyer trying to defeat a prosecution on the grounds that the accused did not understand the arresting officer or a prosecutor because the accused didn’t speak the language of the person in authority. Of course, the language might not be Spanish but could be Swahili or Arabic or Mandarin or any of hundreds of languages, and a highway patrolman can’t be expected to know all of them.
A more pressing reason is to encourage assimilation into American culture by immigrants. The 21st century is very different from the 19th and early 20th centuries when similar large migrations to America occurred. Today, immigrants are encouraged to maintain cultural enclaves through technology, including native language satellite radio and television channels, DVDs, CDs, newspapers and magazines. These enclaves become communities maintaining the culture of the land of origin and discouraging assimilation into the broader American culture.
The United States risks becoming a boiling pot of cultural friction and division rather than the great traditional melting pot where diversity becomes strength through assimilation and unity.
It is my intention to offer legislation in January to make English the official language for our state. If you agree, you can express your support with a vote for my re-election as your senator on Nov. 7. Missouri welcomes legal immigrants who want to come here in pursuit of a brighter future by becoming part of Missouri. We do not welcome those who come here illegally with a desire to perpetuate the culture of a foreign country.
Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, is state senator for the 32nd District.
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Guest column: It’s time to make English official
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