Xenophobic language laws: English only spoken here

 

by Johnson

A NICE little kerfuffle has begun over the decision by the township of Homer, Illinois, population around 30,000, to adopt English as its official language. Motivated, reportedly, by the harsh Arizona immigration law that is due to take effect at the end of this month, the two people on the township's board who sponsored the resolution, at least one of them a member of the local Tea Party movement, are clearly driven at least as much by the desire for a little glory as by any problems with foreigners, which in Homer at least seem rather rare:

"I knew I was going to take some heat from this," said Steve Balich, the township's clerk and author of the resolution...

...Trustee Vicki Bozen agreed, saying, "We would love this issue to explode throughout the nation."

...Balich and Bozen admitted that illegal immigration isn't a serious problem in Homer Township, where Hispanics make up about 12 percent of the population, equal to the percent in Will County as a whole. Township documents are always printed in English, and nobody, to their knowledge, has ever requested otherwise.

It remains only to reprint the text of the resolution, as it appears on the Homer/Lockport Tea Party website in the glorious and now official language of English, in full, and to ask you, dear readers, to see how many errors you can spot.

Homer Township Resolution #HT071210
State of Illinois
County of Will

Preface:
Homer Township Board recognizes that there most likely no serious problem with illegal immigration, in the Township, but wants to make it policy to enforce the Rule of law in Homer Township. We support the right to make this statement and encourage other Townships, Cities, and the State to follow suit. We are asking for nothing to be added or taken away from the existing law. We recognize Native Americans had the first language in our Country, followed by Western European dialects, with English eventually becoming dominant. Traditionally becoming a citizen required speaking English, accepting the United States as their Country, and assimilating into the population.

The Homer Township Board, supports actions to enforce existing immigration law, enforce residency requirements in our school districts, and acknowledge that English the dominant language of Homer Township.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/07/xenophobic_language_laws