Not to squash your RO, but the only companies that require proficiency in Spanish are those that either have a Spanish speaking client base, or have clients that themselves have a Spanish speaking client base. Spanish language proficiency requirements by employers is not arbitrary, or some multiculturalist plot, as you seem to be implying. It’s just smart business.
This seems like an empty political gesture that doesn’t solve any real problems.
As I understand it, it only targets permanent residents, and not visitors. So foreign-language exams will still be created and maintained. There’s no cost savings.
Also consider, most permanent residents first move to the US on a temporary visa and immediately get a driver’s license. Presumably people can still do that, and then keep renewing the license even after they become permanent residents? So who exactly is affected by this bill?
As was pointed out in a post below yours, neither of these points are correct. Does this change your opinion on the purpose and usefulness of this proposed change?
No one is saying that there is no onus on residents of a region or nation to learn the local language. But the fact remains that we allow deaf people to drive, we allow illiterate people to drive cars, and even after this change we will allow non-English-speaking students to drive cars.
The only reason there is a push to change it in this one respect is because the majority in Georgia doesn’t like the large numbers of foreigners moving to their state and they believe this is a way to discourage and frustrate them.
The requirements were already in place. Has anyone shown cause prompting a change in policy? Has there been a rise in traffic incidents involving native Spanish speaking residents? This was a political gesture to play to the anti-Hispanic immigration crowd, nothing more.
I’ve got no problems with a country requiring people to learn a language in other to get some stuff.
However, driving is not what you would call a language-intensive acrivity, it’s not like you’re signign a contract to store yellowcake uranium. Also, driving test themselves are not paramounts of reading comprehension. If you’ve got sizeable immigrant communities it should be easy to get translators.
However, if the guy only speaks Tocharian or Muchik it’s his responsibility to either find a translator OR take the test in English.
or maybe the majority in Georgia doesn’t like large numbers of foreigners who can’t speak English.
Maybe they want to “discourage and frustrate them” , just enough that they learn a basic lesson: that when you want to be accepted by the new country you’ve chosen to live in, you obligate yourself to learn its language and adapt to its culture, not vice-versa.
(full disclosure: I’ve only lived on 3 continents; and in each case, I learned to speak the local language and behave in public according to local dress and cultural norms. To me it seems like a pretty obvious obligation; but if you say it out loud in America, you get labelled as a racist.)
You snipped out the part of my post that said “No one is saying that there is no onus on residents of a region or nation to learn the local language.” All I was pointing out was that the impetus for this bill was pretty clearly animus towards Spanish-speaking populations.
Does this animus exist in other countries? No doubt. Does it behoove immigrant populations to learn the local language? Absolutely. I have never contended otherwise. And I haven’t called anyone who thinks so a racist (unless you contend I’m calling myself a racist).
But none of that changes the fact that this bill (a) will not reduce costs significantly, (b) will not improve public safety, and will likely make it worse (more un-tested and un-licensed drivers), and therefore (c) is likely not motivated by either of those.
If one wants to “teach a lesson” to immigrant populations that refuse to adapt to local norms I have to think there are better ways to do it than refusing them drivers licenses, but YMMV. And if one does think that this is the best way to do it, then let them say so rather than dress it up as a public-safety and cost-saving measure.
And let’s not forget that the Georgia Republican state legislature doesn’t have the responsibility, nor the right, to single out a group to “teach a lesson” to.
I would support a law making English the official language and requiring it to be used on all state & federal documents. I would also support a law making Spanish our official language. Or French. Or Latin. Whatever. I think for a nation as big as ours, having a common language is important.
In order to facilitate this, I would support government-sponsored language arts classes, paid for by a tax on any corporation with its headquarters offshore.
Well, alright, then let’s avoid laws that enshrine one particular language to the exclusion others which, as a practical matter, we have already found it useful to give some accommodation to as well.
Bingo.
They already have the tests made up. Some print shop has the files on hand and ready to go. At this point printing 100,000 English language tests and 10,000 Spanish tests isn’t going to cost appreciably more than printing up 110,000 English ones, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Congratulations on your multilingual cosmopolitan lifestyle. How many Georgian constituents in favor of this law would you guess spend as much time enjoying the diversity of other cultures as you do?
Like CCL, I have to question the provision for people in GA on a student visa. Is it not as important for them to be able to pass the test in English? Or is it cultural elitism? (Students = more educated = more desirable).
IME, here in the midsouth, our biggest issue with regards to illegal immigrants on the roadways, has to do with insurance. Without a valid driver’s license, insurance is difficult or impossible to get. Without having gone through the procedure, some drivers aren’t even aware that it is required. This leads to increased hit and run, as well as other accidents involving uninsured motorists. Not a good thing for the average driver.
Allow drivers to take their exam in their native language, with the signage portion in English and some (but likely not all) of the uninsured motorist problems can be alleviated.
Well you already support that, don’t you? Or are you suggesting that we have tests in Estonian, Urdu, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Finnish, Basque (big Basque community in Eastern Oregon), Hindi, Arabic, Hebrew, Navajo, Lao, and all the rest of the languages in the world?
Or, we could require people who want to have the privileges associated with living in America learn English. That way we could all understand each other.
The fact that a bunch of red necks support something doesn’t mean the idea is flawed. That’s the sort of logic the Tea Baggers use: Obama is for it so I’m agin it. I kinda like the idea of thinking for one’s self.
If you are living in this country and can’t speak English, and/or are here illegally, you are opening up yourself to being exploited by employers and driving down the wages of people who are here legally.
And this bill helps to remedy this situation? If not, what was your point?
As I said, if, as a practical matter, we have already found it useful to have accommodations in some particular languages, why remove it by legislative fiat simply to move privilege towards a particular language?
In general, I don’t buy into the idea of “Life is hard for people who don’t know English, so it’s only for their benefit that we make it even harder for them, so that they have greater motivation to learn it.” That’s silly; what’s accomplished by it? It seems to me the same kind of idea as “Sex is dangerous for teenagers, so it’s only for their benefit that we make it even more dangerous for them, so that they have great motivation to avoid it”. Tipping the scales to get people to say “Boy, I don’t much care for these tipped scales” seems like so much wasted effort to me.
Heaven forbid I should get into a collision with an illegal alien, and his insurance should pay for the damage and my injuries except that he’s got none, because he’s got no driver’s license, because he was afraid applying for one would get him deported.
Of course, a lot of people actually do seem to think that way.
All the better reason to enforce our immigration laws. We can start with larger fines for employers who hire illegal aliens. Maybe the fines can be set aside to pay for accidents caused by illegal aliens.