How to Prevent “Mexifornia”

Official English will help restore the melting pot

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mexifornia, a new book by renowned classicist Victor Davis Hanson, argues that uncontrolled immigration and a loss of the old model of assimilation has driven the state of California to the brink of disaster. Hanson believes that unless we get control of our borders and push for integration, we will face a balkanized future in California, and potentially in the rest of the United States.

National Review magazine dedicates the cover of its August 11 issue to the book and the issues it raises. Reviews of Mexifornia have been published in numerous newspapers through the United States. Hanson, a fifth generation Californian, has appeared on many talk radio and television programs to discuss his book.

U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. is pleased that Mexifornia is generating debate about the dangers of not assimilating newcomers. Traditionally, immigrants who came to our shores were expected to learn English in order to get a good job, go to school, vote and become a citizen. Sadly, that ethic has been replaced by bilingual education, multilingual voting ballots, government mandated interpreters and driver’s license exams in multiple languages. This hurts all Americans but it hurts immigrants most of all. As Hanson notes, too many Hispanics are stuck in low wage, physically demanding jobs because of their lack of English proficiency.

“U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. was founded to deal with the issues that Hanson confronts in his book,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. “About 20 percent of California residents cannot speak English proficiently and this number is rising. How can there be any degree of social cohesion in our most populous state if people cannot understand each other,” asks Mujica. “An even more ominous thought is that California is the bellwether for cultural developments in the rest of America. This should be a wake up call to the politicians to bring back the incentive to learn English. Making English the official language of the United States government will get the melting pot working again.”

Currently, there are 93 co-sponsors of H.R. 997, the “English Language Unity Act of 2003.”If passed, the bill will make English the official language of the U.S. government.

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.