Immigration rears its ugly head.

Okay, not "ugly" but a major irritation (of mine).

Many of the social work jobs in my city and metro require one to be bilingual. You must speak Spanish and English in order to accommodate those who cannot speak English well. If not, your resume won't even be looked at. Into the reject pile you go.

But let's start with a little story.

A few Easters ago my family and I were enjoying brunch. Near the end of our stuffing we found out our waitress and I shared the same alma mater (I didn't give two shits). She was working the holiday for extra cash because she was a bilingual elementary teacher on break. Her class had a huge population of primary Spanish speaking children.

As we talked, language came up. She, with a heavy sigh and frown, wished aloud that Americans would speak another language besides English. I quickly spoke up saying that, though a nice idea, shouldn't be pressured on Americans - it should be on non-English speaking immigrants to learn the language ASAP. I then added that other countries, like Canada and Ireland, primarily spoke English. Countries that were surrounded by other countries that spoke a different language were more likely inclined to speak their native tongue, English and maybe two other languages. Why? It's not out of curiosity or being worldly/enlightened, it was out of necessity. The balkanization of America wasn't in language.

Yes, in some parts of Canada like Quebec (Canadian) French is spoken and is mandatory. Other parts of Canada were like America on how it taught French compared to America's Spanish, mostly in high school - maybe in elementary - but competency is no better once one graduates from high school (read: almost nonexistent).

Ireland, located in the much admired Western Europe by leftists, speak mostly English. Gaelic is dying, going the way of Latin, sadly. Why does Ireland speak mostly English? Because Ireland is an isolated country. How many speak French in England? A whopping 0.28. The USA, like Ireland is isolated, only having a Spanish speaking country immediately south of the border. French, one of the mother tongues of Canada, is dominated by English speaking Canadians. A good percent of bilingual Canadians (speaking both French Canadian and English) are located in the providence of Quebec.

I have family in St. John's and the kids', whose parents are Asian immigrants, French speaking capabilities are the equivalent to the average American speaking Spanish: shitacular. They're an English speaking family first. Granted Newfoundland isn't Quebec so the French language is not pushed as hard and that the province is rather isolated - it's the Canadian version of Alaska.

I was at a health clinic that primarily served Hispanic and low-income residents. As the nurse clinician walked in the first thing she said was "Inglés o español?" I'm Asian, do I look like I speak Spanish? (I do, sorta.) I should've said "Si" so I could've messed with her mind. "Wait, you're Asian preferring to speak Spanish?" I'm not sure how long the Spanish speaking people at the clinic lived in the States, but if it was more than two years I'd be upset. 

In many ways Americans who work directly with the population, particularly in social services (teaching, social work, non-profit, receptionists, medical field) must adapt to the incoming immigrants from Mexico. Not only that, but these fields, especially social work and non-profits, are advocated for Mexicans. They see Mexicans being forced to learn English as unfair and see those who advocate it as insensitive to their plight and narrow-minded. In my state illegal immigrants, just a couple of years ago, were granted driver's licenses. Why? Cause it's a damn right and without one it creates a barrier to their goal to live the American Dream, so goes the reasoning of those that lobbied for it.

My mother, an immigrant who came to the US with wanted skills and was proficient in English, admitted that America, lately, has been bending over backwards for immigrants in almost every aspect of American life. My aunt who doesn't have a driver's license manages to get to her job via public transportation. Then again she speaks English and has wanted skills, so her mindset is different than the Mexican population at the clinic.

In many ways, advocates for "those who don't have voices" are creating safe spaces for them. They talk about conservatives alienating the non-white, non-straight, poor and female population of America (I don't entirely agree) yet they're slowly creating a balkanized nation due to language. The irony (as always with modernism).