When British Prime Minister David Cameron remarked on Monday that immigrants must learn English or “face deportation,” he was met with criticism from Muslims across the world, as well as the general immigrant population in Britain, which numbers 7.5 million. While I feel that Cameron certainly could have phrased his feelings in a better way, I fail to see the outrage involving his statements. Many immigrant activists do not understand that moving to another country is a privilege, not a given right. I would never permanently move to a foreign country without knowing the language of that country, nor would I expect the natives of another country to be forced to learn my language. I am descended from European immigrants, who entered Ellis Island and had no choice but to learn the language of their new home. Unfortunately, technology in the 21st century has caused resistance to learning native languages. There are entire TV programs in Spanish (Univision) in America, not to mention numerous news sources entirely in another language, such as Spanish and Chinese. That is not to say that immigrants should entirely shed their culture at the door of a new country, but there must be some expectations that the immigrant will learn to speak the same language of his new countrymen.
It is rare that we should compliment the styles of Russian president Vladimir Putin, but he must be given credit for the passing of tougher immigration laws making learning Russian compulsory for immigrants, regardless of their employment or reasons for coming to the country. If immigrants want to leave their native country to enter a new country, they are also entering into a new culture, and a new language. If they want to consider themselves a part of unified American culture, they must speak the language of that culture. As Ronald Reagan said in 1987, “By emphasizing the importance of a common language, we safeguard a proud legacy and help to ensure that America’s future will be as great as her past.” America’s past, present, and future, since 1776, has always, and will always, involve the speaking of English.