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Ice on Immigration: Cultural exchanges; Secure Fence Act; Official language 

By L. Patricia Ice, Featured Columnist

Question: I heard that on October 26, 2006 President Bush signed The Secure Fence Act into federal law.  What are some of the provisions of the Act?

Answer: The Secure Fence Act authorizes the construction of hundreds of miles of additional fencing along the southern border of the United States.  The Act authorizes more vehicle barriers, checkpoints and lighting with the goal of trying to prevent people from entering the country without valid immigration documents.  In addition, the Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to increase the use of advanced technology, such as cameras, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles to attempt to reinforce the infrastructure at the Mexican border. 

When he signed The Secure Fence Act bill, President George W. Bush said the new law is part of the nation's efforts to reform the country's broken immigration system.  Many immigration advocates disagree with the Act, which is estimated to cost the United States taxpayers billions of dollars and to not be very effective.  A better policy might be to create more viable visa categories for workers wanting to live in this country and to give them a path to citizenship.

Question:  I am an immigrant from Latin America.  My girlfriend is an African-American and I would like to learn more about her culture.  She would also like to learn more about my culture.  Where can we find information about these cultures? 

Answer:  You can start by visiting the public library in your neighborhood where searching for and finding information is free.  Each of you can ask the reference librarian to help you find books, audios, videos, Internet web sites, newspapers and other materials about your respective cultures.  Your girlfriend can also seek and find specific information about your native country at the library.  If you have a computer you can do an online search for information simply by entering the search terms on the URL address line.  An example of this would be to type in "Latin American culture."  With that search, you will find numerous web sites regarding this topic.  The same will occur if you type in "African American culture."  When you find information, be sure to check out who is writing about the culture you are interested in.  You should avoid web sites or other literature that contains mostly negative information about your cultures. 

Additionally, the Jackson Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance are sponsoring a conference on Friday and Saturday, November 10-11, 2006 at the Regency Hotel and Conference Center at 400 Greymont Avenue in Jackson.  The conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. each of those days.  The theme of this conference is "Dialog of Understanding for Progress."  The conference panels will focus on commonalities between the Latin and African American experiences in the United States.   The registration cost for the conference is $10.  You may contact Sue Weishar at 601-968-5182 or mirasue@bellsouth.net, or Alisha Johnson at 601-354-9355 for more information about the conference.

Question:  Is English the official language of the United States?

Answer:  No, it is not.   However, English is the official state language of approximately 26 states, including Mississippi.  The Mississippi law was enacted in 1987.

Throughout the history of the United States there have been movements to make English the official language of the United States. Those movements exist today.

There are many who believe that it is not necessary to make English the official language of the country since English is already the language of government and, according to Census records, is the first language spoken in more than 80% of all United States households.  There are others who believe that use of the English language should be legislated.

Most all agree that speaking, understanding, reading and writing English are essential for anyone living in the United States to attain monetary or other success. Nonetheless, many people have been successful without having a good command of English.  For a lively discussion about this issue you can do an online search using the words English, official, and language.