By Staff
shouldn’t be touched
We’re a little worried that the bebe is about to get thrown out with the bath water, shouting “teach me English” as he goes.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Beaufort County Board of County Commissioners heard that students taking free basic-skills classes at Beaufort County Community College are allowed in the classes even if they’re in the country illegally and admit that fact on their registration forms.
Some of the commissioners weren’t very happy about that. But we would like them to leave alone one course at the college — the one teaching immigrants English.
On Friday, the State Board of Community Colleges decided to ban illegal immigrants from academic classes temporarily while it decides what its long-term policy should be.
The state has the reins on decisions about illegals in classes for academic credit, but the county’s staff has been asked to check who sets the policy for basic skills courses.
Presumably that could one day lead to a requirement that students taking these courses be legal residents.
While it isn’t yet even clear that the county commissioners have authority in this area, we’d like to focus attention today on one basic skills course: English as a second language.
During three semesters from 2007 to 2008, four students who admitted being in the country illegally took ESL courses at Beaufort County Community College.
Commissioner Hood Richardson was unhappy because he thinks the college’s practice of simply asking if a student is legal isn’t rigorous enough, he said.
He was also displeased because the name “English as a second language” implies English is second to whatever language immigrants already speak and is an inherently “liberal” name, he said.
Frankly, we don’t see how immigrant students can be taught English first, unless someone has a time machine squirreled away somewhere. But for all we care the college can call the course “Hood Richardson is against illegal immigration,” just so long as we make sure we teach these people English.
English is, after all, a very necessary skill in modern-day America.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is working hard to train staff interact with folks who speak only Spanish. But that takes time and money. And while they’re working on it, they’re facing difficulties every week.
Immigrants often can’t tell them directly what’s wrong, instead relying on children or bystanders for communication with emergency services providers.
And if we want these people to work on becoming citizens, it makes sense that they learn about their new nation in the language in which it was forged.
Recently, the government agencies around the state have made life tougher for illegal immigrants. But on more than one occasion they’ve also significantly inconvenienced or endangered North Carolina’s legal residents by their efforts.
Legal residency now is required to get a driver’s license.
The result isn’t likely to be illegals getting off the roads so much as illegals driving without even the most basic skills check. They’re also committing a crime every time they hit the road, creating yet more work for our already overburdened court system.
Just the same, cutting access to ESL classes — or whatever we want to call them — will do more harm than good to ordinary, legal residents of this state.
Fewer of the illegal immigrants they encounter will be able to communicate with them effectively.
In emergency situations, on the job and when making business deals large and small, the smooth functioning of the governmental and economic machinery of the state and county will be impeded by a simple inability to communicate.
Practically, these people are already here, and we as a society need to be able to deal with them. For us, and for those immigrants working to become legal, Beaufort County Community College needs to offer ESL classes to everyone who walks through the door, even if they call it la puerta.