Nashville English Initiative: Setting the Record Straight

Official English legislation and immigration

Official English legislation and immigration

Recent news articles about Nashville’s upcoming official English ballot initiative have been filled with predictions of outcomes should the measure pass. Unfortunately, none of these predictions have been supported by the wealth of national and international experience of the actual outcomes official English laws. In the days leading up to the Jan. 22 vote, U.S. English, Inc. will produce briefings highlighting the true facts obscured by some of these unfounded claims.

Given that more than 90 percent of the world’s nations have an official language, immigrants to the United States are surprised to find out that the United States does not have an official language. In fact, a 2005 Zogby poll found that 81 percent of first- and second-generation Americans support making English the official language of the United States.

Immigrants to the United States come for a variety of reasons. None rethink their travel to the U.S. because of an official English law. In fact, data from states that have recently passed official English laws disprove the notion that official English discourages immigration to a given city or state.

In Iowa, which passed official English legislation in 2002, the Hispanic population of the state grew from 82,473 on Apr. 1, 2000 to an estimated 89,627 on Jul. 1, 2002. In the following two years after the law was enacted, the Hispanic population of Iowa grew by an additional 16 percent, to an estimated 104,119 on Jul. 1, 2004.

In Utah, which passed official English legislation in Nov. 2000, the Hispanic population increased from 201,559 on Apr. 1, 2000 to an estimated 224,304 on Jul. 1, 2002. Similarly, the foreign born population of Utah has increased from 158,664 in 2000 to 215,757 in 2007, an increase of more than 35 percent.