[PostandIn]

Originally Posted by driveway

One of the key differences between Canada and the United States is that Canada has official languages, while the United States does not.

In Canada you must be able to access Federal services in both French and English - by law - but that's it, no other languages must be accommodated. This official language policy can then be folded into our fairly stringent immigration policies.

In the United States, however, there is no official language. Head down to a federal building in the US and see how many different language forms are available. It will be very surprising and reflect the demographics of the area. Likewise, legal services and translations are available for multiple languages beyond English. There is not even a requirement to speak English in Congress.

This lack of an official language has greatly benefited the US throughout its history, making it a very desirable destination for immigrants. (which mostly happened AFTER 1828, mainly 1840 - 1920 with the peak year being 1907). Hell, on the eve of WWI there were something like a thousand German-language newspapers being published in America.

Given the non-legal status of English in the United States, and the past benefit to the nation of this non-legal status, any current push to include English ability as a requirement in immigration is possibly illegal, definitely short-sighted, and - while not specifically racist - very deliberately classist, and furthermore it's idiotic considering the reliance of the US agricultural and hospitality (5.5% and 2.7% of the economy, respectively) sectors on temporary visa-holders.

Things I didn't know. Great post.