‘Strengthening the assimilation of new immigrants
(continued)
54 ■ Chapter 3
5. Strengthening the assimilation of new immigrants: the proposal declares that English is the language of the United States.
6. Establishing a merit system for future immigration. 7. Ending chain migration. 8. Clearing the family backlog in 8 years (Homeland Security, 2007).
This legislation did not pass, however, and will not be addressed until after the 2012 presidential election. As of this writing, the issue has not been resolved. Individual states have imposed their own laws regulating the residency of un- documented people but most of these laws have been struck down by the courts.
The need for strict enforcement of Title VI and the Culturally and Lin- guistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards becomes self evident when you realize the high numbers of people who do not understand and speak English, as seen in Table 3–6.
■ Poverty There are countless ways to answer the question “What is poverty?” Poverty may be viewed through many lenses and from anthropological, cultural, de- mographic, economical, educational, environmental, historical, medical, phil- osophical, policy, political, racial, sexual, sociological, and theological points of view. The consequences of poverty are ubiquitous. They include, but are not limited to, battering, bullying, child abuse, gaming, obesity, spousal abuse, substance abuse, and violence. Poverty may also be viewed in a “holistic” way. Here, the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of poverty are self-evident. Examples include, but are not limited to,
■ physical—substandard housing, no telephone or vehicle, limited access to health care;
■ mental—inadequate education, poor opportunity; and ■ spiritual—despair, the experience of being disparaged.