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Immigration history clarified
Sharon Mather (Letters, March 20) appears to be ignorant of American history and seems to get her opinions about immigration from far-right ideologues. The immigrants from 1892-1954 were not required to learn English, nor were they returned to their home country if they didn’t. The main reason certain people were not allowed in were health reasons, primarily tuberculosis. She argues that they now come here with no skills, yet the people that came in 1892-1954 also for the most part had no skill, e.g. “Irish need not apply.”
They learned English because the government was not mandating multilingual education or all of the other multilingual, multiculturalism nonsense of today. Most of them came in both periods for economic and personal freedom.
When I worked in Japan and Germany, I had to learn both languages in order to work and survive. When my Japanese wife came to America in 1962 she had to learn English. When we moved to Germany we had to learn German.
Jack Thompson
Spokane