Rich writes:

The communications director for the pro-immigration group United We Dream huffed, “Trump is trying to send the message that if you’re not white, rich and speak English you don’t belong here. Let me be clear: Immigrants are here to stay. No matter how hard Trump tries, he can’t erase us.”

Notably, she made her statement in English. About half of immigrants in the U.S., by the way, are proficient English speakers. Are they “erasing” themselves?

Not only is the statement from United We Dream pretty silly for the reasons that Rich notes, it’s also a touch bizarre, given that speaking English is a prerequisite to citizenship for most applicants. For obvious reasons, I had this provision waved during my exam — my agent rather drily said, “I think we can skip the English section, do you concur?” — but, because they are not from the place after which the language is named, the majority of aspirants do not. Personally, I think that the rules ought to be tighter. I also think that the requirement ought to apply earlier on in the process: not to visas, which would be impractical, but certainly to permanent residents of all ages. Still, irrespective of all that, we already have a system that a) drives people toward citizenship, and b) makes speaking English a condition of that citizenship. The only way that the United We Dream position can make any sense is if you assume that, by “immigrants,” its advocates mean illegal immigrants and/or a permanent underclass of people who don’t integrate into . . . and, yep, I’ve just realized what’s going on there.