One consistent argument about immigration is that immigrants should assimilate. Unfortunately, like everything else having to do with immigration, the assimilation of immigrants is a complex problem because it involves many dynamics. Cultural assimilation is the fusion, or the integration of an ethnic minority into the dominant culture. The argument normally offered is that immigrants are expected to resemble the majority in behavior, values and social mores. Not normally included in the classical definition of sociology is language. However, it is a significant part of the debate about the assimilation of immigrants into America. Ignoring the language factor is, perhaps, because the assimilation of social mores assumes that a common language is part of that requirement. Whether language is part of the sociological definition of assimilation language is central to understanding immigrants in America.
Paper No. 11: The Fallacy That Immigrants Should Assimilate (June 13, 2016) White Paper
By Martin Paredes
Martín Paredes is a Mexican immigrant who built his business on the U.S.-Mexican border. As an immigrant, Martín brings the perspective of someone who sees México as a native through the experience of living abroad. As an immigrant, Martín sees America through an immigrant’s eyes. Straddling the U.S.-México border for many years, Martín understands that the imaginary line separating two countries on a map creates two cultural identities that merge creating a culture that is unique to the borderland. But as an outsider, Martín sees an El Paso devoid of the tribalism that divides El Paso but unites it at the same time, leaving many El Pasoans ignoring the underlining corruption that permeates throughout the city. Martín has lived and experienced the growth of the Mexican drug cartels throughout his life, first as a child and when building a business in a city that was once labeled the “most dangerous city in the world.” Through it all, Martín sees what many ignore about El Paso - both its uniqueness and the many fine individuals that call El Paso home, but not ignorant to the undercurrent of political intrigue and corruption that underlines the city. Since 2000, Martín has been reporting on the border politics, the corruption and the public policy of one of the most unique communities in the world by exposing the secrets few dare to. An engineer and a creator, Martín creates multimedia projects, including writing, about topics that few explore while making his living in the exciting world of internet-driven technology.