8/14/2019 Eric Garland - The Future of Latino Immigration
2/2
ment has not always succeeded. Butthis phenomenon is precisely
whatmany fear about illegal immigration.Millions are coming from
the south,not to seek freedom and become partof the American
experience throughcitizenship, but to sneak in, makesome money,
send billions to othercountries, and leave when the workis
done.
Thus, a conflict could rise betweenthose Latinos who immigrate
tem-porarily, returning once theyveearned enough money to pay for
anew house back home, and thosewho intend to stay and integrate
intoU.S. society. Those who stay willhave to face the political
pressureaimed at those who do not.
Unlike other groups of immigrantsin past centuries, Latinos keep
their
language and culture much longer.This will become a new
experimentin bilingualism in the United States.Fully 66% of the
planet is bilingual
most people live in places wherethere are neighbors who dont
speakthe same language, and so you needextra language skills to do
business.
Today, America is increasing itspopulation that truly lives in
twolanguages. In less than two genera-tions time, there will be
Latinos whowill never have known a time whenthey couldnt receive
services in theUnited States using Spanish. At thatpoint, Spanish
will be a bigger forcein the culture, resulting in evengreater
political tension.
The world is watching how theUnited States manages its
immigrantissues, because other countries facesimilar problems.
There are fourth-generation Turks in Germany, NorthAfricans who
have lived in Francefor several generations, and Koreans
and Filipinos in Japan. WhereasAmericas melting pot tradition
ofequality has encouraged immigrantsto quickly shed their
nationality and
declare themselves American, othercountries have no history of
admit-ting new ethnicities into their na-tional identity.
The French recently had riotsbecause of the persistent
economicexclusion of their immigrants, andnow the government is
wonderinghow to encourage employers to hirethose with non-French
names. TheNetherlands, normally an inclusive,peaceful society, is
experiencing abacklash due to the tensions causedby
immigration.
The United States, as a culturallaboratory, could lead the world
inlearning to manage immigration andmeet the challenge of
integratingmany nationalities.
Eric Garland is principal of Competitive Fu-tures Inc.
(www.competitivefutures.com) and
author of Future, Inc.: How Business Can
Anticipate and Profit from Whats Next
(AMACOM, 2006).
THE FUTURIST January-February 2007 19www.wfs.org
Get the Most Out of Membership!Institutional Members of the
World Future Society receive the maximum in benefits, including
subscriptions to allof the Societys journals, complimentary copies
of all books published during the term of membership, and otherkey
benefits.
Plus, you will receive recognition as a forward-thinking
organization! Institutional Members are acknowledged onthe Societys
Web site (www.wfs.org/instmbrs.htm) and annually in THE FUTURIST
magazine.
Mail to: Institutional Membership ProgramWorld Future
Society7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450Bethesda, Maryland 20814,
U.S.A.Tel. 1-800-989-8274 or 1-301-656-8274Fax 1-951-0394; e-mail
[email protected] order online, go to: www.wfs.org/member.htm
Yes! Id like the World Future Societys support
in leading my organization into the future.
Please enter my membership as follows:
New Renewal
Corporate or for-profit: One Year ($500)
Two Years ($950) Three Years ($1,350)
Nonprofit/educational:
One Year ($325) Two Years ($550)
Three Years ($775)
Method of Payment
Check or money order enclosed (payable to World Future
Society)
Please charge my: VISA MasterCard Discover American Express
Card number Exp. date
Signature
Name
Organization
Address
City/State/ZIP
Country
E-mail
(for receiving Futurist Update electronic newsletter)
http://www.competitivefutures.com/http://www.wfs.org/http://www.wfs.org/instmbrs.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.wfs.org/member.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.wfs.org/member.htmhttp://www.wfs.org/instmbrs.htmhttp://www.competitivefutures.com/http://www.wfs.org/
