Immigration center named for Father Gary, 10th street

[Frankzilch]

Well, i do think that everyone in the US is supposed to speak elementary English at least.

So you could make yourself understandable at the doctor's office, order something to eat, ask a neighbour for info or help at filling in forms or legal assistance.

Here in The Netherlands, anyone willing to become a citizen is required to learn Dutch. It is so, because many people come here, speak no Dutch or do not understand it. So may forms of confusion will come when you go to a doctor.

Isn't this the case in the US aswell?

In my experience most immigrants do speak enough english to communicate. It may be only a very basic level for some. I only speak english and have very very rarely not been able to communicate with an immigrant. There also seems to be a misconception here that immigrants demand to be communicated to only in their own language. I have never heard such a demand. I do think they cling to their language whenever possible mainly out of cultural pride. I also see marketing based on language use and cultural pride. But I have never heard an immigrant make a demand that a specific language be used.