Immigrants

Letters in The Times (Sept. 26) from J. Edwin Rogers and Douglas Miller underscore the problem many Americans have in understanding immigrants. First, since immigrants first arrived in this country they have most often preferred using their own language, especially if they arrived as adults. Many have preferred, if not insisted, that their children speak that language in the home, while encouraging them to learn English as the children move into the larger society.

Second, the INS test for citizenship does include questions in English but the test has never required fluency in English. Had that been the requirement, few would have passed. Today, our election ballots are so complicated by propositions and other information that confuse even many native-born Americans that to expect new, foreign-born citizens to comprehend them is an unrealistic and unfair demand. Bilingual ballots assist such new Americans and, most important, thereby enable them to participate in our democratic processes.

ELLIOTT R. BARKAN

San Bernardino