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I agree with you to some extent, but you're mixing poverty with language with culture in a way that ... probably is perfectly realistic, but flips me out because I'm a compulsive categorizer. (I like to blame Anoreth for Batty Pat, because she educated him from 3 to 6, but it might have been genetic all along ...)

"Failure to assimilate," whether linguistically or otherwise, is purely cultural, a choice that people are making. It has nothing to do with being from a foreign-language household per se. As you've pointed out, the school system accommodates this failure in many ways. That's an active choice of management at the top levels to eschew inculcation of knowledge and skills, simply put, for other goals, which we might say is the basic problem with education in this country overall.

The real problem for us as a nation is that in just 8 years, half of the children 18 and under will be minorities. They are our future.

I agree, although I would hesitate to describe this as a "problem": it's more like "reality." The decision of native-born Americans not to reproduce, and the decision of their elected officials to admit others and to support the non-working, has left us with this reality.

"Failure to assimilate," whether linguistically or otherwise, is purely cultural, a choice that people are making. It has nothing to do with being from a foreign-language household per se.

I never said that coming from a foreign language household is the singular cause of a failure to assimilate. It is a factor, especially among Hispanics. When you get an opportunity, read the thoughtful piece by Huntington at the link I provided to you. His book, Who Are We?, is an excellent exposition on national identity and the impact of immigration on American national identity.

Professor Huntington, "The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves—from Los Angles to Miami—and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril."

I would not underestimate the impact that language has on uniting and dividing people within a nation. Bahasa Indonesia, derived form Malay, was created to unite Indonesia, which had and still has mulitiple languages. Language can divide as is the case in Canada and Belgium. Language and culture are intertwined. I say that advisedly having lived overseas 25 years of my adult life in nine different countries. My wife is an immigrant.

It is both a problem and a reality. And it is intentional. The Immigration Act of 1965 changed this nation forever. And why must we accept as a given that we must bring in 1.2 million legal immigrants every year? 57% of immigrant headed households are on welfare. We are importing poverty. 25% of the adult legal immigrants who enter each year lack even a high school degree. Do we need more high school dropouts?

The latest data show 22.1 million immigrants holding jobs in the U.S. with an estimated 8 million being illegal aliens. By increasing the supply of labor between 1980 and 2000, immigration reduced the average annual earnings of native-born men by an estimated $1,700 or roughly 4 percent. Among natives without a high school education, who roughly correspond to the poorest tenth of the workforce, the estimated impact was even larger, reducing their wages by 7.4 percent. The reduction in earnings occurs regardless of whether the immigrants are legal or illegal, permanent or temporary. It is the presence of additional workers that reduces wages, not their legal status.

The Bureau of Labor statistics for August 2011 show a national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, including 16.7 percent for blacks and 11.3 percent for Hispanics. 25 million Americans are seeking full-time employment. Despite the economic downturn, the U.S. continues to bring in 125,000 new, legal foreign workers a month. This includes new permanent residents (Green Cards) and long-term temporary visas and others who are authorized to take a job. This makes no sense.

Currently, 1.6 million legal and illegal immigrants settle in the country each year; 350,000 immigrants leave each year, resulting in net immigration of 1.25 million. Since 1970, the U.S. population has increased from 203 million to 312 million, i.e., over 100 million. In the next 40 years, the population will increase by 130 million to a total of 442 million. Three-quarters of the increase in our population since 1970 and the projected increase will be the result of immigration. The U.S., the world’s third most populous nation, has the highest annual rate of population growth of any developed country in the world, i.e., 0.977% (2010 estimate), principally due to immigration.

87 percent of the 1.2 million legal immigrants entering annually are minorities as defined by the U.S. Government and almost all of the illegal aliens are minorities. By 2019 half of the children 18 and under in the U.S. will be classified as minorities and by 2039, half of the residents of this country will be minorities. Generally, immigrants and minorities vote predominantly for the Democrat Party. Hence, Democrats view immigration as a never-ending source of voters that will make them the permanent majority party.

I notice you live in NC. The impact of immigration on NC has been massive over the past two decades. There are electoral consequences in addition to other impacts. If we don't change our current immigration policies, we will no longer have a country that embraces the vision and values of our Founders. We are being colonized and will lose this country thru the ballot box.