Just about every country has a central culture that unifies everyone within that culture. America is different in this sense. There is no single American identity. There is no single American culture for everyone to melt into and nobody is under any legal requirement to assimilate into American culture. That idea comes from a bygone era and just is not practical anymore.
Why should people be pressured to learn English? Maybe Americans should be pressured to learn other languages, which, IMO wouldn't hurt. For example, it has been immensely helpful for me to know both English and Spanish. I can't think of how many times I've had to translate for my boss something that a customer is asking but doesn't speak English and he doesn't speak Spanish. In my eyes, it is my boss who's at a disadvantage not knowing any other language other than English.
And you want the US to be like communist China? You want the US to be like Spain? I say screw China and Spain and how they do things.. This is America! We're better than that!
You see? That's the problem... We are not a nation of "one people." We are a nation of many people. Many cultures, many traditions, many languages. I think that is something special in the world and something we should embrace as a country. It's what sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is a vision of the future where all cultures and religions and people of all beliefs can live together in relative harmony. You might not see it that way but I remain hopeful for America.
There are things other countries can do better than us that we can learn from. The unifying ability of one language is powerful. We are a melting pot but we also cannot be completely different from one another. We are 50 states but we are also the United States. We need an official language, not everyone needs to just speak one language, but everyone
should speak the language. I said should, it is not necessary. By making English the official language, we aren't forcing anyone to speak it, we are only saying you should speak it. It is very helpful, and it is the language the government recognizes.
We are also giving the heads-up to people, that, our laws will only be in English, public employees will only communicate in English (translation services are just costly, and the cost shouldn't be passed onto the majority).
Language is different than just culture. Language is suppose to allow us to communicate. It creates understanding.
Also, it is much harder to get the majority to learn other languages, than have the minority learn ours. It is just unpractical to get most Americans to learn another language.
Humans need the ability to understand each other to get things done. We can have different cultures, they can speak another language, but they need to learn the majority speaking language. It has been tested throughout time again and again. A employer and a employee needs to speak the same language. A servicer and client need to speak the same language.
It is practically costly and ineffective to always have a translator.