My in-laws have started posting this as their Facebook status:

WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! Press 1 for english. Press 2 to disconnect until you learn to speak english. And remember only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, JESUS CHRIST, and the AMERICAN SOLIDER. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. If you agree... copy and paste to your status

There's so much ignorance compacted into such a small space that it boggles my mind. What's she shortest dumbest thing you've ever seen?

I have seen this on FB and commented that I thanked the soldiers for my American freedom.

Yeah, I'm cool with the soldiers and the English part. Not so much with the god stuff, but I see lots of that on FB.

(Politically correct or not, I don't think it would be "exclusionary" to make English our official language and expect citizens/occupants to know it.)

I hear that that embarrasingly xenophobic FB status was a fairly popular meme, and though I still haven't seen any of my friends or family post it, I've seen similar stuff in the past.

A friend of mine reposted this as a sort of reply, which addresses the issues incredibly well:
WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Press 1 for English. Press 2 to FREELY speak any damn language you want to. And remember you can FREELY choose to (or choose not to) worship any supposed savior you want. The AMERICAN SOLDIER died to give us these freedoms.

I like that, Ken. I just posted it, we'll see what kind of reaction I get.

As for the "speak English" bit, a lot of the immigrants that I've seen this directed toward come from poorer countries with poor education systems. They don't exactly have the opportunity to learn much English (which is a really, really hard language to learn) before coming here. Many of our ancestors came to the US penniless from poor backgrounds, and I don't see why we should treat newcomers any differently than we would want our great-great grandmothers to have been treated.

Ultimately, I think of the poem inscribed on the base of the pedestal the Statue of Liberty stands on, and a lot of the "Speak English!" meme seems to fly right in the face of it.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Just a minor quibble....
The New Colossus is not inscribed on the base of the pedestal, but on a plaque within the pedestal. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article:

Inscription
The bronze plaque, located in the Statue of liberty exhibit on the second floor of the pedestal, is inscribed with the sonnet "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. It has never been engraved on the exterior of the pedestal, despite such depictions in editorial cartoons.

The source is cited there.

Thanks for the update! I'll have to remember that when I talk about this issue in the future.

Well, all of my ancestors that came here promptly learned English. No one is born knowing it. But that's all I'll say on the subject, don't want to turn this into a pissing match.

Some people have an easier time learning English than others. I do agree that when you move to a new country, you should make an attempt to learn the language and follow cultural norms of the area.

Well, all of my ancestors that came here promptly learned English. No one is born knowing it. But that's all I'll say on the subject, don't want to turn this into a pissing match.

Not all my ancestors learned English upon arrival, but their children did. It's actually always been relatively common for immigrants to live in areas in the United States where they can speak their native language and their children are the ones that learn English and pass it to their children.