ng its interaction with legal, educational and labor-oriented opportunities, this discussion will seek to determine what the relationship is between current immigration trends, patterns of discrimination against Mexican Americans and the form of linguistic exclusion here taken. This research will make the central argument that linguistically exclusive policies targeting Mexican Americans have been used to maintain an inherently discriminatory legal standard for the group. The discussion will draw heavily upon both theories relating to historical and present linguistic imperialism as this relates directly to the immigration question facing Mexican Americans and American policy-makers.
             It is often taken for granted, especially in such distinctively ethnocentric cultures as that of the United States, that English is a universal language. In corollary to that theory, many native English speakers react harshly to those immigrants who have yet to master the language. Moreover, it is even expected by many native English speakers that wherever they may tread in the world, they might be entitled to locate an English speaker with whom to interact. While even a modest linguistic education should dispel this myth, there is yet some cause to examine the belief, as it does not arise from a total vacuum of cultural conceit. Instead, we might recognize that this viewpoint is provoked by a far larger and long-standing reality of global hierarchy, in which language serves as a marker of dominance in the molding of world politics, world economy and world culture. Using the primary text provided by Acuna, it is contended here that linguistic imperialism has historically and presently been used to prevent Mexican
             ...