Carpentersville IL rescinds English as its offical language

Carpentersville in 2014

Some places, such as Carpentersville, favor the balkanization of America.

Fortunately, at least for now, English remains the official language of Illinois.

A common language binds us as a people.

From Fox Chicago:

A Chicago suburb has rescinded a resolution that made English its official language.

Carpentersville's then-trustees said the 2007 measure was intended to encourage assimilation and discourage illegal immigration, The Chicago Tribune reported . Current village officials say the resolution only caused controversy.

"All we're doing tonight is righting a wrong," Trustee John O'Sullivan said before the vote to rescind the resolution. "We're righting an injustice that was clearly done by previous councils to make a point ... a very mean-spirited point that was specific to one group of people in the village."

None of the trustees who passed the original language measure remains on the Village Board. Many Spanish-speakers left the village about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Chicago in the wake of the 2007 resolution. After that, local and federal authorities cracked down on Latino gang members in the village and gradually Hispanic people began to trickle back.

In 2007, Carpentersville was approximately 40 percent Hispanic, now that number is about 50 percent.