Court says woman with limited English can be kept off ballot

[Yuri-G]

http://news.yahoo.com/arizona-suprem...223049511.html

(Reuters) - Arizona's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a city council candidate with limited English language skills can be kept off the ballot in a largely bilingual town on the Mexico border.

A Yuma County Superior Court judge touched off a furor last week when he disqualified Alejandrina Cabrera, 35, from running for city council in the town of San Luis over what he called a "large gap" between her English proficiency and that required to serve as a public official.

In a brief two-page ruling, the Arizona Supreme Court did not give a reason why it sided with the lower court, but said a written decision would follow "in due course."

The controversy has swept San Luis, a sleepy farming town hugging the Arizona-Mexico border, into the incendiary national debate over immigration.

Immigrant rights activists called such language-based restrictions hostile to immigrants, potentially driving a wedge between Latino communities and the rest of American society.
Proponents of enforcing English as the sole language of state government said that the country needs a common tongue to promote national unity. They cite the immigration and assimilation by generations of new Americans.

"In the narrow matter of law, obviously we were right," said Glenn Gimbut, city attorney for San Luis, which brought the suit against her. "But as this has steered into broader political debate, that one is above my pay grade."

San Luis, with a population of roughly 25,000 people, is about 200 miles southwest of Phoenix and lies just over a steel border fence from San Luis Rio Colorado, in Mexico's northern Sonora state, with a population of roughly 200,000.

The two municipalities are considered by many residents as one and the same community.

Cabrera, a U.S. citizen born in Yuma, Arizona, was not immediately available for comment but was expected to issue a statement later on Tuesday, according to Brandon Kinsey, one of her lawyers.

Though Cabrera was born in Yuma, she moved to Mexico when she was young and spent much of her childhood there. She returned to Arizona for the last three years of high school, eventually graduating from Yuma's public Kofa High School.

It was in high school that she met the current town mayor, Juan Carlos Escamilla, who went on to file the lawsuit claiming she has insufficient command of the English language to hold elected office.

Cabrera told Reuters in an interview conducted in English last week that Escamilla is "the Joe Arpaio of San Luis, Arizona," referring to the tough-talking sheriff of Maricopa County who has taken a tough stand against illegal immigration.

Cabrera admitted in the interview with Reuters that she is not completely proficient in English but said she can read it, understand and respond. During the interview she spoke with intensity and passion, but sometimes in the wrong tense, or with the order of words scrambled.

The debate comes as several U.S. states have adopted laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Alabama passed a measure considered the nation's toughest in June of 2011 which requires police to detain people they suspect of being in the United States illegally.
Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah have also passed immigration crackdowns since Arizona blazed the trail in 2010 with a law that required police to check the status of all those they arrested and suspected of being in the country illegally. That measure has since been blocked by a court, while at least part of others measures remain in place.

The San Luis City Clerk told Reuters on Tuesday that the printing of ballots for the March 13 primary election was being held until the court decision was announced.

[Milkster]

I don't see what the big deal is.

[archibaldcrane]

I guess I'm confused - would using a translator not satisfy the lawmaking body? Or is she refusing to use one?

[Blarg]

Creo que tendría que oírla hablar para saber si se es una carga suficiente para ella haciendo el trabajo a un nivel acceptible.

[Vuitton]

Take an ESL class and try again?

[Headspace]

Why can't they keep her on the ballot? If her language issues are big enough, she won't get voted in.

If she gets voted in, clearly enough people understand her and want her to be their representative.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I say let her be on the ballot, but if I were her opponent I'd point out that by electing her, the city is also hiring a team of translators to make Spanish copies of EVERY SINGLE FORM EVER. Otherwise they're essentially electing someone who can't read and will likely sign anything put in front of her. Because that's the situation.

Edit: Derp. Fair point, that's what I get for skimming. Either way, she should be on the ballot.

[Blarg]

she is quite literally trying to take our jerbs

[BaneTheBrawler]

I derped so hard I herped.

[kuronosan]

He got herpes.

Once again, being hispanic myself, I see no issue with this.

Honestly, if you're trying to represent your community the language should not matter but being that she is holding a public office of the U.S. she should at least be proficient enough in English to do her job well.

Of course... you have to wonder if her command of the English language is better than a vast majority of idiots in office today using it...

[Churchill]

Not really a response to this, but in general as I'm not going to read a bunch of crap from a border town, they should go ahead and see this situation and finalize a law saying you speak english in office or gtfo. No translators, wrong tenses, heavy/thick accents. The most important portion of your job is communication and in the US there is a language for that.

[Headspace]

Not really a response to this, but in general as I'm not going to read a bunch of crap from a border town, they should go ahead and see this situation and finalize a law saying you speak english in office or gtfo. No translators, wrong tenses, heavy/thick accents. The most important portion of your job is communication and in the US there is a language for that.

there's an official language?

[hey]

there's an official language?

Yeah, American.

[kuronosan]

Interestingly enough - no. Quit diluting the point.

If the unofficial language in lower Zimbabwe is Swahili are you going to roll in there speaking English and demand to be allowed to run for office when you can't hold your own talking with other Africans?

[Headspace]

Interestingly enough - no. Quit diluting the point.

If the unofficial language in lower Zimbabwe is Swahili are you going to roll in there speaking English and demand to be allowed to run for office when you can't hold your own talking with other Africans?

If you can't hold your own then you waste your time and resources trying.

But you still have the opportunity to try

[Uzor]

Isn't that illegal, considering English isn't even the official language of USA?

[kuronosan]

Well that was the point. Legally America has no official language. Are you going to go run for office in Canada just because you have two semesters of college French?

And yes, she has every right to try. They shouldn't be removing her name from the ballot. My point is she shouldn't be trying. If she believes she can make a difference she needs to step up, not whine.

[Callisto]

Of course... you have to wonder if her command of the English language is better than a vast majority of idiots in office today using it...

NUCULAR OPTION

[Ashmada]

Not really a response to this, but in general as I'm not going to read a bunch of crap from a border town, they should go ahead and see this situation and finalize a law saying you speak english in office or gtfo. No translators, wrong tenses, heavy/thick accents.

Funny, I thought that was mandatory in the US.

[BaneTheBrawler]

The decider justificates!