Thread: Texas Town Adopts Spanish As Official Language?!?!?

Just saw this on Yahoo News Oddly Enough Headlines section and am wondering WHAT IN SAM"S H*LL is going ON?!?!

EL CENIZO, Texas (Reuters) - The border town of El Cenizo, whose population is heavily Hispanic, has adopted Spanish as its official language and declared the community a safe haven for illegal immigrants, officials said Friday.

The ramshackle town of 7,800 people is located just south of Laredo, Texas, across the Rio Grande River from Mexico.

Mayor Rafael Rodriguez told Reuters that he and most of the town's residents speak only Spanish. Many are first-generation immigrants, both legal and illegal. Rodriguez himself crossed into the United States illegally from Mexico but became a U.S. citizen in 1995.

``In past administrations, the meetings were done in English and they did not explain anything,'' Rodriguez said.

The result, he said, was widespread apathy.

The City Council voted last week to make Spanish, not English, the town's official language. That means that town business will be conducted in Spanish, which then will be translated into English for official documents to meet the requirements of Texas law.

Rodriguez says the City Council's intent was not to usurp English or create divisions, but to make local government more accessible to the town's residents.

``What we are looking for is that the people of the community who attend the meetings and who only speak Spanish be able to voice their opinions,'' Rodriguez said.

The ``safe haven'' ordinance forbids city staff, which consists of one employee and two volunteers, from helping the U.S. Border Patrol find illegal immigrants or inquiring about any person's immigration status.

The intent was to avoid meddling in peoples' lives, Rodriguez said.

``We are not protecting them and neither are we turning them in,'' he said.

City Secretary Elsa Degollado estimated that the town's population currently includes 1,000 illegal immigrants.

Rodriguez said he did not expect any reprisals triggered by the new ordinances.

But Linda Evans, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, said his office has contacted ``relevant state and federal authorities to ensure that the laws, including illegal immigration laws, are being enforced.''

``As a general rule, Governor Bush believes that government business in America should be conducted in English,'' Evans said.

The measure drew a sharp response from English First, a group based in Springfield, Virginia that advocates making English America's official language.

The group's executive director, Jim Boulet, said El Cenizo may be the first U.S. town to have adopted Spanish as its official language -- a step that policy makers should take as a ''warning sign'' of things to come.

``Will we call this town 'America's first Quebec?''' asked Boulet, referring to the French-speaking Canadian province. ''Language divisions rather quickly lead to other divisions.''

``It proves we really need a national language policy sooner rather than later,'' he said. "

Well, as I may have said before....they want land. Lets givum Texas and
make Crawford the capitol and name it Texico. Then, make all the aliens
go home...to Texico.

Here's a piece on El Cenizo's Spanish-only policy, from 1999: www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/feder090199.asp

As a Texan, I'm not ready to concede to them yet.

This may be a re-vote - but this was done several years ago. Perhaps it was derailed and they revoted -

Mayor Rafael Rodriguez

The old man in the cave wants to set up his own world. Cut him off from the rest of the country and let him and his people live in their exile.

Some of these cities have allowed a takeover by another country. I thought we were all america. I guess we are not.

Funny how when it comes to making Spanish an official language, suddenly all the talk about an official language being "racist" disappears.

Do you have a link for that story?

This is just the beginning . This was done almost 10 years ago with little attention .

They got off their ass long enough to send their sons and daughters to war , yet won't protect the nation these soldiers are overthere dying for !

It's getting to where I have more respect for the invaders than I do most of my nations people.

They don't deserve what we are fighting for .

I must feel like the citizens of Rome who witnessed their bloodthirsty fellow romans entertaining themselves out of an empire .

This was reported on Rick Sanchez, he spoke to the mayor and showed the town. The mayor should be deported as a traitor!!


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