The Ellis County Press: "Why Aren't You Speaking English?" A Texas Senator is receiving praise and criticism

"Why Aren't You Speaking English?" A Texas Senator is receiving praise and
criticism
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Conservative Byte on 06/20/2011 12:07:00


During committee testimony lastweek in Austin, a Texas senator interrupted a
Spanish speaker and telling him he should “be speaking in English” during a
committee hearing.
Antolin Aguirre of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition was testifying against
Senate Bill 9 that would help crack down on illegal immigrants in Texas. Aguirre
spoke through an interpreter even though he had been in the U.S. since 1988.
Two minutes into Antolin Aguirre’s testimony, Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican
from Arlington, interrupted asking Aguirre’s interrupter, “Did I understand
him correctly that he has been here since 1988?” Harris asked. “Why aren’t
you speaking in English then?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNKWISYPdZ4&feature=player_embedded
Senate Bill 9, the so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ bill that would toughen
restrictions on illegal immigrants.  The bill would cut funding from cities that
tell police not to check immigration status of people they pull over.
Harris wanted to know why Aguirre addressed the committee hearing the bill in
Spanish rather than English.  “If I understand him correctly, then he’s been
here since 1988?” Harris asked after Aguirre described his experience.  “23
years. You’ve been here 23 years?”
When told Aguirre’s first language was Spanish, and that’s the language he
felt comfortable speaking in, Harris said “It’s insulting to us. (pause)
It’s very insulting.  If he needs to… if he knows English then he needs to
be speaking it to us.”
The top ranking Republican Senator says the insult was to choose to speak
Spanish when Aguirre admitted he knew some English.
Some Hispanic activists said it was a disturbing reaction.
Lee Saldivar, who was in the hearing, said it reminded him of the days when
Spanish was all but outlawed.
“I lived that. I went through that in junior high, and elementary and high
school. Back then we *couldn’t speak Spanish, at all.”
But Harris supporters were quick to jump to his defense, saying it was insulting
that Aguirre either chose to use Spanish, or was advised to, during a hearing on
an issue that is already divisive.
“The frustration may have been, you’re being asked to speak in a language
most of us don’t understand, when, you may not speak English the way we do but
I bet we could understand you,” said Dianne Costa, the former mayor of
Highland Village.
Sara Legvold, who came to the United States from Cuba as a child, said Harris
really did the right thing.
“English is the language of success in this country. And if you want to get
somewhere, you need to learn English.”
Harris’ staffers have backed his statements, saying they were “In no way
meant to be derogatory.”
In a statement to CBS 11 Harris’ staff said “This particular individual
understood and spoke English, however, purposely chose to speak in Spanish for
the audience. Senator Harris believed that this individual should be addressing
the Texas Legislature using the English language."
The House version of the “sanctuary cities” bill has yet to be taken up in
the current special session.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/06/17/arlington-state-sentator-why-arent-you-speaking-english/