Washington, DC – Five of the leading national Hispanic advocacy organizations in the United States – the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the National Puerto Rican Coalition (NPRC), and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – today released the text of a letter to the United States Senate expressing their concern over an “English-only” amendment offered by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) which would deny a wide array of information and services to millions of U.S. citizens who are not fully English proficient.

The text of the letter follows:

May 19, 2006

Latino Organizations’ Response to the Inhofe Amendment

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the undersigned national Latino organizations, we are writing to express our grave concern at the passage of the Inhofe Amendment to the immigration reform bill currently under consideration in the Senate. We believe this amendment jeopardizes the health and safety of all Americans by undercutting federal, state, and local government’s capacity to provide vital information and services to immigrants and Americans who are speakers of other languages. This amendment has nothing to do with immigration reform, and it does nothing to help immigrants learn English. We believe it has no place in this bill and urge you to reconsider it.

Upon review of the language of this amendment, we have reached the conclusion that it would undercut policies that facilitate communication with people who are speakers of other languages. If this amendment becomes law, it would jeopardize the delivery of public health and safety messages that are intended to protect all Americans. The amendment would make it more difficult for agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to respond to a flu pandemic, another hurricane disaster like Katrina, or another terrorist attack. If some portion of the community does not receive information about immunizations or other health threats in a language they can understand, then the entire public is at risk.

We are also offended by the premise reflected in the amendment and the debate which took place on the Senate floor that the English language is somehow “under attack” in the United States. Immigrants and all Americans understand that English is our common language. If there is a challenge to the integration of immigrants, it is that there are insufficient English classes available to meet the demand from immigrants who are eager to take them; the Inhofe Amendment does not help a single immigrant learn English. We stand ready to join in a debate on how to create new resources and options to facilitate English classes and the full integration of immigrants into our society. We deeply regret that the Senate failed to choose this course of action and instead voted on a counterproductive proposal that would do real harm while doing nothing to promote English-language acquisition.

The presence of this amendment in the immigration reform bill calls into question our community’s support of the immigration reform package. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider this damaging vote.

Sincerely,

Hector Flores
National President
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

John Trasviña
Interim President and General Counsel
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)

Arturo Vargas
Executive Director
National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund (NALEO)

Janet Murguía
President and CEO
National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

Manuel Mirabal
President and CEO
National Puerto Rican Coalition (NPRC)

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