'Hispanic Voting Bloc' Nonexistent; U.S.ENGLISH Lauds Center for Immigration Studies Research Backgrounder 1/17/2003
From: Valerie Rheinstein of U.S.ENGLISH, 202-833-0100 WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 -- Following is a statement by U.S.ENGLISH Chairman and CEO Mauro E. Mujica: "Congratulations to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) for producing research that demonstrates what U.S.ENGLISH has said for years: There is no such thing as a Hispanic voting bloc. "As an immigrant from Chile, I always have maintained that politicians cannot lump Hispanic voters together. I am pleased the CIS data show this to be true, and in its backgrounder, Latinos and the 2002 Election, the organization maintains that even after controlling for party identification, income, and education, there is 'no difference between Latino voting and the voting pattern of non-Hispanic whites in either the Senate or gubernatorial races of 2002.' "Rather than focusing on the real problem our country faces due to the explosion of immigrants to our shores, especially Hispanics, our political leaders have been acting like keystone cops, knocking themselves out with token actions to placate the Latino community by increasing bilingual government services, speaking in Spanish on the campaign trail, and offering amnesty proposals for illegals amongst other things. "Have they even noticed that 21.3 million of the foreign born living here today can't speak English, our common language, very well? Of these, nearly 14 million are Hispanics, the group they have so desperately courted. The language problem has become so widespread the U.S. Census Bureau has categorized these immigrants as "linguistically isolated." The language barrier isn't confined to adult immigrants, and the lack of adequate English language education has impacted today's high school drop out rate for Hispanics, which stands at 27.8 percent, or one in four Latino students. "When will the lunacy end and the literacy begin? "Until we get serious about providing English classes to newcomers, immigrants will continue to be marginalized, held captive on the side-lines of society never reaching their full potential. Current government policies and proposals are nothing more than short-sighted attempts to solve a long-term problem. "Unnecessary catering to immigrants who do not understand English is more segregative than it is tolerant, and builds walls between those who speak English and those who do not. An official English law sponsored by U.S.ENGLISH would encourage immigrants to learn the language and empower them to go as far as their skills, talent and dreams take them. "A founding principle of our country is E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one. Our language has the power to divide or unite us. "It's time our leaders stop pandering to select ethnic groups, and start empowering all newcomers by developing sound policies that provide adequate resources for teaching English and encourage immigrants to become functional in our common language." U.S. English is the nation's oldest and largest citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English Language in the United States (website: http://www.us-english.org). Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. ENGLISH has more than 1.7 million members nationwide. EDITORS: A photo is available for free editorial use at http://www.wirepix.com/newsphotos/USN/ |