National Council of La Raza: NATIONAL 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.”

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