I must confess, if you had told me even ten years ago that this was possible in the U.S., I would have laughed heartily. I certainly underestimated the damage to American culture about to be wreaked by the Democratic Party’s open borders lunacy.
The mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Brian DePena requested the assistance of a translator during a court appearance last week.
He wanted his personal assistant to fill the role during the proceedings, since the mayor’s native tongue is Spanish and despite being an elected official in the United States of America, he hasn’t bothered to assimilate sufficiently to be confident that he could navigate an examination in court conducted in English. This situation occurred because most of the people who voted for him haven’t assimilated either: census data shows that Lawrence, Massachusetts, is over 82% Hispanic, not that there’s anything wrong with that providing the residents want to adopt American values, perspective, traditions and practices,and don’t view immigration as just an opportunity to duplicate their native culture in a safer, richer, and obviously foolish and oblivious nation.
DePena came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in the early 1980s, then moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1989. I’d say that more than 35 years should have been enough time to learn English if he wanted to, wouldn’t you? The judge overseeing the hearing wisely denied the mayor’s request. Neither the judge nor opposing counsel speak Spanish, so if the aide mistranslated the questions or answers intentionally or unintentionally, it could have affected the hearing’s outcome.
The Lawrence episode should be a feature of every candidate’s debate as the mid-term elections approach. Every Republican should ask every Democrat, “Is this fine with you? Do you think this is a healthy development for the nation? Do you believe that it is important that legal immigrants come here with a good faith commitment to become Americans, meaning in part that they will make the effort to become fluent in English, and to ensure that their children’s first language is the official language of the United States?”
Of course, the Democrat might require a translator to answer…
Ethics Alarms 
My company, when dealing with customers who do not speak English well, uses a dedicated translator line. It will not permit a family member of the customer to translate because there is legal verbiage that must be read verbatim and we cannot trust a family member or friend to translate the verbiage correctly.
Truly, a litmus test for any elected official in this country must be that he or she speaks and understands English. I can assure the Democrats and their cohorts that the fabulously progressive countries they so want the United States to emulate would never permit an immigrant to be elected to public office who required a translator in that capacity.
I’ve seen videos of trial court proceedings in some Southwestern states (f.ex., Arizona) where a Spanish translator was routinely present, but the hearing was still conducted in English. Agreed that proficiency in the local language is expected for immigrants to other countries who wish to apply for citizenship in that country, let alone run for election to some local position, as I’ve heard of such requirements from countless expats posting YouTube videos about their experiences in the new country.
I was renewing my driver’s license yesterday (in person, because a vision test was required), and there was signage at the local DMV listing all of the languages in which assistance could be provided; I could read the Spanish and kinda read the Polish, but the other languages were in non-Roman alphabet writing systems. I very much doubt that the local DMV staff could have provided assistance in all of those languages themselves, but I suppose they could have arranged a conference call with multilingual DMV staff in the state capital.
I cannot imagine an elected official in downstate Illinois being unable to understand English well enough to appear in court. (Unable to understand what’s going on in court, sure, regardless of the elected official’s first language, but that’s why people lawyer up when they have to appear in court.) In Cook County, Illinois, it might be possible for someone to get elected to office without being fluent in English, but I have yet to hear of such a case.
The closest I can come to the Lawrence, MA mayor’s situation from personal experience is my recent experience as an ARC reader of the Spanish translation of a JAFF (Jane Austen fan fiction) novel I already owned in English. I learned Spanish decades ago in high school and college, and find reading translations of popular fiction I’m already familiar with in another language to be a great way to practice. I used Google Translate to compose my ARC reader’s notes (to compensate for the lack of Spanish diacritical marks on my US English keyboard), but then edited the Google Translate notes for greater accuracy. On the other hand, streaming Spanish-language TV & movies is the main way I practice listening comprehension of Spanish — but the comprehension improves when there are also on-screen subtitles (either in Spanish or English), so my listening comprehension hasn’t been retained as well as the reading comprehension. Thank goodness I have never yet had to appear in a courtroom where the proceedings were being conducted in a language other than English, though!
I can see where language would be a big deal in the legal profession, which has it’s own specialized language (legalese), as do many professions. I read one time that the main purpose of such language is to shout out those not schooled in the profession. My experience over many years has not disproved this.
Yet, I have to agree that in a court proceeding, a common language and a common understanding is essential. So, maybe two translators? I don’t know.
But, once again, the term “American Values” pops up. And, once again, I wonder, ‘Is it just language, or is there something else here?”
Just what are “American Values’? How does one acquire them?
It is not hard to get a grasp on those values. Just read what Abraham Lincoln wrote and said. Speaking English does not appear to be one of those values. So, the anti-immigrant crowd, including those who claim they only are anti-illegal-immigration, would do well to reflect on the values that Lincoln espoused. They just might get a different perspective on those who aspire to be Americans.
”Just read what Abraham Lincoln wrote and said.”
What are you talking about? The Gettysburg Address? An inaugural speech?
And, why Abraham Lincoln, as opposed to some other President?
-Jut
You’re missing the point. The guy is the mayor of a city of 89,000 people. Presumably, the city’s administration conducts its business in English. It appears to be involved in litigation from time to time as well. Surely it issues bonds and is involved in all sorts of complicated transactions. If they guy can’t comprehend English, he can’t conduct the city’s business competently. He’s per se incapable of performing his job.
“It is not hard to get a grasp on those values. Just read what Abraham Lincoln wrote and said. Speaking English does not appear to be one of those values.”
That’s because Honest Abe understood that a common language – English – was a given to provide for social cohesion. Look at what is happening in Canada with the Quebec separatist movement where English and Canadian French are the official languages.
I suspect this was a publicity stunt employed by the mayor as a stick in the Trump Administration’s eye and that the mayor actually speaks English well enough to appear in court and testify.
jvb
I agree that the aide should not have been allowed to interpret for the reasons you stated.
In Minnesota, the Court provides interpretation services with interpreters that have to prove they are competent to interpret before they can become “Court-Certified Interpreters.”
-Jut
Maybe the aide makes all of the decisions and the mayor is just the figurehead. The mayor needed his interpreter to actually answer any questions put before him.
I bet if we went back and looked, we’d find that some Italian was elected to office whose grasp of English was decidedly subpar. What has changed is that the legal system has become so complex, and we have become so rich as a nation, that folks just expect that, if they fall into the clutches of the legal system, they better get an interpreter if their English isn’t 100%. My girlfriend is in a job that didn’t exist 100 years ago, when my hypothetical Italian mayor got elected–Medical interpreter. Decades ago, if an immigrant got into a car accident, well, someone in his family, probably the 9 year old, would end up translating for his relatives what the doctors were saying. Today, they’ll get an interpreter, which is a beautiful thing–it’s PROGRESS, people. We are a more humane and better country. She translated a few weeks ago for a Guatemalan family with a 5 year old with leukemia, and the mother has to decide if she will self-deport with her other three kids or stay with the sick one and risk getting deported with her. This Mayor story isn’t about a sudden rise in immigrants who don’t learn English–it’s about how wealthy we’ve become. There were LOTS of WASPs worried to DEATH in 1910 and 1930 that so many dirty Jews (my people!) and drunk Irish, and criminal Wops were pouring in, and except for the Irish, they couldn’t speak the damn language. The foreign born percentage today is high, but not higher than those years. Relax. Folks always have learned English. It’s how you get rich, second generation.
And remember Henry Kissinger? Story goes that some Europeans were wondering how we could have a Secretary of State with such a thick German accent–weren’t there any native speakers able to take one of the top jobs in government?
And the answer was–we’re America. We’re a nation of immigrants. Folks with thick accents are just as American as anyone.
When did we become a nation of small minded fear mongers, and not a powerful nation proud of its diversity and history? How did we get this pathetic? When did we start getting ENRAGED about accents, as if we weren’t composed mostly of folks who came here speaking something else? Don’t get mad at this mayor–admire his political skills.
I remember an interview with Henry’s brother, who spoke perfect, unaccented English. He was asked, “Why is it that your brother, who has lived in the country as long as you have, still has such a thick accent?” His brother said, “Well you msut realize that in order to lose an accent you have to listen to other people.”
And much of it is Portuguese immigration, with a lot from the Azores. When I lived in Providence, the Portuguese sweet bread in the bakeries was legendary.
It also led to an interesting dilemma at Brown, which even then was super leftwing. They had a “Third World Weekend” (TWW) orientation only for non-white students. Portuguese American students from Providence were invited, because they were manifestly a minority, typically far less well off than the rest of Providence and Brown. BUT–applicants from Portugal were NOT invited to TWW because they were from a comparatively rich European country. This rule was not applied to Mexicans or Central Americans, or Africans etc–both immigrants and residents were invited. At the time, I thought this illustrated the silliness of identity politics…now, I’m not so sure. If there is any merit to providing minority students with a sense of community to fight the really high drop out rate, then if Portuguese students don’t need it, but Portuguese American students seem to, then it makes sense.
Providence still has that Portuguese flavor. First time I had Portuguese fried calamari was there—oil and peperoncini. I decided it was better than the Greek version, which I was brought up on.
I know this anecdote with slightly different wording, and it is one of my favorites. Worth noting that this was also an OLDER brother…who would normally have a much thicker accent, since he was older upon arrival in America.
I bet that version didn’t have the typos mine had either…
“Don’t get mad at this mayor–admire his political skills.”
How much political skill do you need to win with a local population whose ethnicity is different from the country’s majority, but the same as your own?
The issue here is not his accent, but that he had 35 years to learn English and didn’t bother. That’s plain lazy and irresponsible. If I moved to Spain, I’d damn sure make it a point to be fluent in Spanish in a fraction of that time, even if I lived in some American expatriate enclave. It would be disrespectful not to.
I have said here before that I don’t worry about the immigrants speaking English or speaking with heavy accents. The older you are, typically, the harder it is to learn a new language, and English is generally touted as a difficult language to learn.
As you say, new immigrants have typically not spoken English when they arrived. But their kids will speak English, and their grandchildren will be native speakers. But even so, there have always been a lot of incentives for immigrants to pick up a working knowledge of English. After 35 years, I think one would have had to really work at it not to at least understand some English.
All that, however, is one big reason I am not comfortable with schools trying to teach children in other languages. We do kids no favors by not ensuring that they learn the language — indeed, it can help set them on a path to be a second class citizen and limit their opportunities. All I’ve ever read says that children have an excellent ability to pick up a new language — and they should.
Watching some of the coverage of the Brown Univ. shooting, I was curious as to why the Providence police chief had a noticeable hispanic accent. Turns out that about 44% of Providence is hispanic, due to a 20th century influx for manufacturing jobs, particularly in jewelry and textile mills, and subsequent chain migration.
Couldn’t the mayor if he wanted to hire a lawyer who speaks Spanish to make sure he understood whatever was going on in court?
The 400,000th EA comment!
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PWS
He may well have done so, yet still have also wanted an interpreter provided by the court. On the other hand, outside of a courtroom, individuals with an imperfect-to-minimal command of English usually will think to bring an English-speaking friend along, when they have to go somewhere where communicating in English is a necessity, such as at our small law firm. (As a bilingual secretary, I can clarify that a client needs to sign “nombre y apellido” (first & last name) on a form, but I don’t enter the office or conference room where the attorney is discussing the case with the client, because I need to be typing & filing those documents that the client will be signing.)