Voces de la Frontera Action
Press Release
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Voces de la Frontera Action Condemns Legislative Attempt to Make English the Official Language of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin- On Monday, January 6, 2020, Republican Senators in Wisconsin reintroduced a bill (AB 340 from 2013) to make English the official language of the state.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera Action*, Wisconsin’s leading grassroots Latinx organization, issued this statement in response:
“Senators Nass, David Craig, and Andre Jacque know that their English-only bill has no chance of becoming state law,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera Action. “Governor Evers, who ran unapologetically on a pro-immigrant platform and challenged the right-wing politics of divide and conquer, would veto this discriminatory bill.
The intent of the Senate sponsors of this hateful bill is to fan the flames of bigotry in the lead up to the 2020 elections by creating divisions among Wisconsinites based on language and ethnicity.
This discriminatory bill, is a danger to democracy. If implemented, residents would lose access to critical information that local and state governments currently provide on their websites. For example, access to city and county information on health care, senior care, the courts, the police department, elected officials and voting information.
Wisconsin values our rich immigrant heritage and the contributions that immigrants make to our community today. Trump’s white nationalist agenda has no place in Wisconsin, and state politicians that enable that agenda, like Trump, need to be sent home packing in the 2020 elections.”
Contact: Jessica at jessica@vdlf@org
