ProEnglish Praises Doral, FL: ‘City Pushed Back for English’

For Immediate Release                                                                             To interview Robert Vandervoort, contact:
February 18, 2013                                                                                     Phil Kent (404) 226-3549

ARLINGTON, VA– “The City Council of Doral, Florida, is to be commended for unanimously rejecting a proposal by Mayor Luigi Boria to designate Spanish along with English as the official languages of  the city,” says Robert Vandervoort, Executive Director of the Arlington, Va.-based ProEnglish organization committed to enacting English as the official language of the United States.

“It is significant that all the City Council members who rejected the mayor’s proposal are Hispanic women whose families are from Mexico and Cuba,” Vandervoort said. “These public servants stressed that legal immigrants need to assimilate into the culture of their new home country. In fact, Councilwoman Ana Mario Rodriguez said ‘we came here knowing we had to adapt to the language of this country.’”

“The population of Doral is 80 percent Hispanic and almost 90 percent speak a language other than English at home. The mayor  wanted to add Spanish as an official language by claiming that it would bring in more business and investment,” Vandervoort noted. “That’s why it is heartening that the City Council pushed back in favor of keeping English as the official language of government and even many recently-arrived immigrants who spoke before the Council said that English should be the official language.”

“This is an issue about who we are as a country,” Vandervoort said. Thirty-one states have adopted English as their official language of government. Let’s also hope that Congress passes a bill that extends this to all 50 states, because— as the Doral example underscores— we must be able to communicate as well as facilitate cultural and civic unity in our nation by strengthening the use of our common tongue.”