Rubio Tries to Counter ProEnglish Criticism

Rubio Tries to Counter ProEnglish Criticism

FOR RELEASE: JUNE 11, 2013

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“RUBIO IS STILL MISLEADING ABOUT ENGLISH”—TRYING TO COUNTER CRITICISM FROM PROENGLISH

 

ARLINGTON, Va.— “Despite U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s latest zig-zagging gymnastics, he and the U.S. Senate’s so-called Gang of 8 are still lying,” says ProEnglish’s Robert Vandervoort, executive director of the nation’s largest English language advocacy organization.

“Rubio is offering a new amendment to counter criticism from ProEnglish that the comprehensive immigration bill S. 744 has no requirement that amnestied illegal immigrants learn English. However, his new ploy is simply a fig leaf that doesn’t fix the problem,” Vandervoort says. “He is obviously stung by our advertising campaign published in the Roll Call newspaper headlined: ‘The Gang of Eight is a Gang of Liars.’”

“Contrary to what Rubio and the Gang of 8 continue to say, S. 744 has no requirement to ascertain if illegal immigrants actually learn English after being handed work permits or amnesty. He is not addressing the main issue which is zero English proficiency test for initial work permits and no English requirement at all for renewals,” Vandervoort notes. “The amnestied aliens can renew their work permits indefinitely. And, in the meantime, taxpayers will be paying untold hundreds of millions of dollars for translations and interpreters.”

“Bottom line: Rubio is still telling a whopper about English. No ‘tests’ will be required, as the Gang keeps claiming,” Vandervoort says.

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