Idaho County Rescinds Official English Resolution

Canyon County (Idaho) Commissioners unanimously voted to rescind an official English resolution.

According to a report in the Idaho Press, the resolution had been enacted in 2006, and it banned county communication in any language other than English.

County commissioners argued that rescinding the 2006 resolution would not create an undue strain on county services, and stressed that rescinding the resolution would not commit the county to pay for any additional interpretation services required under Idaho state law.

Not everyone in Canyon County agreed with the commissioners and their unanimous vote to rescind the resolution.

Caldwell resident Sheila Ford urged the commissioners to keep the 2006 resolution on the books. She told the board that her Russian and Romanian immigrant ancestors learned English when they moved to America, and that Canyon County should require the same of their immigrants.

“We speak English in America and we should expect that of people who come here,” Ford said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to…accommodate people in other languages. It fractures our society.”