I’m sorry, but is it really too much to ask that public officials in America be fluent in English?
Ahead of his testimony at a Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission hearing on Friday, Lawrence, Massachusetts Mayor Brian DePeña requested the judge’s permission for his personal assistant to serve as his translator.
The judge denied DePeña’s request over concern that neither he, nor the opposing counsel, speak Spanish. “Therefore,” he said, “we’re unable to decide independently whether questions are being translated — both directions — from the attorney and from the witness accurately.”
It’s unclear if the court ultimately supplied a substitute interpreter for DePeña.
The Post Millenial reported:
The hearing concerned former Lawrence Police Chief William Castro, a political ally of DePena, who was stripped of his policing credentials following an improper police chase. Castro was accused of driving the wrong way down a city street during the chase and filing a false police report, claiming he was responding to an armed bank robbery when he had actually been responding to someone attempting to cash a bad check.
According to The Post Millennial, the Dominican Republic-born mayor arrived in New York in the early 1980s. He moved to Lawrence in 1989.
So, DePeña has been residing in the U.S. for approximately 40 years, but still cannot speak proper English? Apparently learning the English language wasn’t a priority for him.
A July 2024 U.S. Census Bureau report states that 82.3% of Lawrence residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. Apparently, due to the city’s demographics, DePeña never felt the need to learn English. Why bother to assimilate when the majority of the population speaks your language?
At any rate, DePeña’s unusual request ignited a firestorm on social media. Critics are outraged that the sitting mayor of an American city appeared unable to communicate fluently in English.
One X user wrote, “I can’t believe this is real.” He wasn’t alone.
Another responded, “Not only is it real, you’ll be attacked as racist if you say this is a problem.”
One man asked, “How far have we fallen as a nation when an actual Massachusetts mayor needs a translator in court?”
How far indeed.
And I’ve saved the best for last:
The presidency is the only elected office that requires candidates to be natural-born citizens. Naturalized citizens are eligible to run for Congress, provided they have held U.S. citizenship for at least seven years to serve in the House of Representatives and nine years to serve in the Senate.
While some foreign-born public officials may be difficult to understand at times, this is the first instance I am aware of in which an elected U.S. official has required a translator. Unfortunately, given the number of immigrants who poured over our open southern border during the Biden administration, it likely won’t be the last.
Please let me know in the comments section if you think proficiency in English should be required of candidates running for public office.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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