Second Class Citizens? So sayeth the Cooch...

By: SaveElmer
Published On: 1/30/2008 4:09:38 PM

recently reelected Senator Ken Cuccinelli apparently wants to make it English a requirement on the job site now. Along with drug use and theft, failing to speak English will now be an offense which will have the effect of denying benefits to terminated employees...

He is no longer content to demean and degrade undocumented workers...he is going after those here legally now as well...

From the Washington Post:


VIRGINIA SEN. Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax) has introduced a piece of immigrant-bashing legislation that is meant to ease the way for bosses to fire workers who don't speak English. But the bill is so closed-minded and foul-tempered that it is too much for Mr. Cuccinelli himself. It would victimize employees who fail "to speak only English at the workplace," a formulation even the senator now allows is a bit harsh; who knows, maybe his own ancestors were known to utter a phrase or two in their native Italian on the job. So he has decided to remove the word "only" from his bill. Nice, but it doesn't help.

The senator, long regarded as among the more intolerant lawmakers in Richmond, has outdone himself. He says glibly that the bill responds to a growing problem of employees who are unfit for their jobs because they speak English poorly. The rub, he says, is that employers cannot fire them without risking higher taxes to pay unemployment benefits. His evidence? Well, says the senator, an employer complained to him about it. And who was that employer? Mr. Cuccinelli can't recall.

...

Immigrant-bashers, even some who pay homage to America as a nation of immigrants, have a rich and ugly history in this country. Today, a venomous new chapter is being written in that history by lawmakers of Mr. Cuccinelli's ilk, for whom the very presence of people whose language, culture and values are different is a firing offense.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...


Comments



Yep, that would include me (Ingrid - 1/30/2008 4:33:05 PM)
He is going after me as well. I often speak Spanish to taxpayers who visit my office. My employers (that would be the voters of Arlington) would be able to fire me if this bill passes... ;-(