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Immigration Law

: Greg Siskind's Blog

NASHVILLE SAYS NO TO ENGLISH-ONLY AMENDMENT

By Greg Siskind

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I'm proud of my former hometown (though I'm there often enough for work that it still is a home away from home). The city has been known for its hospitality over the years - it once actually garnered an award for the friendliest city in America. But in recent years, it's hostile treatment of immigrants has been making national headlines. That largely stems from the city's aggressive sheriff and the use of its police force as immigration agents.

The city made headlines again in recent months for its attempt to pass a measure that would require require all city business be conducted in English including responding to 911 phone calls and witnesses reporting crimes to the police.

The proposal was controversial enough to garner the warning of another large city that passed an English-only amendment - Miami. The Miami Herald last week ran this editorial warning the voters of Nashville about a host of unintended consequences that city experienced and why voters eventually decided to kill the requirement. I grew up in Miami and remember the chaos that surrounded that referendum.

So yesterday voters in Nashville could have voted to continue down the same anti-immigrant path. Instead, they soundly rejected the proposal by a 56-44 percent margin.

I'm also glad to see the main sponsor of the proposal taking a civil tone in defeat:

On the losing side was Eric Crafton, a Metro Councilman from Bellevue. Crafton had pushed a measure to make English the official language of Metro government for two years. After a failed attempt to pass a Council bill, Crafton gathered signatures of Davidson County voters.
His first attempt, which would have put the proposal on the November presidential election ballot, was disallowed by the Davidson County Election Commission. Crafton went back to the drawing board and gathered more signatures to force the special election.
In defeat, Crafton promised to abide by the ?wisdom of the voters,? adding that he was glad the issue was finally decided at the ballot.

?I think it?s been a net-positive for Nashville,? Crafton said. ?We?ve had a discussion, the people have decided. I always said I would support the collective wisdom of the citizens and they gave a clear statement tonight.?

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).