Therefore. my Latino constituents are keenly aware that section 5 is as important to their political empowerment as the section 203 requirement for certain jurisdictions to provide language assistance. Now I am aware that there is a small minority of Members here today who will try to strike section 203 from the reauthorization bill before us today. They will argue that providing language assistance at the polls somehow discourages immigrants from learning English. To this argument. I say first that I have never met any immigrant. much less one who became a citizen. who did not want to leam English or understand that learning English is their key to the American dream. In my city of New York. there are not enough English as a second language courses to go around for all the folks who want to take them. Second. this argument ignores the fact that the majority of voters who utilize language assistance are natural born U.S. citizens.
Identified stereotypes
All immigrants want to learn English and understand it is key to the American dream.