In a committee hearing Monday in Austin regarding Texas Senate Bill 9 that would help thwart illegal immigration, a Texas senator interrupted the testimony of a Spanish speaker, telling him he should “be speaking in English” during a committee hearing.
Antolin Aguirre of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition testified testifying against Senate Bill 9, speaking through an interpreter, although he had been living in the U.S. since 1988. Tx Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican from Arlington, interrupted Aguirre’s testimony after just two minutes, asking Aguirre’s interrupter, “Did I understand him correctly that he has been here since 1988?” “Why aren’t you speaking in English then?”
Through his interpreter, Aguirre said Spanish is his “first language and since it is his first time giving testimony he would rather do it in Spanish.”
“It is insulting to us,” Sen. Harris retorted. “It is very insulting. And if he knows English, he needs to be speaking in English.”