Alabama Gov. Candidate Tim James: "We Speak English. If You Want to Live Here, Learn It"

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Domestic Issues ,; State Politics

As Arizona's new immigration law has sparked criticism that it would target illegal and legal immigrants alike, one Alabama candidate for governor is betting he can win votes by bringing immigration-related issues to the forefront in his own state.

Republican Tim James last week released an ad calling into question the state's practice of printing driver's license exams in 12 different languages.

"This is Alabama," James says. "We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it. We're only giving that test in English if I'm governor. Maybe it's the business man in me, but we'll save money. And it make sense."

After receiving negative attention from liberal bloggers for the ad, James released a statement yesterday expounding his logic.

"We welcome non-English speaking people, who are legally in the U.S., to Alabama. However, if you want to drive in our states, public safety concerns dictate that you need to speak English," James said. "Political correctness may endear you to the Rachel Maddow crowd, but here in Alabama, the safety of our people comes first."

James' statement said it is important for the nation's governors to protect the interests of states as President Obama and Democrats in Congress press for more "permissive" immigration laws.

The issue of printing driver's licenses in different languages could be a legitimate issue, writes CBS News Chief Political Correspondent, the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, "but the ethnic coding in the ad is unmistakable, especially because it's not the type of thing that voters in Alabama would care about unless someone deigned to bring it to their attention."

Ambinder also points out that Alabama could lose billions of dollars in federal transportation funding if it were to stop printing the exams in different languages.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by maljos26 November 3, 2010 5:10 AM EDT: I am from wales in the uk and my first languagae is welsh and secondly english,and I support Tim James 100% . I am sick of having to see literature in Polish, Hindu etc in my country but very few welsh literature, which is ridiculous as we always prioritise every language but our own home language!!!! I believe that in my country, everyone is too afraid to say what they really mean !!!good for him is all I can say, maybe our politicians here can do the same ??I doubt it !!!!; Reply to this comment


by Thoughts_for_your_penny October 13, 2010 1:01 PM EDT: I can visit another country--say Germany or Mexico--and I can actually drive there using my driver's license from the United States. I need to understand the road signs and the rules--and I can certainly learn that information without learning all the intricacies of a particular written language. If you were moving to another country permanently (and you were a good driver) would you want to be restricted from driving until you learned their written language in its entirety?; Reply to this comment


by run22run June 23, 2010 12:08 AM EDT: I understand that all people living in the United States should make some attempt to learn English however the way Candidate Tim James addressed the issue seemed rude and unnecessary. There are bigger problems in the country, and I am assuming Alabama, right now than making sure that everyone is speaking English. The ongoing issues surrounding the Mexican border are important to address but I think the potential governor could have done this in a less controversial way.; Reply to this comment


by amerilatino May 24, 2010 2:53 PM EDT: Is that English they speak in -"Alabammy"-? I thought it was Foghornleghorngooberpylepootytangese!; Reply to this comment


by 1confederate May 17, 2010 12:39 PM EDT: Thank you Arizon and Gov. Tim James (Alabama). The states need to have rights to run as they see fit. As the Government is so one sided and there is NO need for any political correctness anywhere. I think American should have English as the native language and illegal aliens should NOT have any rights nor get our taxpayers money so support them. Our elderly are struggling and the illegals prosper. Something is wrong with this picture.
GO Arizona and Tim James. We are so thankful for you.; Reply to this comment


by NES121 May 2, 2010 7:55 PM EDT: Did you mean Americans are arrogant? I agree with that and some are ignorant.; Reply to this comment


by thebigfatyel May 2, 2010 5:40 PM EDT: I do believe that US citizens should be able to speak and read English as there first language. If people chose to speak another language besides English this should be up to the family to teach them other languages, I do realize that other languages should be taught for the United States to be able to communicate world wide. That by the time you have been in the US for 5 years you should be speaking and reading English. I know that the political correct answer should be not to stripe people of their culture, but they have left their country behind and come to America. That they should be making new cultures for their families. Yes most of my ancestors came to America and did not speak or read English, they spoke there native tongue at home and in church, but when my oldest aunt started school it was English only. My Grandparents then decided that they would only speak English at home, that their parents would also need to learn English. Yes a lot of our culture was lost at that time, we still do have some of our culture, but our family is developing a new culture. My family came over to the United States because they were not happy in their country. We are in finical woos in this country, it is time that we pull together as a country, and stop our wining about little things. Massive cuts in school finance is underway, tons of money is spent by different industries to print and provide interpreters for the different languages, we need to tighten our belts and buck up.; Reply to this comment

by vwilmot May 2, 2010 5:34 PM EDT

I TOTALLY AGREE with this. We are in America and our language is English. I'm unemployed and sick of job ads wanting to know if I can speak Spanish in this country to get a job in America! And unlike our president, I can and will prove I was born in the USA, but that don't seem to matter.
And what is with this White house not allowing the media to talk about North Korea being responsible for the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico? Is CBS Afraid to air this?

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by nidria May 3, 2010 12:45 AM EDT: about darn time someone had the balls to stand up and say, if you want to live here and work here, learn our language. when we go to another country, they expect us to learn their language, so why can't they extend the courtesy when they're here? and the fact that they might fire you because you're not bi-lingual is wrong. Go Tim. HOpe he wins the race. I'm sorry, but it's time americans fight for american way. Don't y'all agree?


by amerilatino May 24, 2010 2:11 PM EDT: "And unlike our president, I can and will prove I was born in the USA, but that DON'T seem to matter."-As far as not being able to get a job, word of advice, Slick. Spanish seems to be the least of your problems...


by nakita84 May 2, 2010 3:52 PM EDT: I agree with this. We are in America and our language is English. As for the commit from Michael of Moorehead, MN, when we go to other Countries, we are VISITING, not going to live, so when coming here learning the Language.

Nakita
Texas; Reply to this comment


by maria29455 May 2, 2010 2:49 PM EDT: If I lived in Alabama I would not vote for this senator and I would tell everyone I am associated with not to also. The United States of America is supposed to be the land of the free. What freedom when we are governed by laws that we do not even have a choice on!! I am not a big religion pusher, but I think God put us all on this earth to live together peacefully and if MAN had not closed the borders in the past we wouldn't be having the problems we are having now with other countries wanting to bomb us. I am an American and I think that we should be able to live where we want and be free to choose what language we speak. We have so many ILLITERATE americans and they can not read the road signs and I do not see the difference. If we did not have so many racist ppl in the USA, we would all have alot less problems!!!; Reply to this comment