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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Bloomberg orders city to provide help in six languages
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday signed an executive order to require city agencies to provide certain services in six languages — Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole.
According to the Associated Press, the executive order is the first uniform, citywide policy requiring agencies to provide assistance and translation in the languages most commonly spoken by New Yorkers with limited English proficiency.
Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the executive order is “a landmark step toward ensuring that all New Yorkers — including those who haven’t had the opportunity to master English yet — will have meaningful access to the vital services provided by New York City.”
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Hispanic group wants feds to investigate beating death of immigrant
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is urging the Department of Justice to investigate the death of Luis Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who died after allegedly being beaten by several teenagers.
The incident, which occurred over the weekend in Shenandoah, Pa., should be investigated as a possible hate crime, MALDEF said.
“The rise in hate crimes against Latinos documented by the FBI is painfully and tragically clear in the death of Luis Ramirez,” said John Trasvina, MALDEF president, in a news release.
According to an Associated Press account of the incident, the 25-year-old Ramirez was beaten after an argument with a group of youths, including at least some players on the town’s high school football team.
“Despite witness reports that the attackers yelled ethnic slurs, authorities say the beating wasn’t racially motivated,” AP said.
MALDEF is also urging the Department of Justice to send civil rights monitors to Shenandoah.
AP also said that Ramirez had been in the United States for six years and worked in a factory and in the fields, picking strawberries and cherries.
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