Candidate Disqualified for Poor English

(San Luis, Arizona) In the border town of San Luis, local woman Alejandrina Cabrera has been disqualified as a candidate for city council because she lacks proficiency in the English language.

Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla filed a court action requesting a ruling as to whether Cabrera had the necessary English language skills to be a council member.

State law requires elected officials to know English, but Cabrera's attorneys have argued the law does not define proficiency in the language.

An expert testified that in tests he administered to Cabrera, she did not demonstrate the level of proficiency needed to serve on the council. Yuma County Judge John Nelson said he also based his ruling on Cabrera's failure to respond correctly to questions posed to her.

Cabrera's lawyers have appealed Judge Nelson's ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court which is expected to decide on the case tomorrow.

Interestingly, it's reported that Cabrera was born in the U.S. and grew up in Mexico. She returned to the U.S. to attend public school and ultimately graduated from Kofa High School in Yuma. It's unknown how a person could graduate from a U.S. public high school without demonstrating proficiency in the English language. Apparently, Cabrera did.