Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Politico Examines Oklahoma Amendments

Rep. George Faught
says one measure assists
assimilation
By Grace Meng/Politico ~ Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment on Nov. 2 that forbids judges from taking Sharia law and international law into consideration when making decisions. A federal judge has already blocked it from taking effect. But this doesn’t address what motivated the vote: a growing fear of immigrants and foreigners.

Oklahomans’ fear that they are under threat was palpable — the initiative was known as the “Save our State” amendment.

Two other initiatives also passed that day — one making English the required language for all “official actions,” the other that all voters must show a photo ID.

This English-only measure, said Rep. George Faught, would help immigrants assimilate into the U.S. culture and economy — implying that immigrants are not learning English now. The voter identification law was motivated by fears that undocumented immigrants, who are not entitled to vote, were flocking to polls and fraudulently casting ballots.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45144.html#ixzz15RE1VJec.

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