Mayor Of AZ Border City Embarks On Xenophobic Rant After Receiving An Invitation Written In Both English And Spanish

El Paso Times: Mayor Of Huachuca City, AZ, Rejects Invitation To A Meeting Of U.S. And Mexican Border City Mayors “Because It Was Written In Both English And Spanish.” The El Paso Times reported that Mayor Ken Taylor of Huachuca City, AZ, -- which is located on the U.S.-Mexico border -- “refused an invitation to a meeting of U.S. and Mexican border city mayors,” saying that “‘I will NOT attend a function that is sent to me in Spanish/Mexican.’” Taylor additionally stated “I am sorry you don’t properly comprehend ‘America First’” as an explanation for declining the invitation:

An Arizona mayor refused an invitation to a meeting of U.S. and Mexican border city mayors because it was written in both English and Spanish.



“I will NOT attend a function that is sent to me in Spanish/Mexican. One nation means one language and I am insulted by the division caused by language,” Huachuca City Mayor Ken Taylor said in an email Wednesday to former El Paso Mayor John Cook, who is executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association.



The invitation was for an Aug. 24 meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association in Laredo, Texas. The invitation was in both English and Spanish.

[...]

Even after Cook said he would remove Taylor from the list, Taylor continued to send emails defending his position.



“And I am sorry you don't properly comprehend 'America First' ... and that a 'Global Economy' is pointless. Giving away our sovereignty to benefit others is NOT a way to strengthen our Nation and OUR homes, it is an idea that is provably doomed to failure for the common man,” Taylor wrote. “If Mexico is NOT stopping drugs, crime, and terrorists from coming INTO our country from Mexico, then Mexico is not a friend and I don't care to help. I have better things to do in fighting the problems they export to us.”



He continued, “The only thing I care to get from Mexico is an apology to our Nation in English and actual action that stops the carnage spilling over the border into our homes.” [El Paso Times, 8/12/16]

Media Outlets Link Mayor’s Response To “The Anti-Immigrant Sentiments” Of Trump

NY Times Links Taylor’s Response To Donald Trump’s Past Criticism Of Jeb Bush Speaking Spanish. A New York Times article noted that Mayor Taylor’s email response “captures one side of a longstanding battle over the use of Spanish in the United States that has played out on many fronts,” including when Trump claimed rival Jeb Bush “‘should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.’” From the August 13 Times article:

The fuss, first reported by The El Paso Times, captures one side of a longstanding battle over the use of Spanish in the United States that has played out on many fronts, from the once-a-year reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance by Spanish-language students in Wisconsin to conversations on school buses in Nevada and this year’s presidential campaign.



During the Republican primary, Donald J. Trump said of one of his rivals, Jeb Bush, who is fluent in Spanish, “He should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.” [The New York Times, 8/13/16]

Daily Mail Finds Overlap Between Taylor’s Reaction, Trump’s “America First” Slogan, And Trump’s Border Wall Proposal. The conservative UK newspaper Daily Mail noted that “America First” -- which Taylor referenced in his email declining the meeting invitation -- has “been used by the election campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.” In an August 12 article, the outlet elaborated that “one of the central planks of Trump’s campaign has been his pledge to build a wall along the US-Mexico border in order to stop the flow of illegal immigrants”:

Taylor responded with a diatribe lamenting the way in which ‘anything American puts other countries first’.

‘America is going 'Down Hill' fast because we spend more time catering to others that are concerned with their own self interests’, the mayor wrote. ‘It is far past time to remember that we should be 'America First' ... there is NOTHING wrong with that. My feathers are ruffled anytime I see anything American putting other countries First. If I was receiving correspondence from Mexican interests, I would expect to see them listed First. Likewise, when I see things produced from America, I EXPECT to see America First’.

‘America First’ is a slogan that was initially adopted by the America First Committee, a pressure group founded in 1940 whose aim was to lobby the government to stay out of the Second World War.

It has since been used by the election campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

One of the central planks of Trump’s campaign has been his pledge to build a wall along the US-Mexico border in order to stop the flow of illegal immigrants.

The number of immigrants illegally crossing over the Mexican border into America has risen sharply, according to newly released figures first reported this past May. [Daily Mail, 8/12/16]

Mic.com: Taylor’s Response “Echo[ed] The Anti-Immigrant Sentiments Of Republican Nominee Donald Trump.” Mic.com reported on August 12 that Taylor’s response to the invitation, “went on to echo the anti-immigrant sentiments of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has accused Mexicans of being rapists and criminals”:

Taylor, however, wasn't done. He told Cook the invitation was yet another sign that the United States was going “downhill,” and that it was indicative of the country's habit of “catering to others.”



“It is far past time to remember that we should be ”America First,'" Taylor wrote. “There is NOTHING wrong with that.”



Taylor went on to echo the anti-immigrant sentiments of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has accused Mexicans of being rapists and criminals.



“I have better things to do in fighting the problems they export to us,” Taylor said. “The only thing I care to get from Mexico is an apology to our nation in English and actual action that stops the carnage spilling over the border into our homes.”

Cook told the Times he was disappointed with Taylor's comments:



“The more I think about it, this is probably a big sentiment in parts of Arizona where people do not like people to speak Spanish in this country,” Cook said. [Mic.com, 8/12/16]