Governor Vilsack cites President-elect in call for more acceptance of immigrants

Iowa’s democrat governor says the incoming republican president has expressed concern about how Hispanic Iowans are treated. Governor Tom Vilsack delivered his “Condition of the State” message yesterday and mentioned a conversation he had with George W. Bush.Bush told Vilsack Hispanic Iowans who attended his rallies in Iowa weren’t welcomed into the crowds. Bush noticed a “physical separation” between native Iowans and Hispanic Iowans. Vilsack called on the legislature to be “uniters, not dividers, with out work.”Vilsack’s call for “getting along” won’t alter republican plans to pass a bill that sets English as the state’s official language, a bill some immigrants consider a slap in the face. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows had this to say on the issue. He says there is a huge difference between having an official language and having people in the state from different backgrounds.House Speaker Brent Siegrist says the “English-Only” proposal should include more money for “English-as-a-Second-Language” classes. He says everybody needs to speak English, but there needs to be money to teach people how to speak the language.Siegrist isn’t interested in aiding immigrants who come to Iowa merely to work, not make a home.Siegrist says bringing former Iowans back home should be the state’s top “immigration” goal. Siegrist doesn’t want to encourage immigrants who’d settle here and send money back to their families in their home country.