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The Autonomous chapter of the Salt Lake City Brown Berets is denouncing a West Valley City program that encourages all residents to learn English, calling it a xenophobic measure.
The group is urging people to write letters to West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder and Councilman Steve Buhler condemning the initiative.
"We understand certain people bending to the wishes of Minutemen," member Daniel Argueta said. "This [initiative] is more to appease the anti-immigrant community."
Buhler said he wrote the initiative before approaching the Utah Minutemen, a group that pushes for stricter enforcement of immigration laws, and denies that there is any discriminatory intent. He said all other feedback he's gotten about the West Valley City English Initiative has been favorable.
Winder also said West Valley City is not xenophobic, pointing to its Cultural Celebration Center and large ethnic minority community.
"I encourage people to learn multiple languages but please make sure one of them is English," Winder said.
A dozen people gathered at Argueta's home Friday night to discuss the initiative and write letters to Buhler and Winder outlining their objections.
Their discussion was carried on www.brownberet radio, which Argueta operates.
The attendees agreed with the desirability of learning English but had objections to the initiative itself.
"When they're getting people like the Minutemen involved, how credible can they be?" Carmen Chavez asked.
Juan Freire, an education doctoral student at the University of Utah, said immigrants already want to learn English. He said the initiative could be a one-way street that pressures people to use only English.
"People have freedom of speech," he said, including the right to speak any language they want.
Buhler and Winder announced the voluntary program Tuesday at a news conference. Utah Minuteman Project Chairman Eli Cawley and state Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City, both spoke in favor of the program.
The initiative urges all residents to learn English and businesses and housing providers to use English in signs, advertisements, promotions and menus. It also recognizes the value of learning multiple languages, including ancestral tongues.
In addition, it invites non-English speakers to visit englishwvc.org for a list of classes.
Argueta said most of the classes meet during the day, when the majority of people are working. He also said many businesses are successful by catering to certain ethnic markets.
"They talk about English being the language that everyone needs to prosper, but our people prosper if allowed to," Argueta said.
The Salt Lake Brown Berets describes itself as a political organization that struggles to empower its community through education, culture and self-determination. It is not affiliated with the national Brown Berets organization.
"In a city where over 45 percent of the population are ethnic minorities, the languages and cultures of the people living in West Valley City needs to be respected," a posting on the Salt Lake City group's Facebook page says.