This story appeared in some editions of the Saturday Globe
EL CENIZO, Texas - Right away, the nasty letters and cuss-filled calls began pouring in to this parched border town. One after another, they reminded residents where they live, and their cumulative vitriol confused the three officials who constitute local government.
The officials say they do not understand why the rest of the country cares how they conduct city business. What matters is that the people who live in El Cenizo participate. So with little discussion and no dissension, the City Commission voted this month to hold its monthly meetings and all official functions in Spanish.
The decision made this tiny town along the Rio Grande the first to declare an official language other than English. It also put El Cenizo at the center of the debate over government's role in helping - or forcing - immigrants to learn a language other than their own.
''I understand it is the United States, but what happens if people want to know what is going on?'' said Mayor Rafael Rodriguez, elected in November along with the two city commissioners. ''I don't want to create problems with the federal government, because we have enough problems. But this is right for our community. It will give people more confidence and help them communicate if they can do it in Spanish.''
Even before this month's vote, Spanish was the language of El Cenizo, a smattering of ramshackle houses and dusty roads about 15 miles downriver from Laredo. Many of its 7,800 residents speak little or no English, among them the mayor, who concedes he crossed the border illegally 20 years ago and has since become a naturalized citizen. Children often translate for parents, and locals who are bilingual tend to prefer Spanish among themselves.
To them, the new policy makes perfect sense, as does another designating El Cenizo a ''safe haven'' for undocumented immigrants who make their way to the town.
That one sets precedent, too. Although some other cities such as New York and Los Angeles forbid their employees from turning in undocumented workers to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, only El Cenizo threatens dismissal or recall for assisting the agency.
Tomas Zuniga, an INS spokesman at the regional headquarters in Dallas, said he does not expect the new policy to interfere with US Border Patrol operations in El Cenizo, which he called part of a ''hot corridor for illegal immigration.'' The agency also has no plans to challenge the ordinance, which town officials said was intended to reassure residents that they were safe in City Hall rather than to condone illegal immigration.
'' Everything we've done is about making people feel more comfortable, more like a family,'' said Commissioner Gloria Romo. ''It's not our business to help the INS. ... And if you want people's participation, their cooperation, you have to speak in their language. You understand more in your first language even if you're bilingual.''
Added Christina Flores, who was at City Hall to help distribute sacks and boxes of free food to needy residents, ''This is the United States and people should speak English, but a lot of people don't. What I think is they're making a big deal out of nothing.''
Not everyone along the Rio Grande, however, considers the Spanish-only policy harmless. Although official documents will be printed in Spanish and English to comply with state and federal regulations - and meetings translated into English if a resident so requests - some worry about the message being sent to Mexican-American youngsters.
As a teacher at nearby Kennedy-Zapata Elementary School put it with a shrug after asking not to be identified, ''The only thing I can tell you is that the kids' attitude is: If our official language is Spanish, why do we have to learn English?''
Few expect the policy to stand without challenge, and El Cenizo's commission is bracing for a lawsuit. Officially, Texas Governor George W. Bush has noted his belief that government business should be conducted in English ''as a general principle.'' Unofficially, his administration considers it a local matter and has no plans to intervene.
To Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of the Virginia-based advocacy group English First, that hands-off policy could encourage other cities with large immigrant populations to follow El Cenizo's example. Calling the town America's ''very own Quebec,'' he added that it only encouraged a separatist attitude among non-English speakers.
''In a nation of immigrants, we have to be able to communicate with each other...,'' Boulet said. ''This is a wake-up call, first to George W. Bush, who seems to think that being against English-only will get him Hispanic votes but who doesn't mind this, and then to our own federal government, because if we're not going to insist on a common language, we can expect more like this one.''
But the people who oversee El Cenizo insist they are not out to set a trend, or to help residents avoid learning English. As Romo said, English classes for adults are held at the local community center. Many attend.
Along with plans to push economic development and bring some jobs home, Romo and Rodriguez said the town's progress depends on overcoming the same citizen apathy that plagues most anywhere in America. In the past, maybe a dozen people typically crowded into the converted house that passes for City Hall each month. At least twice that number is expected at the meeting in September.
At City Hall the other day, Ildalia de Leon was a center of the conversation.
She has lived most of her life in El Cenizo, and she prides herself on knowing everyone and everyone's business. She also speaks no English, and the commission's recent decision heartens her.
''It will make me more a part of things,'' she said.
The younger generation applauds the decision, too. But several of them said they know better than to shun English, unless they want to spend the rest of their lives in low-paying jobs in southern Texas.
''Everyone knows they still have to learn English,'' said Rene Gonzalez, a high school freshman and aspiring computer programmer who came here from Mexico when he was a small boy and mastered English in less than two years. ''At any job, the manager always speaks English. My parents don't speak it, but they made sure I did.''
