More than two dozen Asian American and civil rights organizations have united to oppose a Georgia bill that would eliminate the ability for residents to take the written portion of the driver’s license test in a language other than English.
Limited-English-speaking Asian Americans stand to be hurt the most by Senate Bill 67, said leaders from such groups as the Asian American Resource Center, Korean American Coalition, the Japan-America Society of Georgia and the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta. Residents are already required to pass the road test in English, but the written test is currently offered in 13 languages, seven of which are in Asian languages. Two of the top three languages requested are Korean and Japanese, according to bill opponents who have called the proposed law discriminatory and anti-immigrant.
But the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Jack Murphy, says this is a public safety issue, arguing that drivers need a basic command of English so they can read road warnings and communicate with police in an emergency.
Notably, the bill only applies to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, but not to those with non-immigrant visas, such as students or people here on business. That led Helen Kim of Atlanta’s Korean American Coalition to comment, “What we don’t understand is why the senator thinks an Asian limited-English-proficient foreign executive who is temporarily in Georgia is better fit to drive on our roads than an Asian limited-English-proficient citizen that commits to being an American.”
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue hasn’t said whether he would sign the bill.
