Dolores Huerta told to speak 'English only' by Bernie Sanders supporters at Nevada caucus
Civil rights activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta says backers of Bernie Sanders told her to speak "English only" at a caucus in Nevada on Saturday.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Huerta said many of the caucus participants at the Harrah's hotel and casino in Las Vegas only spoke Spanish, and she said she would translate important caucus information for them. Sanders supporters then yelled "No, no, no" and "English only," she said, and in the end no one translated the information into Spanish. "To deprive these voters at this crucial time of having a translation of what was going on — this is something they need to know what's taking place," she said. "The caucus is kind of a complicated procedure. So the Bernie supporters would rather them not have any sort of translation rather than have someone like myself, who just happened to be a Hillary [Clinton] supporter, do the translation."
Huerta said had she translated something wrong, there were Spanish-speaking backers of Sanders in the room, and they could have corrected her. Actress America Ferrera first tweeted the news Saturday afternoon, and later Huerta went on her Twitter page to confirm it, adding: "We fought too long and hard to be silenced." In a tweet directly to Sanders, Huerta wrote: "Shame on your supporters for depriving Spanish speaking caucus goers of info they need for full participation." Sanders has yet to comment on the incident.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
- 
Political cartoons for November 1Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include insurance premiums, early voting in NYC, and more
 - 
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
 - 
Meet Ireland’s new socialist presidentIn the Spotlight Landslide victory of former barrister and ‘outsider’ Catherine Connolly could ‘mark a turning point’ in anti-establishment politics
 
- 
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
 - 
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
 - 
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
 - 
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
 - 
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
 - 
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
 - 
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
 - 
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
 
