‘Unconscionable’: Hispanic lawmakers lambaste DPS for English-only Uvalde shooting updates

Hispanic members of Congress are demanding that the Texas Department of Public Safety also provide information pertaining to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Spanish. In a letter sent Friday to director Steven McCraw, House Democrats, including San Antonio Rep. Joaquin Castro, lambasted the agency for issuing most information and news briefings following the shooting at Robb Elementary School only in English. Uvalde’s population is 81 percent Hispanic, with over half of the people speaking a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census.

“It is unconscionable that public safety officials are neglecting to provide critical information in Spanish to a predominately Spanish-speaking community,” lawmakers said in the letter. Other lawmakers who signed the letter include Raúl M. Grijalva, of Tucson, Arizona, Norma Torres, of Ontario, California, Jesús “Chuy” García, of Chicago, and Veronica Escobar, of El Paso, Texas. Tony Gonzales, who represents Uvalde, did not sign the letter. “The people of Uvalde have a right to know all the information about the horrific shooting that took place at Robb Elementary, and those whose first language is Spanish cannot continue to be overlooked,” Torres said in a Tweet on Monday. At a news conference on May 26 following the massacre in Uvalde, reporters can be heard asking DPS officials for updates in Spanish. Several reporters stationed in Uvalde at the time said on Twitter that authorities had promised updates in Spanish. DPS did provide some information regarding a centralized resource center for affected families in both English and Spanish, according to a May 27 Facebook post.