Arizona's Supreme Court ruled that a city council candidate with limited English skills could be kept off the ballot in a predominately Spanish-speaking town on the Mexico border, and her lawyers said they lacked resources to appeal. A Yuma County Superior Court judge touched off a furor last week when he disqualified Alejandrina Cabrera, 35, from running for city council in the town of San Luis over what he called a "large gap" between her English proficiency and that required to serve as a public official.

In a brief two-page ruling, the Arizona Supreme Court did not give a reason why it sided with the lower court judge, but said a written decision would follow "in due course."

"We're all burned out and disappointed. I'm really surprised. I figured they'd throw this thing out," John Minore, an attorney for Cabrera, told Reuters in an interview.

"I'll protect the constitution against anyone. But this was government action against an individual," he said.

The controversy over the upcoming election has swept San Luis, a sleepy farming town hugging the Arizona-Mexico border, into the incendiary national debate over just how important the English language is to American national identity.

Proponents of enforcing English as the sole language of state government argue the country needs a common tongue to promote national unity, citing a long tradition of linguistic assimilation by generations of new Americans.

Immigrant rights activists say such language-based restrictions are hostile to immigrants, potentially driving a wedge between Latino communities and the rest of American society.

San Luis, a town of roughly 25,000 people about 200 miles southwest of Phoenix, lies just over a steel border fence from the much larger San Luis Rio Colorado, in Mexico's northern Sonora state, with a population of roughly 200,000.

The two municipalities are considered by many residents as one and the same community.

Asked if they intended to file another appeal, Minore said such a move appeared unlikely because of financial hurdles.

"We'd love to but we can't fund it. We're just small little rural law firms. We can't afford to go forward," Minore said. "We have mortgages to pay and families to feed. We can't donate any more time."

Cabrera, a U.S. citizen born in Yuma, Arizona, declined to comment immediately after the ruling, but an attorney for the candidate said she would speak to reporters on Wednesday.

(Fox news)