The colors of Mexico are displayed on a flag above the American flag at a market in Pahrump. Photo by Ralph Fountain. *"What it really means is that we're discriminating against people who don't speak English.'' CREAG ROWLAND PAHRUMP BUSINESS OWNER "I think if they want to come here, they need to learn English.'' MELISSA LIDDELL IN FAVOR OF MAKING ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The Pahrump Town Board tonight is expected to decide whether English should be declared the town's official language, making it one of dozens of communities across the nation to consider or adopt laws that target illegal immigrants.

The proposed ordinance also would make flying a foreign flag by itself illegal and states that "illegal aliens or undocumented immigrants are not entitled to any benefits" from Pahrump.

Town Board member Michael Miraglia said he proposed the English Language and Patriot Reaffirmation ordinance after getting tired of encountering people who do not speak English.

"When you are trying to get something done or trying to ask for some simple thing, they tell you they don't speak English," he said.

Town Board Vice Chairman Ronald Johnson said the board believed it had to act because the federal government has failed to deal with issues surrounding illegal immigration.

"The federal government has shown an absolute inability to deal with the issues that belong to them," he said. "We have not been able to control our borders. We (Pahrump) are doing a basic sort of thing to deal with primary issues."

But Town Board Chairman Richard Billman said that nothing in Pahrump will change if the ordinance is adopted.

He could think of no town benefits or services that would be taken away from anyone. Any public aid given in the town of about 35,000 is administered by the county or state, Billman said.

As for making English the official language of Pahrump, Billman said it also would not change a thing.

"By state law we're required to have certain documents in English and Spanish, such as driver's license tests. By federal law, we're required to have certain documents in both," Billman said. "Maybe this would affect our (town) ordinances, but they've always been in English anyway. I really believe that it accomplishes nothing."

Last week, more than 70 percent of Arizona residents who voted approved making English the official state language, and in Texas, the Farmers Branch City Council on Monday unanimously approved new anti-immigration measures.

Billman said the Pahrump measure has a chance of passing too, now that "all of the enforceable items" have been removed.

Miraglia's original version would have made hiring, doing business with or loaning money to undocumented workers illegal.

"We had to tone it down a little bit because we don't have the money or the resources to handle going after employers or landlords," Miraglia said. "Pahrump is still a small town. But I'm hoping that it gets the ball rolling for other towns in Nevada."

Billman and Miraglia said they have received plenty of e-mails from people in favor of the ordinance, though it has become mostly symbolic.

At least one representative of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada plans to be at tonight's meeting to oppose the proposed ordinance.

The measure is unconstitutional and exclusionist, said Lee Rowland, staff attorney for the ACLU of Nevada.

The section of the proposal that says that any display of a foreign flag must be accompanied by a U.S. flag and that the U.S. flag must be above it or otherwise in a position of prominence is "radically inappropriate," Rowland said.

"Your favorite Italian deli can't put up the Italian flag on the roof to indicate they are an Italian deli," Rowland said. "That doesn't even bear discussion, it is so plainly unconstitutional. Flying a flag on your own property is clearly well within your freedom of expression."

Billman said he figures that section of the proposed ordinance is unenforceable anyway.

Rowland called "laughable" a section of the proposed ordinance that states that declaring English the official language of Pahrump will facilitate participation in the "economic, political, and cultural activities of this town."

"If this town has a community festival, you can't distribute fliers in Spanish to a Hispanic neighborhood," she said.

"How is that facilitating participation in cultural activities of the town? We are a nation founded by immigrants. The idea that everyone needs to conform to a certain level of proficiency in English is an exclusionary ideal that is not in keeping with our American traditions."

Creag Rowland, the 63-year-old owner of a Pahrump check cashing business and no relation to Lee Rowland, agreed.

"I think they're being stupid," he said of the board while standing outside a Pahrump grocery store. "What it really means is that we're discriminating against people who don't speak English."

Creag Rowland, who moved to Pahrump two years ago from California, said the ordinance seems to be more popular among the town's long-term residents.

Melissa Liddell, another Pahrumpian, said she was in favor of making English the official language, though she is married to a Mexican-American who speaks Spanish.

"I think if they want to come here, they need to learn English," she said.

Liddell, a mother of three, said her husband didn't teach their children Spanish because he wanted them to speak only English.

Lee Rowland said the proposed ordinance is less about immigration than it is about "linguistic and cultural stereotypes."

"Anyone who is not proficient in English or has pride in another flag is now suspect," she said.

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.