Iowa Rep. Steve King tweeted praise Thursday for the owner of Leon’s Frozen Custard in Milwaukee, Wis., who only allows English to be spoken between customers and employees.
“Thank you & stand your ground! You are promoting assimilation,” the immigration hawk wrote to owner Rob Schneider on Thursday afternoon.
To Ron Schneider of Leon’s Frozen Custard, Milwaukee, Thank you & stand your ground! You are promoting assimilation. https://t.co/gBUl1wXny0
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) May 19, 2016
The 70-year-old restaurant has employed the English-only practice for nearly a decade despite being located in an increasingly Hispanic neighborhood of Milwaukee. Schneider said the policy is not meant to offend Latinos or anyone for that matter.
“Let me tell you something,” he told WISN. “My wife is Hispanic. My children are Hispanic. Anyone that wants to call me racist on that basis, maybe we should settle it the old-fashioned American way in the alley.”
Instead, Schneider explained, adhering only to English is meant to ensure employees are not slowed down when taking orders by having to accommodate a variety of languages.
“We can’t be the United Nations,” Schneider told a local news station. “They got translators. We don’t.”
The owner won’t fire employees who cater to customers on occasion, but said he would talk to them about why he has implemented the policy and why everyone should adhere to it.
