Trump signs order to designate English as the official language of the United States
The White House said Saturday that President Trump signed an order to designate English as the official language of the United States.
The executive order revoked the Clinton-era mandate, requiring agents and recipients of federal funds to provide language assistance to non-English spokespersons, but allows agents to retain current policies and provide documentation and services in other languages.
The order was the country’s biggest victory for the English-only movement, which has long been linked to efforts to limit bilingual education and reduce immigration to the United States. More than 30 states have designated English as their official language.
While more than three-quarters of Americans speak only English at home, there are about 42 million Spanish speakers and 3 million Chinese in the country.
“Building English as an official language promotes solidarity, establishes efficiency in government actions, and creates avenues for citizen participation,” a White House document said.
Those who are aligned with Mr. Trump’s “America First” campaign, reported Friday’s planned orders quickly received cheers.
“This is huge,” Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk wrote on social media. “In the age of mass immigration, asserting that English as the American language is a message of national unity.”
But the plan quickly sparked opposition from pro-migration groups and Democratic leaders.
“Like dozens of other executive orders and actions that have been taken, we will have to check if what he has done is actually in line with the law and the U.S. Constitution,” said Hakeem Jeffries of New York, House Minority Leader. “And to some extent not, I’m confident he will be prosecuted.”
Manchester United Our Dream is a youth-led group, he noted that the United States has never specified the official language in its history.
“We mean total disrespect: there is no Gracias,” Anabel Mendoza said. The communications director of the group. “We see exactly what Trump is doing to continue to put his goals on the backs of black and brown immigrants and communities who speak different languages, and we will not tolerate it.”
News of the planned order also brought resistance to the U.S. Puerto Rican territory, with 94% of residents speaking Spanish.
“The president’s order declared English as the only official language in the United States, reflecting the vision of American identity and conflicting with our Puerto Rican identity,” said Pablo José José Hernández Rivera, a permanent commissioner of Puerto Rico and a non-sponsor of the House of Representatives. “There would be no nation without assimilation, and the Puerto Ricans would never surrender to our identities.”
The President has long supported efforts to promote American English-only practice. When he first sought the presidency in 2015, he mocked rival Jeb Bush, who sometimes answered questions in Spanish.
“This is the country where we speak English, not Spanish,” Trump said.
