On Saturday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the country’s “official language.”
The move is a bureaucratic—and largely symbolic—means of enacting Trump’s xenophobic agenda. Practically, it revokes an executive order signed by former President Bill Clinton in August 2000 that required federal agencies to provide services to people with limited English proficiency. Trump’s order doesn’t actually require agencies to stop providing translated documents and interpretation services; instead, the decision will now be up to agency heads.
41.7 million people in the US speak Spanish.
Symbolically, though, the order’s intention is clear: It’s part of Trump’s broader crackdown on immigrants and multiculturalism—an agenda that has also included shutting down the White House’s online presence in Spanish; requiring undocumented immigrants to register with the federal government; speeding up mass deportations by seeking to bypass court hearings; and turning deportations into online entertainment.
“To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one—and only one—official language,” the order says. “Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society.”
The US has never had an official language. Today, more than three-quarters of its inhabitants only speak English, Census data shows. But there are also more than 350 other languages spoken across the country, with Spanish being the most common; approximately 41.7 million people, or or roughly 13 percent of the population, spoke it in 2019. Other top spoken languages include Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic.
Trump, though, has long argued for monolingualism. On the campaign trail in 2015, he mocked then-rival for the Republican nomination Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish. “This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish,” Trump said at the time. More recently, during his first and only debate against Democratic rival and then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump made clear that his attack on multilingualism is an attack on immigration: “Our elections are bad,” he said. “And a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote. They can’t even speak English.”
While more than 30 states have reportedly designated English as their official language, several recognize multiple official languages: Hawaii designated both Hawaiian and English as its official languages; Alaska recognizes more than 20; and both Spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto Rico. But according to the White House, the fact that the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence were written in English is apparently enough to justify its latest move.
“Millions of Americans speak other languages, and that doesn’t make them any less American.”
Despite the fact that Trump’s executive order is essentially optional for federal agencies, advocates warn it could embolden racism and xenophobia, which has already been flourishing since Trump’s reelection. “America has never had an official language—because we don’t need one,” the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said in a post on X. “Trump’s plan to make English official is a direct attack on our diversity and history. Millions of Americans speak other languages, and that doesn’t make them any less American.”
The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus called the order “a thinly-veiled attempt to allow federal agencies to discriminate against immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency.”
“What happens when a senior with limited English proficiency needs help accessing their earned Social Security benefits? Or when a non-native English speaker needs help enrolling in Medicare?” the group asked in a statement posted on X.
Anabel Mendoza, communications director for United We Dream, an immigrant advocacy group, told the Associated Press: “Trump is trying to send the message that if you’re not white, rich and speak English you don’t belong here. Let me be clear: Immigrants are here to stay. No matter how hard Trump tries, he can’t erase us.”
According to MAGA, world, though, the executive order gets him one step closer. “This is HUGE,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, wrote on X when the news was announced Friday. “In an era of mass immigration, asserting that the English language as the American language, is a message of national UNITY.”
