A new executive order that would make English the official language of the United States is to be signed by President Trump, according to White House officials. Although it may appear surprising, during its nearly 250 years of history, English has not been the U.S. official language.
Officials stated that the executive order would nullify a federal directive established by former President Bill Clinton, which mandated that agencies and other recipients of federal funds offer language assistance to individuals who do not speak English, as it was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
According to a White House summary of the order seen by The Wall Street Journal, agencies will continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English. The summary explained that declaring English as the national language is intended to foster unity, enhance government efficiency, and open pathways for civic participation.
English is not the only language spoken in the U.S. There are nearly 68 million out of the 340 million residents who speak a language other than English. That number represents 20% of the total of the American population.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 350 languages are used to communicate by people in the U.S.
Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic are among the most widely spoken languages. Despite English being the most spoken language in the country, it is not the only language responsible for the origins in the nation’s founding.
Native North American languages are also currently spoken in the U.S., such as Navajo, Yupik, Dakota, Apache, Keres, and Cherokee, among others, as noted by USA.gov.
“We have languages coming into our country. We don’t have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language,” President Trump said, “These are languages—it’s the craziest thing—they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a very horrible thing.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and the Republican Party spent millions of dollars to connect with non-English speaking voters, especially the Spanish speaking ones.
Once in office, the Trump administration dismantled the Spanish version of the White House website and deleted all Spanish social media accounts for the White House.
The measures brought by the new executive order are a threat to the multicultural and multilinguistic diversity in the country. For the most part, it will strike the native languages, which should be getting measures of reintegration and protection instead.
