Trump’s English language order upends America’s long multilingual history

WASHINGTON: Across its nearly 250-year history, the United States has never had an official language. On March 1, US President Donald Trump changed that when he signed an executive order designating English as the sole official language of the United States. The order marks a fundamental rupture from the US goverment’s long-standing approach to languages.

“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language,” Trump’s order states. “It is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language.”

This new order also revokes the modicum of language access provision contained in an earlier executive order from 2000 that aimed to improve access to services for people with limited English. Federal agencies now seem to have no obligation to provide vital information in other languages.

Despite some reactions in the New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere, it remains unclear whether Trump’s executive order will face legal or political challenges. Amid continual attacks from the Trump administration on established norms, this decree may pass with relatively little resistance, despite a deeper meaning that extends far beyond language.