'The Immigrant Nation' America, First Ever Designation of 'National Language' Since Founding

The United States, known as the "nation of immigrants," is designating English as its official language for the first time in about 250 years since its founding.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 28th of last month (local time) that U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. While some state governments have laws designating English as the official language, this is the first time at the federal government level since the country's founding in 1776.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. Photo by AP Yonhap News

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White House officials stated that President Trump will revoke the existing executive order by former President Bill Clinton, which mandated federal agencies to provide multilingual services. During his tenure in 2000, President Clinton signed an executive order requiring government agencies to provide language assistance to ensure that people who do not speak English can still access government services. The Trump administration plans to revoke this order, citing the promotion of national unity, improvement of government efficiency, and expansion of citizen participation.

Related actions have already begun. Shortly after Trump's inauguration last month, the White House removed the Spanish version of its website. During the election campaign, Trump described the presence of languages "no one in our country has ever heard of" and called the communication difficulties in schools caused by children of immigrants who do not speak English "terrible." In 2015, during the presidential primaries, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was harshly criticized for using Spanish in his campaign, with the statement, "This country speaks English, not Spanish."

Although the United States has no official language, current law requires passing a test verifying English reading, writing, and speaking skills to obtain U.S. citizenship.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 78% of Americans speak only English at home, but millions also primarily use other languages. Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, several laws have been passed to guarantee equal services and opportunities for non-English speakers.

Since Trump's inauguration, the hurdles in the "nation of immigrants" have increased not only in language. Shortly after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate "birthright citizenship," which grants citizenship to those born in the United States, citing that children of illegal immigrants should not be granted citizenship.

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