Washington:
President Donald Trump is set to make English the official language of the United States in a bid to bring “cohesion” to a country characterized by immigration from all over the world, according to a White House document seen Friday.
“It is long past time English is recognized as the official language of the United States,” the document, provided by an official on condition of anonymity, said.
Trump’s executive order “affirms that a common language fosters national cohesion.”
The order will overturn a presidential mandate from the 1990s under then president Bill Clinton requiring federal agencies and agencies receiving federal funding to provide assistance to non-English speakers.
According to the new document, agencies will still have “flexibility” to decide how much help to offer in languages other than English.
Trump has issued a blizzard of executive orders in his first weeks in office, seeking to put his hard right-wing stamp on the country. However, many of his orders are being challenged in court, particularly when they seek to annul federal funding approved by Congress.
While acknowledging that more than 350 languages are spoken in the United States, the White House document says that English has always been “the language of our nation, with historic documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution written in English.”
“A national language strengthens the fabric of our society, empowering citizens old and new,” the document said.
Nearly 68 million people spoke a language other than English at home, according to government figures from 2019. While English is by far the majority language, more than 40 million people in America are estimated to speak Spanish at home.
In addition to other immigrant groups, including Chinese and Vietnamese, the complex US linguistic landscape includes scores of Native American tribal languages.
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