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On Saturday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that aims to make English the official language of the United States, a move that has broad implications but which may not be constitutional.
The order tries to justify the action by saying “our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English.” Notably, neither of those documents mentions the English language, nor legal power by presidents to make such a decree.
“This order designates English as the official language of the United States,” states the document signed by Trump on March 1.
In addition to that action, the order rescinds a previous executive action issued by former President Bill Clinton, which required federal agencies to accommodate people who don’t speak English by offering them interpreters or documents in their primary language. Although Trump’s order doesn’t bar such accommodations, it leaves it to federal agency heads to “make decisions as they deem necessary to fulfill their respective agencies’ mission and efficiently provide Government services to the American people.”
In other words, federal agencies are now allowed to deny these accommodations at their discretion — a policy that will undoubtedly hurt non-English-speaking immigrants attempting to gain citizenship or temporary status to reside in the U.S.
At least one portion of the executive order signed by Trump could be legally dubious. No provision within Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which deals with the powers of the presidency, allows a chief executive to make an order unilaterally declaring the country’s official language.
Ofer Raban, professor of law and Elmer Sahlstrom Senior Fellow in Trial Law at the University of Oregon School of Law, discussed Trump’s probable reasoning in an email to Truthout.
“Executive orders derive their legal authority either from a federal statute or from the President’s constitutional powers,” Raban said. “Since Congress failed to enact a statute making English the official language of the United States—despite several such legislative attempts — President Trump’s declaration appears to rely on his constitutional authority (including his authority over federal executive agencies).”
More than 67 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English in their homes, amounting to around one in five households. Census data has also indicated that around 350 languages are spoken within the U.S.
Many countries around the world do have official languages, as do dozens of U.S. states. However, several countries do not, including the United Kingdom, where the English language originated.
Critics lambasted Trump’s order, saying it was aimed at stoking division and activating his anti-immigrant base.
“This is just more anti-immigration sentiment from him to stoke division and to feed some red meat to his MAGA base,” said MSNBC’s Katie Phang.
“Trump is trying to send the message that if you’re not white, rich and speak English you don’t belong here,” said Anabel Mendoza, communications director for United We Dream. “Let me be clear: Immigrants are here to stay. No matter how hard Trump tries, he can’t erase us.”
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