President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States later today.
The order will be pro-legal immigrant, arguing that “new Americans” becoming proficient in the new national language “opens doors to greater opportunities” in this country.
The move rescinds a mandate issued by former President Bill Clinton in 2000 that required federal agencies to provide language assistance for non-English speakers.
“Agencies will have flexibility to decide how and when to offer services in languages other than English to best serve the American people and fulfill their agency mission,” a fact sheet obtained by The Hill reads.
BREAKING: Trump to sign Executive Order today making English the official language of the United States. pic.twitter.com/uDAG5wcxYL
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) February 28, 2025
President Trump has indicated that making English the official language of America is an essential way for immigrants — the legal variety — to assimilate into the country.
“This is a country where we speak English. It’s English. You have to speak English!” he said on the campaign trail in 2016. He often chided GOP opponents for speaking Spanish at campaign events.
There isn’t much in the way of recent polling on the matter, but a Rasmussen poll from 2022 showed that 78 percent of voters felt making English the national language was appropriate.
This is so much more important than people realize.
The necessary condition of being a nation is sharing things in common, such as language, culture and values.
Having English as our official language will be a great unifying influence in these times of polarization. pic.twitter.com/yGeRblc21x
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) February 28, 2025
It seems like a common-sense move that will benefit legal immigrants seeking to achieve the American dream. English proficiency is considered essential for integrating into U.S. society. It helps with community involvement, political participation, and daily communication.
Not to mention, English language proficiency, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — “determined by the applicant’s ability to read, write, speak and understand English” — is part of the naturalization process.
While most Americans support legal immigration, it is based on the contingency that those immigrants adapt to American laws and culture. Speaking, reading, and writing English will help make that process smoother.
Not So Moderate: Klobuchar Against English Being the National Language of the United States
It’s almost a certainty that Democrats will come out today and decry the president as being “xenophobic” for declaring English as the official language of the United States.
However, the English Language Empowerment Act of 1996, which attempted to make English the official language, was passed in the House with a bipartisan vote. It would later fizzle out in the Senate.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who ran for president in 2020, would backtrack for political expediency after voting for an English-language amendment in 2007.
Even the party’s top leader, Barack Obama, has voiced concerns about non-English speaking individuals.
How far has the Democrats’ Overton Window shifted on immigration?
In 2006, a man named Barack Obama wrote this: pic.twitter.com/xq8MSR4XxF
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 23, 2018
“When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations,” Obama wrote in his book, The Audacity of Hope, “I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment.”
“When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration,” he added.
Those same people will almost assuredly be screaming about Trump’s new executive order today.
