The United States is often referred to as the “melting pot” of all people and cultures – a byproduct of decades of immigration. Yet the history of the United States, though riddled with immigrants, is often brushed over to make room for American pride, exacerbating the behavior tendencies of political figures to alienate foreigners.
In 2023, Trump’s anti-immigrant remarks sparked controversy when he said that “illegal aliens are poisoning the blood of our country.” Upon winning the presidential election one year later, he issued an executive order to establish English as the official language of the United States “To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations and create a pathway to civic engagement.”
Trump argued that “a nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.”
For newly immigrated families, the executive order allows federal agencies to no longer ensure access to translations of critical government documents. Inadequate access to their spoken language may prevent an individual from obtaining essential social services like health care and housing. In a joint statement from tri-caucus chairs, the Asian Pacific American Caucus called it “a thinly-veiled attempt to allow federal agencies to discriminate against immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency.”
Currently, 68 million US residents speak a language other than English at home; enforcement of the executive order may hinder the ability of these residents to properly acclimate to the American world.
For junior Leo Rosas, who moved to the United States from Mexico just a few years ago, it is the small things that make acclimatization difficult. “While English was hard to get used to, I did not find it as hard as finding friends and understanding certain things,” Rosas said. “For example, I would often struggle to pay attention during class because I could not focus well on the subject. It’s the small stuff that’s difficult, so I feel like this would just make it even more difficult to assimilate”
Though supporters of the executive order argue that it unifies the country under a distinct national identity, history tells a different story. Sudden designations of an official language have been used in the past as a deterrent for cultural dissemination.
From 1939 to 1975, Spain’s authoritarian government prohibited the use of any language other than Castilian (Spanish) as a repercussion of the Spanish Civil war. Its intention was to suppress Catalian culture and reestablish a homogenous cultural identity. Though the law was abolished shortly after the country’s transition into a democratic state in the late 1970s, the ramifications still reverberate through the Catalonia region in its everlasting struggle to rediscover its cultural identity.
Repercussions of Trump’s executive order may not be as severe as Catalonia’s, but select American residents still believe that it will undoubtedly bring forth even greater barriers to acclimatization for non-english speakers.
“If people are not ensured access to translation services, how can they go through the immigration process correctly,” senior Andres Bravo said, an immigrant from Monterrey, Mexico. “This is just another obstacle for these people who have already gone through so much.”
Even in areas where the population does not predominantly speak English, the law technically still applies. In Puerto Rico, only 5% of the population speaks English at home – an indicator of the lack of shared cultural identity between the US and Puerto Rico. To enforce the executive order downplays the significance of multilingualism in areas where multiculturalism is the norm.
Regardless of the order’s eventual repercussions, its implementation goes against the long-lasting heterogeneous nature of American culture. “After having lived here, it’s really cool to see how many people I get to meet from different cultures,” Rosas explained. “It’s different from other places because of how diverse it is here in the US. The different cultures and languages are representative of a place that’s accepting of everyone.”
Trump’s executive order follows a series of actions by his administration to carry out mass deportations. Though the extent to which these orders will affect multilingual citizens is unclear, the order’s attempts to stigmatize foreigners, masked under unifying claims, is indicative of an unprecedented era of insecurity for immigrants in the United States.
