For the First Time Ever, the United States Has an Official Language

Article by Ravin Bhatia (Editor-in-Chief)

On March 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. 

This order marks the first time the United States has had an official language. Despite the fact that a vast amount of Americans do speak English, many more speak in over 350 languages. President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance are notorious for their stance against immigrants. According to NBC News, at the March 2024 Political Action Conference, Trump stated, “We have languages coming into our country. We do not have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language ... These are languages — it’s the craziest thing — they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a very horrible thing”. 

This bill is getting rid of a Clinton-administration era mandate that required federal agencies and any entities receiving federal funding to have their services be multilingual for increased accessibility. This order is a large milestone for advocates against bilingual education and other similar measures, who believe it undermines the unity of the country.

This order contains numerous ramifications. Firstly, it will permit federal agencies to decide whether or not to offer its information and services in other languages. It will also exacerbate individuals’ struggle with obtaining U.S. citizenship. This is because depending on your age and residency requirement, you can become a U.S. citizen and conduct the test in your native language. Overall, activists and experts fear the order could lead to the dismantling of important programs like ESL (English as a Second Language) and other multilingual programs.