U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order to make English the official language of the United States
The order was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday and was confirmed by a White House official who spoke publicly without authorization. It was the first time the United States has an official language at the federal level.
The executive order revoked the Clinton-era mandate, a mission requiring agencies and recipients of federal funds to provide extensive linguistic assistance to non-English speakers.
Under the new order, agents will have the flexibility to decide how and when to provide services in other languages other than English, according to the fact sheet shared by the White House with ABC News.
The White House is defending the action, saying that while hundreds of languages are spoken throughout the United States, English is the most widely used. Furthermore, the White House insists that establishing a national language will unify the country and its citizens.
“Building English as an official language to promote unity, building efficiency in government action, and creating avenues for citizen participation,” the White House wrote in a fact sheet to ABC News.
It is not clear when Trump will sign the executive order.
