What Trump’s order making English the official language in the US could mean

What Trump’s order making English the official language in the US could mean
1 / 2
Signs in Spanish and English are displayed in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)
Short Url
Updated 01 March 2025
Follow

What Trump’s order making English the official language in the US could mean

What Trump’s order making English the official language in the US could mean
  • Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House
  • Of more than 350 languages spoken in the US, English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic and the most widely spoken

As President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States, activists and advocacy groups are alarmed by what that will mean for non-English speakers when it comes to immigration, voter access and other issues.

The order, which was announced Friday, will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English, according to a fact sheet. The move rescinds a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.

Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House. But some activists and organizations think the move is just another way for the president to stoke division and fear.

“This isn’t just an offensive gesture that sticks a thumb in the eye of millions of US citizens who speak other languages, but also will directly harm those who have previously relied on language assistance for vital information,” Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, an advocacy group for immigration reform, said in an email.

What does it mean to have an official language?

According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an official language is what is used by the government to conduct official, day-to-day business. Having one or more official languages can help define a nation’s character and the cultural identity of those who live in it.

Prioritizing one language may place certain people in position of power and exclude others whose language is not recognized, according to the institute.

US English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States, believes having an official language provides a common means of communication, encourages immigrants to learn English to use government services and “defines a much-needed common sense language policy.”

Currently there are more than 350 languages spoken in the United States, according to US Census Bureau data. The most widely spoken languages other than English are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic.

People in the US also speak Native North American languages such as Navajo, Yupik, Dakota, Apache, Keres and Cherokee, among others.

Potential impact on citizenship and voting

Anabel Mendoza, the communications director for United We Dream, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization, said limiting the language of federal communication will make it harder for people to become citizens if they are denied the ability to speak their native tongue throughout the process. Currently, people of certain age and residency requirements can qualify for a waiver to do the citizenship test and interview in their native language.

“Trump is trying to send the message that if you’re not white, rich and speak English you don’t belong here,” Mendoza said. “Let me be clear: Immigrants are here to stay. No matter how hard Trump tries, he can’t erase us.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced Friday that New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat, caucus chair, will deliver, on behalf of Democrats, the official Spanish-language response to Trump’s upcoming joint address to Congress.

George Carrillo, co-founder & CEO of the Hispanic Construction Council, said it seems like a step backwards in a country that has championed its diversity. He is also concerned how limiting governmental communication might affect US territories such as Puerto Rico where the predominant language is Spanish.

“This executive order, while framed as promoting unity, risks dismantling critical supports like ESL programs and multilingual resources that help immigrants adapt and contribute,” Carrillo said. “Imagine families navigating health care or legal systems without materials in a language they understand, it’s a barrier, not a bridge.”

APIAVote, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on registering Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, also expressed worry this could mean barriers for millions of voters such as naturalized citizens or elderly residents who aren’t English-proficient.

“It will make it harder for them to participate civically and vote, as well as access critical health care, economic and education resources,” the group said in a statement.

Furthermore, the organization says this action could make anyone who speaks another language a target.

“The exclusionary nature of this policy will only fuel xenophobia and discrimination at a time when anti-Asian hate and hate against other minority and immigrant groups are rising.”

States that have English as the official language

More than 30 states, from California to New Hampshire, as well as the US Virgin Islands have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to US English. Hawaii is the only state to declare two official languages, English and Hawaiian.

For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language, but those efforts failed. The most recent effort was in 2023, when Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, introduced the English Language Unity Act. Vance is now vice president.

How many countries have official languages?

It is estimated that over 170 countries have an official language, with some having more than one language.

Mexico does not have an official language. In Canada the official languages are English and French. According to Canada’s Official Languages Act of 1969, the purpose of designating two languages ensures “the equality of status” and protecting linguistic minorities “while taking into account the fact that they have different needs.”

 


Rubio says 10 Americans freed in Venezuela in deal involving El Salvador

Rubio says 10 Americans freed in Venezuela in deal involving El Salvador
Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

Rubio says 10 Americans freed in Venezuela in deal involving El Salvador

Rubio says 10 Americans freed in Venezuela in deal involving El Salvador
“Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” Rubio said
“The Trump administration continues to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela”

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Venezuela freed 10 Americans as well as political prisoners in a deal in which El Salvador released Venezuelans deported there by the United States.

“Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” Rubio said in a statement.

Rubio said the State Department and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele helped secure the agreement that also saw the release of an unspecified number of “Venezuelan political prisoners and detainees” by the leftist government in Caracas.

“The Trump administration continues to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” said Rubio, a staunch critic of Latin American leftists.

“The regime’s use of unjust detention as a tool of political repression must end,” he said.

The State Department posted on social media a picture of what it said were 10 Americans freed from Venezuelan prisons.

The men, in matching dark blue T-shirts and jeans, together held up an American flag.

Rubio said that the deal, which had previously been under discussion, came as El Salvador released the Venezuelans deported by the United States to the Central American country.

President Donald Trump had controversially deported the 200-plus migrants to El Salvador, where Bukele has boasted of jailing people for the United States at a discount in a maximum-security prison.

Bukele said on X that El Salvador has handed over all the Venezuelans detained in his country.

They had been accused of membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump has designated as a terrorist group as he pursues a sweeping crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States.

An explosion at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility kills 3 deputies

An explosion at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility kills 3 deputies
Updated 28 min 23 sec ago
Follow

An explosion at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility kills 3 deputies

An explosion at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility kills 3 deputies
  • Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the deputies were members of the arson and explosives unit
  • The explosion was reported about 7:30 a.m. at the Biscailuz Training Facility

LOS ANGELES: An explosion at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility early Friday that killed three deputies was being investigated as a possible training accident, officials said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the deputies were members of the arson and explosives unit, a team that goes through in-depth training and responds to more than 1,000 calls a year.

“They have years of training,” he said. “They are fantastic experts and, unfortunately, I lost three of them today.”

The explosion was reported about 7:30 a.m. at the Biscailuz Training Facility, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida said. It was not immediately known what caused the explosion or what the deputies were doing at the time.

Luna said it took more than four hours to render the scene safe and the deaths are being investigated by the department’s homicide detectives, who are being assisted by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. No one else was injured in the explosion, he said.

An early line of investigation was looking at a possible training accident, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter who was not authorized to discuss it and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.


In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the explosion “appears to be a horrific incident” and federal agents are at the scene to learn more.

“Please pray for the families of the sheriff’s deputies killed,” Bondi wrote.

Altogether, the three deputies had served in the department for 74 years, Luna said. He said the deaths marked the department’s worst loss of life in a single incident since 1857 and noted that he couldn’t release the deputies’ names because he had yet to speak to one of the families.

“I have met with two of three families thus far. Those were extremely challenging conversations,” Luna said, his voice breaking.

Arson investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department and members of the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad were also assisting the investigation at the training facility, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he’s been briefed and that the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation. He later posted on X that members of the State Fire Marshal were helping with the investigation at the request of the ATF.

Aerial footage from KABC-TV shows the explosion happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks. Three covered bodies could be seen near a truck with a ramp attached to a side door. A sheriff’s patrol cruiser parked nearby had its rearview mirror shattered by the blast.


British charities funded illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank

British charities funded illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank
Updated 18 July 2025
Follow

British charities funded illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank

British charities funded illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank
  • Kasner Charitable Trust sent around £5.7m over 4 years to school in Susya via UK Toremet
  • Expert: ‘The school constitutes one of the main elements of the entire settlement’s existence’

LONDON: Two charities in the UK sent millions of pounds to a school in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Kasner Charitable Trust sent around £5.7 million ($7.66 million) to Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya via another charity, UK Toremet.

The Susya settlement was established around 1983 south of the city of Hebron. It was founded next to the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya, which was declared an archaeological site by Israel three years later and had all its residents evicted.

Settlement expert Dror Etkes told The Guardian: “The school is likely the largest single source of employment in the settlement, and constitutes one of the main elements of the entire settlement’s existence.”

Baroness Warsi, the former Conservative chair, told The Guardian: “It’s appalling that any British national should be engaged in funding illegal settlements on occupied land — and it’s even more disturbing that this is being subsidised by all of us taxpayers.”

She added: “Serious action must be taken so that settlements which are illegal under international law, and at the heart of a regime of discrimination and displacement, cannot benefit from charitable donations.”

Labour MP Andy McDonald said: “The government must urgently take the steps necessary to ban the use of funds originating from the UK being used to support any aspect of the illegal occupation.”

He added: “Donations to illegal settlements should invalidate charitable status and result in individual prosecutions. If legislation is needed, we must do it.”


Man arrested in UK for displaying ‘Palestine Action’ poster

Man arrested in UK for displaying ‘Palestine Action’ poster
Updated 18 July 2025
Follow

Man arrested in UK for displaying ‘Palestine Action’ poster

Man arrested in UK for displaying ‘Palestine Action’ poster
  • Protester is latest person arrested after British authorities criminalized the pro-Palestinian direct action group under anti-terrorism laws
  • The ban came into force after activists sprayed paint on military aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in protest against the war in Gaza

LONDON: An anti-war protester was arrested in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday for showing support for a pro-Palestinian group that was recently banned in the UK.

The 64-year-old man was accused of holding a poster during a demonstration that allegedly displayed support for Palestine Action, local media reported.

The group was proscribed this month under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, after Palestine Action activists sprayed paint on two military aircraft after breaking into a Royal Air Force base on June 20. It means that membership or support for the group is now a criminal offense.

The ban came into force on July 5 and since then dozens of people have been arrested across the UK for showing support for the group.

Police Scotland said the man in Glasgow was arrested “in connection with an offense under the Terrorism Act for displaying a sign expressing support for a proscribed organization.”

Protesters chanted “let him go” as he was led away to a police van, The Herald newspaper reported. His arrest follows two others in the city in recent days involving people accused of showing support for the group.

More than 70 people were arrested in cities across the UK last weekend during protests against the banning of Palestine Action.

After MPs voted in favor of proscribing the group, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it had a “long history” of criminal damage.

“The UK’s defense enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk,” she added.

However, the ban was widely criticized by UN experts and human rights groups as draconian and for conflating protest with acts of terrorism.

Hundreds of politicians and campaigners signed a letter this week condemning the decision as “a major assault on our freedoms.”


Argentines commemorate Jewish center bombing, demand justice

Argentines commemorate Jewish center bombing, demand justice
Updated 18 July 2025
Follow

Argentines commemorate Jewish center bombing, demand justice

Argentines commemorate Jewish center bombing, demand justice
  • “Impunity persists, terrorism too” was the slogan for Friday’s 31st commemoration of the AMIA attack
  • In June, a judge authorized a trial in absentia against ten Iranian and Lebanese defendants — former ministers and diplomats

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Hundreds of Argentines gathered Friday to commemorate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed dozens, demanding justice for a crime for which there has not yet been a trial.

In the worst such attack in Argentina’s history, a car bomb on July 18, 1994, killed 85 people and injured more than 300 at the seven-story Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires.

Two years earlier, an explosion at the Israeli embassy killed 29 and wounded 200.

“Impunity persists, terrorism too” was the slogan for Friday’s 31st commemoration of the AMIA attack — the second such event attended by President Javier Milei, a staunch defender of Israel.

Survivors and victims’ relatives hope there will be movement under Catholic-born Milei, who has already visited Israel twice since taking office in December 2023, and has professed a deep interest in Judaism.

In April 2024, an Argentine court found Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for what it called a crime against humanity.

It ruled the likely motive for the attacks was the cancelation by the Argentine government under then-president Carlos Menem of three contracts with Iran for the supply of nuclear equipment and technology.

In June, a judge authorized a trial in absentia against ten Iranian and Lebanese defendants — former ministers and diplomats.

No date has been set.

Iran has always denied any involvement and has refused to hand over any suspects.

The Memoria Activa organization, which represents victims’ families, rejects a trial in absentia as it believes it “essential for the accused to participate” for the whole truth to come out.

The AMIA itself is in favor, but has cautioned that “holding a trial only for it to end... in some sort of nullity or a declaration of unconstitutionality would once again be very painful for everyone.”

Both organizations have been highly critical of the Argentine state’s handling of the case.

Last year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica, found the state responsible for not preventing, or properly investigating, the AMIA attack.

It also blamed the state for efforts to “cover up and obstruct the investigation.”

Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, investigating accusations of a cover-up against former president Cristina Kirchner, was later found murdered.

No one was ever charged over his death.

Argentina is host to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, with nearly 300,000 people living mostly in Buenos Aires.