House Democrats are pushing back on the Trump administration’s initiative for the federal government to offer its resources in only English.
The push comes almost a year after President Trump’s executive order designated English the nation’s official language, effectively repealing a Clinton-era order that gave guidance on how federal agencies could provide programs and activities for non-English speakers.
Multiple federal resources for non-English speakers were discontinued or paused after Mr. Trump’s executive order, even though it did not strip agencies of services or materials in other languages. But as a result, such resources have disappeared.
Reps. Grace Meng of New York, Judy Chu of California, Juan Vargas of California and Dan Goldman of New York are introducing a bill to mandate that federal agencies offer resources to non-English speakers, mirroring the Clinton-era executive order, according to NOTUS.
The legislation would require federal agencies to ensure that “individuals with [limited English proficiency] can meaningfully access the federally conducted programs and activities,” including by translating information into commonly spoken languages, offering interpretations to non-English speakers and hiring bilingual agency staff.
“Every American deserves equal access to federal services and programs in a language they can understand,” Ms. Meng, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement. “We will continue to fight against the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants and the essential services that our communities rely on and deserve.”
The White House pushed back on Friday.
“This policy promotes unity, cultivates a shared American culture for all citizens, streamlines communications and ensures consistency in government operations,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Washington Times.
The legislation also mandates that the federal government reopen access to the website for limited English proficiency, LEP.gov.
The Department of Justice “temporarily suspended” the main website that non-English speakers can use to access multilingual materials after Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the agency to pause all public-facing materials on language guidance.
LEP.gov previously aggregated links for each federal agency’s processes for filing discrimination complaints under the Civil Rights Act. Users can still submit such complaints, but there is no single portal to do so. The bill would require the attorney general to implement a system for people to submit complaints about barriers to language access in the federal government.
Ms. Chu called the Trump administration’s actions “an attack on our immigrant communities,” while the proposed legislation would “ensure no one is denied health care, housing, or disaster assistance because English is not their first language.”
