Warning sign for immigrants? Official English hits different coming from Trump's White House

Trump’s recent declaration of English as the official language of the US may seem relatively benign. Most residents already speak English and most immigrants are eager to learn it.

Under most presidents, such a directive might have been largely symbolic. After all, 32 states already have English as their official language.

But Trump isn’t most presidents. He has demonized immigrants for more than a decade, making them the scapegoats for nearly every societal ill. In his first term he complained that too many of them came from “[expletive] countries.” At a campaign event last March, he decried those who speak languages “that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a very horrible thing.” In his address to Congress this week, he touted his new executive order and accused legal immigration of resulting in “beautiful towns destroyed.”

Now Trump would have us believe that this new policy will “make the United States a shared home and empower new citizens to achieve the American dream” and that his order “recognizes and celebrates the long tradition of multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it to their children.”

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There is little doubt of the benefits of learning English as rapidly as possible for newcomers. But learning another language is difficult — more so for some than others. The transition is eased with resources while learners get up to speed: English language classes for adults, important documents printed in