Social:English-only movement

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Short description: Political movement in the U.S.

Sticker sold in Colorado demanding that immigrants speak English

The English-only movement, also known as the Official English movement, is a political movement that advocates for the exclusive use of the English language in official United States government communication through the establishment of English as the only official language in the United States. The United States has never had a legal policy proclaiming an official national language, although an executive order issued by president Donald Trump on March 1, 2025, declared English to be the official language of the United States.[1] Historically, in various locations throughout the United States, there have been various moves to promote or require the use of English, such as in American Indian boarding schools.[2]

Following American independence, other European languages continued to be spoken and taught in bilingual education, especially German and later also Spanish following the country's Southwest expansion.[3][4] However, following a rise in nativism, support for the English-only movement began in 1907, under U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Non-English languages increasingly began to be devalued as part of forced Anglophone assimilation and Americanization, fueled also by anti-German sentiment in the 1910s, and bilingual education had virtually been eliminated by the 1940s.[5]

The English-only movement continues today. Studies prove high percentage in approval ratings. Republican candidates[who?] have supported this movement during elections. The English-only movement has also received criticism and rejection within societies and educational systems. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stated that English-only laws are inconsistent with both the First Amendment right to communicate with or petition the government, as well as free speech and the right to equality, because they bar government employees from providing non-English language assistance and services.

Early efforts

When the US Constitution was ratified, a multitude of languages were spoken in the United States other than English, including: German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Yiddish, Arabic, and hundreds of indigenous American languages. However, the elite idealized a country united by one language, shunning non-Anglophones (as well as non-Whites and non-Protestants) from society.[6]

Disputes between citizens and immigrants over English have been waged since the 1750s, when street signs were changed in Pennsylvania to include both English and German languages to accommodate the many German immigrants.[7] The German–English debate continued until World War I when international hostility resulted in the rejection of all things German, including the prohibition of the German language and German-language materials, particularly books.[8]

In 1803, as a result of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired French-speaking populations in Louisiana. As a condition to admittance to the Union, Louisiana included in its constitution a provision, which was later repealed, that required all official documents be published in the language "in which the Constitution of the United States is written". Today, Louisiana has no law stating that English is the official language of the state.[9]

After the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), the United States acquired about 75,000 Spanish speakers in addition to several indigenous language-speaking populations.

An 1847 law authorized Anglo-French instruction in public schools in Louisiana. In 1849, the California constitution recognized Spanish language rights. French language rights were abolished after the American Civil War.[10] In 1868, the Indian Peace Commission recommended English-only schooling for the Native Americans. In 1878–79, the California constitution was rewritten to state that "[a]ll laws of the State of California, and all official writings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall be conducted, preserved, and published in no other than the English language."[10]

In the late 1880s, Wisconsin and Illinois passed English-only instruction laws for both public and parochial schools (see Bennett Law).

In 1896, under the Republic of Hawaii government, English became the primary medium of public schooling for Hawaiian children. After the Spanish–American War, English was declared "the official language of the school room" in Puerto Rico.[11] In the same way, English was declared the official language in the Philippines, after the Philippine–American War.

In 1907, US President Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."[12]

During World War I, there was a widespread campaign against the use of the German language in the US; this included removing books in the German language from libraries.[8] (A related action took place in South Australia as well with the Nomenclature Act of 1917. The legislation renamed 69 towns, suburbs, or areas that had German names.)[13]

In 1923, a bill drafted by Congressman Washington J. McCormick became the first proposed legislation regarding the United States' national language that would have made "American" the national language in order to differentiate American English from British English.[7]

Support

U.S. English is an organization that advocates for Official English, founded in the 1980s by former United States Senator S. I. Hayakawa and John Tanton.[14][15] ProEnglish is another group founded by Tanton that advocates Official English.[16]

In 2018, a Rasmussen poll found that 81% of American adults thought that English should be the official language of the United States, while 12% did not.[17] Another such poll found that, in 2021, 73% of Americans thought that English should be the official language, and 18% disagreed.[18]

Modern

In 1980, Dade County, Florida voters approved an "anti-bilingual ordinance".[19] However, this was repealed by the county commission in 1993, after "racially orientated redistricting"[20] led to a change in government.[21]

In 1981, English was declared the official language in the commonwealth of Virginia.[22]

In 1983, John Tanton and U.S. Senator S. I. Hayakawa founded a political lobbying organization, U.S. English. (Tanton was a former head of the Sierra Club's population committee and of Zero Population Growth, and founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an immigration reductionist group.) In 1986, Tanton wrote a memo containing remarks about Hispanics claimed by critics to be derogatory, which appeared in the Arizona Republic newspaper, leading to the resignations from U.S. English board member Walter Cronkite and executive director Linda Chavez; Tanton would also sever his ties to the organization as a result. That same year, 1986, Larry Pratt founded English First, while Lou Zaeske, an engineer from Bryan, Texas, established the American Ethnic Coalition. Mauro Mujica, a Chilean immigrant, was later named Chairman and CEO in 1993.

In 1994, John Tanton and other former U.S. English associates founded ProEnglish specifically to defend Arizona's English-only law. ProEnglish rejects the term "English-only movement" and asks its supporters to refer to the movement instead as "Official English".[23]

The U.S. Senate voted on two separate changes to an immigration bill in May 2006.[24][25] The amended bill recognized English as a "common and unifying language" and gave contradictory instructions to government agencies on their obligations for non-English publications.[26]

In what was essentially a replay of the 2006 actions, on June 6, 2007 the US Senate again voted on two separate amendments to a subsequent immigration reform bill that closely resembled the amendments to the 2006 Senate bill.[27][28] Ultimately, neither the 2006 nor 2007 immigration reform bill has become law.

On January 22, 2009, voters in Nashville, Tennessee rejected a proposal under a referendum election to make "Nashville the largest city in the United States to prohibit the government from using languages other than English, with exceptions allowed for issues of health and safety." The initiative failed by a vote of 57% to 43%.[29][30]

In March 2012, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was criticized by some Republican delegates from Puerto Rico when he publicly took the position that Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking territory, should be required to make English its primary language as a condition of statehood.[31]

In 2015 during a debate, then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said, "This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish."[32]

On February 6, 2019, the 116th Congress introduced a bill in House establishing English as the official language of the United States. The House of Representatives named it the English Language Unity Act of 2019. Within this bill, there is a framework for implementation. They strive to enforce English as the only language by testing it during the naturalization process.[33] This bill has yet to be passed.

In 2023 then U.S. senator and current U.S. Vice President JD Vance introduced a bill that would have established English as the official language of the United States.[34]

Criticism

The modern English-only movement has met with rejection from the Linguistic Society of America, which passed a resolution in 1986–87 opposing "'English only' measures on the grounds that they are based on misconceptions about the role of a common language in establishing political unity, and that they are inconsistent with basic American traditions of linguistic tolerance."[35]

Linguist Geoffrey Pullum, in an essay entitled "Here come the linguistic fascists", charges English First with "hatred and suspicion of aliens and immigrants" and points out that English is far from under threat in the United States, saying "making English the official language of the United States of America is about as urgently called for as making hotdogs the official food at baseball games."[36] Rachele Lawton, applying critical discourse analysis, argues that English-only's rhetoric suggests that the "real motivation is discrimination and disenfranchisement."[37]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stated that English-only laws are inconsistent with both the First Amendment right to communicate with or petition the government, as well as free speech and the right to equality, because they bar government employees from providing non-English language assistance and services.[38] On August 11, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency." The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to examine the services they provide, identify any need for services to those with limited English proficiency (LEP), and develop and implement a system to provide those services so LEP persons can have meaningful access to them.[39]

While the judicial system has noted that state English-only laws are largely symbolic and non-prohibitive, supervisors and managers often interpret them to mean English is the mandatory language of daily life.[40] In one instance, an elementary school bus driver prohibited students from speaking Spanish on their way to school after Colorado passed its legislation.[40] In 2004 in Scottsdale, a teacher claimed to be enforcing English immersion policies when she allegedly slapped students for speaking Spanish in class.[41] In 2005 in Kansas City, a student was suspended for speaking Spanish in the school hallways. The written discipline referral explaining the decision of the school to suspend the student for one and a half days, noted: "This is not the first time we have [asked the student] and others to not speak Spanish at school."[42]

One study both of laws requiring English as the language of instruction and compulsory schooling laws during the Americanization period (1910–1930) found that the policies moderately increased the literacy of some foreign-born children but had no impact on immigrants' eventual labor market outcomes or measures of social integration. The authors concluded that the "very moderate impacts" of the laws were probably because foreign languages were declining naturally, without the help of English-only laws.[43]

Current law

Map of United States Official Language Status By State
Map of US official language status by state as of 2022. Blue: English declared the official language; light-blue: English declared a co-official language; gray: no official language specified.

Template:Official languages of U.S. states and territories No law has yet passed designating English the official language of the United States federal government; however, Executive Order 14224 declares English as official and is recognized by federal agencies. All official documents in the U.S. are written in English, though some are also published in other languages.[44][45]

See also

  • Bilingual education
  • Conservatism in the United States
  • Council for the Development of French in Louisiana
  • English language learning and teaching
  • Executive Order 14224 (2025)
  • Languages in the United States
  • List of countries where English is an official language
  • Spanish in the United States
  • "Speak White"
  • English-medium education
  • English Plus

References

  1. ↑ "Designating English as the Official Language of The United States" (in en-US). 2025-03-02. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/. 
  2. ↑
    • Slovene pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Thai pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Neukirch, Jürgen; Schmidt, Alexander; Wingberg, Kay (2000), Cohomology of Number Fields, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, 323, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-66671-4 Template:EscapePersian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{| class="wikitable" width="100%"

      ! rowspan="3" colspan="2" width="14%" style="border-bottom:2px solid grey;" | Date/Time (UTC) ! Configuration ! Serial number ! Launch site ! Outcome |-

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      Parameter 1=time required!
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      Hawaiian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Dutch pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Belarusian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Catalan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}Mongolian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Javanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]☒N Not doneLatin pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]

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      |-

      |-

      Vietnamese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Piedmontese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Slovak pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]text-align: auto;Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{"./Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". (age Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".–Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".)Occitan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | VariesHejazi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Spanish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Portuguese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Irish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mayan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Nahuatl pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kyrgyz pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Ukrainian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Burmese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]checkY DoneTo do To doRussian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Greek pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Green tickYDanish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Northern Sami pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mandarin pronunciation: [{{{ipa}}}]Cantonese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Entry from English-only movement from TCI Europe, retrieved on {{{Date}}}
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      Templates using the classes class=navbox ({{navbox}}) or class=nomobile ({{sidebar}}) are not displayed in article space on the mobile web site of English Wikipedia. Mobile page views accounted for 60% to 70% of all page views from 2020 through 2025. Briefly, these templates are not included in articles because 1) they are not well designed for mobile, and 2) they significantly increase page sizes—bad for mobile downloads—in a way that is not useful for the mobile use case. You can review/watch phab:T124168 for further discussion.

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      Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "[[s:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen/|]]". A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. {{{1}}}Polish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Malagasy pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Japanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Armenian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Czech pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]∶Manx pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/full/{{{1}}}/0 Alemannic German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tagalog pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]French pronunciation: ​[{{{1}}}]Error: Invalid time.In progress In progressPalomares, M. L. D. and Pauly, D., eds. (2011). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in SeaLifeBase. April 2011 version.Turkish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Finnish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in FishBase. April 2006 version.

      |- | ... | — | — | — | — | — | —

      |-Old Norse pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Salish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Basque pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | UnreleasedNorwegian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}] (aged {{{4}}})Hungarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Quechua pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Punjabi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Afrikaans pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Romanian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hebrew pronunciation: [{{{1}}}][INVALID OR MISSING PARAMETER IN TEMPLATE English-only movement]Uto-Aztecan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tamil pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindustani pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Swedish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kazakh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
      Lao pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tibetan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Khmer pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center" class="table-na" | —{{{1}}}Welsh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Incomplete Partially doneAthabaskan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Māori pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]IPA: [{{{1}}}]Bulgarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Korean pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Icelandic pronunciation: ​[{{{1}}}]Sanskrit pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Bengali pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Indonesian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]CROSBI {{{1}}} Dolan, Susan; Wytsalucy, Reagan; Lyons, Keith (2022). "How a Navajo Scientist Is Helping to Restore Traditional Peach Horticulture". Park Science (U.S. National Park Service) 36 (1, Summer 2022). https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/how-a-navajo-scientist-is-helping-to-restore-traditional-peach-horticulture.htm. Retrieved 2022-07-07. 
    • Slovene pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Thai pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Neukirch, Jürgen; Schmidt, Alexander; Wingberg, Kay (2000), Cohomology of Number Fields, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, 323, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-66671-4 Template:EscapePersian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{| class="wikitable" width="100%"

      ! rowspan="3" colspan="2" width="14%" style="border-bottom:2px solid grey;" | Date/Time (UTC) ! Configuration ! Serial number ! Launch site ! Outcome |-

      |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Payload |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Separation orbit |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Operator |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Function |- | colspan="4" style="text-align:center;background-color:#e4dfdf;border-bottom:2px solid grey;" | Remarks |-

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      Hawaiian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Dutch pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Belarusian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Catalan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}Mongolian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Javanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]☒N Not doneLatin pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]

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      Vietnamese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Piedmontese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Slovak pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]text-align: auto;Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{"./Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". (age Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".–Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".)Occitan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | VariesHejazi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Spanish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Portuguese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Irish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mayan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Nahuatl pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kyrgyz pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Ukrainian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Burmese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]checkY DoneTo do To doRussian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Greek pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Green tickYDanish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Northern Sami pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mandarin pronunciation: [{{{ipa}}}]Cantonese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Entry from English-only movement from TCI Europe, retrieved on {{{Date}}}
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      Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "[[s:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen/|]]". A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. {{{1}}}Polish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Malagasy pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Japanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Armenian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Czech pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]∶Manx pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/full/{{{1}}}/0 Alemannic German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tagalog pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]French pronunciation: ​[{{{1}}}]Error: Invalid time.In progress In progressPalomares, M. L. D. and Pauly, D., eds. (2011). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in SeaLifeBase. April 2011 version.Turkish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Finnish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in FishBase. April 2006 version.

      |- | ... | — | — | — | — | — | —

      |-Old Norse pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Salish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Basque pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | UnreleasedNorwegian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}] (aged {{{4}}})Hungarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Quechua pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Punjabi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Afrikaans pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Romanian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hebrew pronunciation: [{{{1}}}][INVALID OR MISSING PARAMETER IN TEMPLATE English-only movement]Uto-Aztecan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tamil pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindustani pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Swedish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kazakh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
      Lao pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tibetan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Khmer pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center" class="table-na" | —{{{1}}}Welsh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Incomplete Partially doneAthabaskan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Māori pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]IPA: [{{{1}}}]Bulgarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Korean pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Icelandic pronunciation: ​[{{{1}}}]Sanskrit pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Bengali pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Indonesian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]CROSBI {{{1}}} Wytsalucy, Reagan C. (2019). Explorations and Collaborations on Two Under-Recognized Native American Food Crops: Southwest Peach (Prunus Persica) and Navajo Spinach (Cleome Serrulata) (master). Utah State University. pp. xii+183. doi:10.26076/593D-61C2. S2CID 202844899.
  3. ↑ Crawford, James (1987-04-01). "Bilingual Education Traces Its U.S. Roots to the Colonial Era" (in en). Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/bilingual-education-traces-its-u-s-roots-to-the-colonial-era/1987/04. 
  4. ↑ https://kingcenter.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj16611/files/media/file/591wp_0_0.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  5. ↑ Crawford, James (1987-04-01). "Bilingual Education Traces Its U.S. Roots to the Colonial Era" (in en). Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/bilingual-education-traces-its-u-s-roots-to-the-colonial-era/1987/04. 
  6. ↑ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED426599.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rich, Alex; Vance, Noelle (March 1, 2016). "English As A National Language: An Overview". Points of View: English As National Language. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Martin, James J (1988), An American Adventure in Bookburning in the Style of 1918, Ralph Myles Publisher 
  9. ↑ "Current Document for Louisiana, Constitution-1812". https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/constitution.cgi?funct=1&state=LA&document=LA003&page=0012&zoom=120. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Codes: Codes Tree - * California Constitution - CONS". https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=CONS. 
  11. ↑ Crawford, James (2000). At War With Diversity: U.S. Language Policy in an Age of Anxiety. Multilingual Matters. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-85359-505-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=vuH5zFBsQxEC. 
  12. ↑ Roosevelt, Theodore, Works (Memorial ed., 1926), vol. XXIV, p. 554 (New York: Charles Scribner's 11 Sons).
  13. ↑ "Family History South Australia. Hotels Guide" (in en). http://www.hotelsamsterdam24.net/it/familyhistorysainfo/. 
  14. ↑ Schudel, Matt (July 21, 2019). "John Tanton, architect of anti-immigration and English-only efforts, dies at 85". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-tanton-architect-of-anti-immigration-and-english-only-efforts-dies-at-85/2019/07/21/2301f728-aa3f-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html. 
  15. ↑ Portes, Alejandro (Spring 2002). "English-only triumphs, but the costs are high". Contexts 1: 10–15. doi:10.1525/ctx.2002.1.1.10. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2002.1.1.10. Retrieved 3 February 2023. 
  16. ↑ Piggott, Stephen (January 26, 2018). "Anti-immigrant hate group ProEnglish visits White House". Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/01/26/anti-immigrant-hate-group-proenglish-visits-white-house. 
  17. ↑ "Americans Strongly Favor English as Official Language". https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/april_2018/americans_strongly_favor_english_as_official_language. 
  18. ↑ "Americans Still Support English as Official Language". https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2021/americans_still_support_english_as_official_language. 
  19. ↑ "The Language Battle: Speaking the Truth", Inter-American Law Review (University of Miami Law School): p. 2, February 9, 2007, http://www.law.miami.edu/studentorg/interamerican_law_review/pdf/ialr_symposium_01302007.pdf, retrieved February 17, 2008 
  20. ↑ "'English only' law may be repealed in Florida county". Observer-Reporter. May 3, 1993. p. A8. "The racially orientated redistricting of the Dade County commission may accomplish what a long campaign by Hispanics has failed to do – repeal the local "English only" law." 
  21. ↑ "The power of language". St. Petersburg Times: p. 1D. May 23, 1993. 
  22. ↑ Official English Laws: Code of Virginia, Chapter 829, languagepolicy.net, accessed February 22, 2015/
  23. ↑ Official English Is Not "English Only", proenglish.org, http://www.proenglish.org/notenglishonly.html, retrieved February 17, 2008 
  24. ↑ Roll call vote on the Amendment (Inhofe Amdt. No. 4064), US Senate, May 18, 2006, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00131, retrieved April 9, 2009 
  25. ↑ Roll call vote on the Amendment (Salazar Amdt. No. 4073 As Modified), US Senate, May 18, 2006, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00132, retrieved April 9, 2009 
  26. ↑ "Snopes on the English-only amendments". September 14, 2006. http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/englishvote.asp. 
  27. ↑ Roll call vote on the Amendment (Inhofe Amdt. No. 1151), US Senate, June 6, 2007, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00198, retrieved April 9, 2009 
  28. ↑ Roll call vote on the Amendment (Salazar Amdt. No. 1384), US Senate, June 6, 2007, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00197, retrieved April 9, 2009 
  29. ↑ Harris, Pat (January 23, 2009). "City of Nashville rejects English-only law" (in en-US). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/city-of-nashville-rejects-english-only-law-idUSTRE50M114/. 
  30. ↑ "Nashville Voters Reject English-Only Rule" (in en-US). January 22, 2009. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nashville-voters-reject-english-only-rule/. 
  31. ↑ Seelye, Katherine Q.; Parker, Jr., Ashley (March 15, 2012). "For Santorum, Trying to Tamp Down a Firestorm Over Puerto Rico Remarks". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/us/politics/santorum-addresses-firestorm-over-puerto-rico-remarks.html. 
  32. ↑ Goldmacher, Shane (September 23, 2016). "Trump's English-only campaign". https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trumps-english-only-campaign-228559. 
  33. ↑ King, Steve (2019-03-22). "Text - H.R.997 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): English Language Unity Act of 2019". https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/997/text. 
  34. ↑ Sabrina Eaton, cleveland com (2023-03-30). "U.S. Sen. JD Vance wants to declare English the U.S. official language" (in en). https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/03/us-sen-jd-vance-wants-to-declare-english-the-us-official-language.html. 
  35. ↑ Nunberg, Geoff (December 28, 1986), Resolution: English Only, Linguistic Society of America, http://www.lsadc.org/info/lsa-res-english.cfm, retrieved February 17, 2008 
  36. ↑ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (1987), "Here come the linguistic fascists.", Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 5 (4): 603–9, doi:10.1007/BF00138990.  Reprinted in Geoffrey K. Pullum. (1991), The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 111–19, ISBN 0-226-68534-9 
  37. ↑ Lawton, Rachele (2013), "Speak English or Go Home: The Anti-Immigrant Discourse of the American 'English Only' Movement", Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines 7 (1): 100–122, http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/cadaad/volume-7-1/ 
  38. ↑ The Rights of Immigrants -ACLU Position Paper (9/8/2000). Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  39. ↑ Executive Order 13166. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Gibson, Kari. English only court cases involving the U.S workplace. University of Hawai'i. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  41. ↑ Anne Ryman and Ofelia Madrid, Hispanics upset by teacher's discipline, The Arizona Republic, January 17, 2004.
  42. ↑ T.R. Reid, Spanish At School Translates to Suspension, The Washington Post, December 9, 2005.
  43. ↑ Lleras-Muney, Adriana; Shertzer, Allison (2015). "Did the Americanization Movement Succeed? An Evaluation of the Effect of English-Only and Compulsory Schooling Laws on Immigrants †". American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 7 (3): 258–290. doi:10.1257/pol.20120219. 
  44. ↑ Example: "Spanish-language version of the FDA website". December 17, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/fda-en-espanol. 
  45. ↑ "Designating English as the Official Language of the United States". March 2, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/. 

Further reading

  • Lynch, William. "A Nation Established by Immigrants Sanctions Employers for Requiring English to be Spoken at Work: English-Only Work Rules and National Origin Discrimination," 16 Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review 65 (2006).
  • Olson, Wendy. "The Shame of Spanish: Cultural Bias in English First Legislation," Chicano-Latino Law Review 11 (1991).



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