ProEnglish to Trump: Repeal Executive Order 13166

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact: Phil Kent
June 8, 2017
Phone: (404) 226-3549

WASHINGTON, D.C.— “ProEnglish, the nation’s leading advocate of preserving English as our common tongue and making it the official language of the United States, is urging President Donald Trump to repeal  Executive Order 13166,” says acting Executive Director Dan Carter. “This executive order, issued during the last days of the Clinton administration, discourages assimilation of legal immigrants by requiring that the federal government provide expensive translation services in any foreign language.”

“A study by the Office of Management and Budget during the first term of the Bush administration estimated these additional translation costs amounted to over $2 billion a year for the taxpayer.  This OMB study is a dozen years old now and the costs have obviously skyrocketed. Just as disturbing, though, is that this executive order undermines American unity by promoting divisive multilingualism,” Carter notes.

“E.O. 13166 heavily impacts the area of health care,” Carter says. “Requiring extra translation services for the over 300 languages spoken in this country only increases the cost of health care on all Americans while promoting linguistic divisions. Before this executive order, family members, friends or bilingual healthcare providers provided translation services for those with limited English skills.”

“During the 2016 presidential campaign then-candidate Trump told ProEnglish that he supports the concept of English as the official language of government. In fact, Vice President Mike Pence while serving in Congress was a co-sponsor of official English-in-government legislation. It only makes sense that the president adds E.O. 13166 to his list of unwise or unconstitutional presidential fiats that should be relegated to the trash can,” Carter concludes. “After all, a requirement of U.S. citizenship is that one should be proficient in the English language.”