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Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
Language is a fundamental component of culture, and the orange dictator in the Oval Office has once again found a way to announce a policy that attacks the culture of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people. With a stroke of his Sharpie, Donald Trump on March 1 issued an executive order declaring English the “official language” of the United States.
The Congressional Tri-Caucus, which represents Latino, Asian, and Black lawmakers on Capitol Hill, issued a statement condemning Trump’s latest xenophobic move:
President Trump’s executive order is a thinly-veiled attempt to allow federal agencies to discriminate against immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency. Under the new order, agencies would not be required to provide language access for services that these Americans have paid for with their taxes.
What happens when a senior with limited English proficiency needs help accessing their earned Social Security benefits? Or when a non-native English speaker needs help enrolling in Medicare?
Trump claimed he would fight for everyday Americans. He’s done just the opposite. This executive order is reckless and only serves to make life harder for working people.
Though it was good to see a rapid response from the Tri-Caucus, the statement does not speak directly to the situation of Puerto Rico and the 3 million Puerto Ricans on the island. Puerto Ricans are not immigrants. As inhabitants of the U.S. colony, Puerto Ricans have been legal U.S. citizens since March 2, 1917, with the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act.
Legal advocacy group LatinoJustice PRLDEF issued a statement attributed to President Lourdes M. Rosado that slammed Trump’s order as a “Direct Attack on Puerto Rican and Immigrant Communities”:
Trump’s executive order is a direct attack on Latino and immigrant communities, particularly Puerto Ricans, for whom Spanish is essential to culture, identity, and daily life. This is not about unity— it is about exclusion.
For over 50 years, LatinoJustice has led the fight to defend our community, starting with our first case advocating for bilingual education in New York City, which helped spark a national movement. We have fought to secure bilingual ballots and interpreters for Puerto Rican voters, setting a precedent for language access in elections. We will not allow this administration to roll back our hard-won rights. Solutions must center on integration and inclusion, not discrimination and exclusion.
When this executive order made headlines, the reporting in much of mainstream media like The New York Times didn’t even mention the possible impact on Puerto Rico, or the history of the language struggles between the U.S. colonizers and Puerto Ricans.
YouTuber Coqui Report has an excellent 5-minute video entitled “How the U.S. tried to force (English Only) in Puerto Rico!” detailing that history:
From the Coqui Report video’s notes:
Following the acquisition of Puerto Rico, the U.S. government ‘s first priority was to “civilize” Puerto Ricans; and to assimilate the Puerto Rican political and legal system to the American system. This began a process of Americanization, which aimed to turn Puerto Ricans away from their culture and identity and more towards the American way of life against their will in their own country. In order to achieve this goal, public education was chosen, especially through changing the language used as the medium of instruction in the schools, from Spanish to English.
The executive order’s impact on Puerto Rico was covered almost immediately by alternative media including “mitú,” which you may not be familiar with even though the Latino digital media company’s videos have garnered hundreds of millions of views.
A mitú article titled “The New Administration Makes English the Official Language—What Does That Mean for Puerto Rico?” explored the issue.
Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory where Spanish is the dominant language. However, the island has long had a complex relationship with its linguistic identity. While both Spanish and English are officially recognized languages on the island, Spanish is overwhelmingly the language of government, education, and daily life. According to NBC News, only about a quarter of Puerto Ricans are fluent in English.
[…]
The relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States has always been tied to questions of identity, and language is at the center of that debate. The Puerto Rico Status Act, debated under the Biden administration, sparked concerns over whether Spanish would remain the island’s dominant language if it became a state. Advocates like Power 4 Puerto Rico, a coalition advocating for Puerto Ricans on the island, have pushed for explicit guarantees that Spanish would remain integral to government operations.
In response to Trump’s executive order, the coalition reiterated its stance, posting on X (formerly Twitter):
“As we have said many times, any legislation around #PuertoRico’s status must make crystal clear whether a statehood scenario will continue to allow -OR NOT- Puerto Ricans to fully operate our govt, schools, courts—our way of life—in Spanish.”
Don’t confuse Puerto Ricans living on the mainland with island residents when it comes to English fluency. Pew Research reports:
Most Puerto Ricans on the island—89%—say they speak Spanish at home. But 20% of island Puerto Ricans say they are highly proficient in English—that is, they either speak only English at home or speak English very well. That compares with 83% of mainland Puerto Ricans who say they are proficient in English.
The Conversation’s Martin LaMonica addressed the impact of the executive order, though not on Puerto Rico specifically. He wrote:
Across its nearly 250-year history, the United States has never had an official language. On March 1, U.S. President Donald Trump changed that when he signed an executive order designating English as the country’s sole official language. The order marks a fundamental rupture from the American government’s long-standing approach to languages.
“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language,” Trump’s order states. “It is in America’s best interest for the federal government to designate one — and only one — official language.”
This new order also revokes a language-access provision contained in an earlier executive order from 2000 that aimed to improve access to services for people with limited English. Federal agencies now seem to have no obligation to provide vital information in other languages.
Diving into the YouTube archives, check out this humorous and disturbing piece from comedian Matt Lieb exploring the “English-Only” movement and its white nationalist/Nazi implications, founding, and funding.
The Southern Poverty Law Center references the movement’s troubling history in the video.
ProEnglish is the project of white nationalist and eugenicist John Tanton, the architect of the modern-day anti-immigrant movement. The group pushes for divisive and unnecessary measures to designate English as the official language of the United States.
ProEnglish opposes bilingual education and the translation of government documents, like voters’ ballots, into any language other than English, making life harder for immigrants and people for whom English is not a first language. ProEnglish regularly derides multiculturalism and has a history of embracing white nationalists. Tanton hoped to preserve America’s white hegemony by severely limiting – if not outright halting – immigration, especially by people of color.
Meanwhile, a Puerto Rican just happens to boast one of the highest numbers of social media followers in the world: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. Known worldwide as Bad Bunny, the musician, who I have covered here in the past, continues to perform in his native Puerto Rican Spanish. His performances and videos include clear-cut references to the history of Puerto Rico and its current status as a U.S. colony.
Irene Escudero wrote about the superstar for Spain’s news agency EFE in an article titled “Bad Bunny defends Spanish on US stage amid rising political tensions over language”:
Global music star Bad Bunny once again affirmed his commitment to the Spanish language during a performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, recorded in Washington D.C.
Speaking almost entirely in Spanish, the Puerto Rican artist made a playful but pointed reference to the White House, just blocks from where the performance took place, in a move that underscored his continued refusal to switch to English even when performing in the US.
For over 18 minutes, Bad Bunny (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) sang and spoke exclusively in Spanish before joking: “Oh, was I supposed to be speaking English?”
This statement, delivered during a moment of increased language-related political tension, comes as United States President Donald Trump, who is running again for the presidency, signed an executive order on Mar. 1 officially designating English as the national language.
The policy allows federal agencies to limit services to English only and removes obligations to assist non-English speakers, disproportionately affecting nearly 20% of the US population that identifies as Latino.
[…]
In the US, where Spanish is the second-most spoken language, Bad Bunny’s voice resonates beyond music.
For many in the diaspora, his success, and refusal to assimilate linguistically, offer a powerful affirmation of identity. As he proudly proclaims in one of his songs: “Yo soy de P ‘fokin’ R” — “I’m from Puerto Rico, f**king right.”
Let’s close this story with that Tiny Desk concert:
Please join me in the comments section below for more on the executive order, other news from Puerto Rico, and the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
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