HUD to End Multilingual Support, Citing Trump Executive Order Declaring English the Official Language

Residents of the United States who find it difficult to communicate in English will now have a harder time accessing services from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as HUD transitions to providing materials and support in English only.

The shift in policy was announced on Monday, when deputy HUD Secretary Andrew Hughes informed employees in a memo. Mr. Hughes said the move is part of agency efforts to align itself with an executive order from President Donald Trump which declared English to be the official language of the United States of America. On Tuesday, HUD Secretary Scott Turner confirmed the news with a social media post. “We are one people, united, and we will speak with one voice and one language to deliver on our mission,” he wrote.

The agency had previously offered support to speakers of 222 languages, complete with a separate line offering interpretation services to those with low proficiency in English. Despite withdrawing support for languages other than English, Mr. Hughes told staffers that “HUD will continue to ensure that all persons have meaningful access to HUD programs and services.”

How the agency will accomplish this in places such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is unclear. Spanish is an official language in Puerto Rico, and the 2019 American Community Survey indicates that over three-quarters of those with Spanish as the primary language spoken at home speak English less than “very well.” Meanwhile, the 2020 census found that in the Virgin Islands, almost 30% of those who don’t speak English at home cannot speak the language “very well.”