That the United States should recognize Spanish as an official language

Currently, Spanish is the second-most commonly spoken language in the US. Of the English-speaking Hispanics in the United States, over half are bilingual [1]. Secondly, the US has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico [2]. Making Spanish an official language for the US would make it easier to integrate Spanish-speaking groups, most notably immigrants from the southern border.

A country's official language is the one generally used by its government. However, simply using English puts Spanish-speaking groups at a disadvantage. While Hispanics make up one-fifth of the US population, only 1% are elected to public office [3]. Bridging this gap requires that the government be more accessible. One of the clearest ways to do this is by recognizing Spanish as an official language.

In order to avoid controversy, the US has not selected an official language. However, the government primarily uses English [4]. By declaring both English and Spanish as official languages, the US could make sure that Spanish is used, allowing Spanish-speaking groups to be represented.

1. https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/20/us/hispanics-in-the-u-s-/index.html

2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/29/us-second-biggest-spanish-speaking-country

3. https://www.univision.com/univision-news/the-latino-struggle-to-reach-public-office

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States