Trump is demanding English — while defunding ESL

Last year President Trump made English the official language of the United States. Then his administration moved to zero out the federal money that teaches it.

But even fully funded, those programs reached fewer than five-percent of the 25 million adults in this country still learning English. Code Switch producer Xavier Lopez watched his own parents struggle to learn the language when he immigrated here as a kid.

Now, Xavier reports on how adult English language classes are about much more than learning the English. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one.

This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus. .

See pcm. for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy