President Trump’s recent executive order declared English as the official language of the country for the first time. Meanwhile, the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary says the order does not impact the state.
Hawaiʻi is the only state that has two official languages: ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and English.
“Respect for ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is a core value of the Hawaiʻi Judiciary,” Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald said in a news release Tuesday.
After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi was quickly banned in schools in 1896, making English the mandatory language of instruction.
The University of Hawaiʻi Institute of Hawaiian Language Research and Translation found that over the last 40 years, successful language revitalization has kept the Hawaiian language alive and led to nearly 20,000 speakers.
Trump's executive order says, "Our Nation's historic governing documents... have all been written in English. It is time that English is declared as the official language of the United States."
The order also overturns a former President Bill Clinton mandate requiring federal agencies and funding recipients to provide language assistance to non-English speakers. It will now be up to the agencies to continue to offer those services.
The Hawaiʻi State Judiciary said it will continue to dedicate resources to language access services for court users, whether in person or over the phone.
"Without recognizing and accommodating these language needs, a great number of people appearing before the courts or receiving Judiciary services would not be able to meaningfully participate in the justice system," the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary said in a news release, also noting that 1 in 10 Hawaiʻi residents has limited English proficiency.
