Asian American Research Journal

The term “Asian-American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific-Islander (AANHPI)” encompasses an incredibly broad range of communities, individuals, and intersecting cultural and linguistic identities. Despite this diversity, this group of many is often simplified and reduced to one. A large percentage of this group fall into the category of those with Limited English Proficiency/Non-English Language Preference, experiencing yet an additional layer of discrimination. In the landmark Supreme Court case, Lau v. Nichols (1974), the precedent was set that language status is a part of national origin, and therefore cannot be used to discriminate against a group of people. Executive Order (EO) 13166 was put in place in 2000 by the Clinton administration, establishing guidelines and resources for federal agencies to provide language services to LEP/NELP individuals. LEP/NELP individuals experience disparate access to legal, socioeconomic, and medical resources as a result of their language status in the United States, and it is an understatement that this issue has been neglected by American government and society. On March 1st, 2025, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14224 (Designating English as the Official Language of the United States) which revoked Executive Order 13166 (Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency) and falsely claimed the overturning of Lau v. Nichols. EO 13166 provided, though limited in scope and coverage, necessary support to those with LEP/NELP status for federally funded activities and programs (such as language support in participating in elections). The purpose of this legal analysis is to highlight the importance of having LEP/NELP status in the AANHPI community, and the adverse impacts it has on accessing the vote and legal resources, socioeconomic health and equity in education, and navigating a complicated and often underfunded medical system, leading to significant hurdles and potentially fatal outcomes. More specifically, the objective of this analysis is to show how Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14224 exacerbates these hurdles for AANHPI LEP/NELP individuals. Using data from various legal documents and academic research papers from several fields to show the statistical significance of the disparate impacts experienced by AANHPI LEP/NELP individuals, this legal analysis supports the argument that EO 14224 causes damage to the already limited framework of federal language resources. I argue that the revocation of EO 13166 1) Damages years of progress and countless language resources for AANHPI people with LEP, 2) Increases socioeconomic disparities for AANHPI LEP individuals, and 3) Leads to the increase in adverse mental and physical health outcomes for LEP AANHPI individuals.