司法部新指引要求联邦机构力求只用英语办公：逾2700万英语能力有限者或受影响，意见征集至2027年1月11日
美国司法部11月12日在《联邦公报》刊登通知，宣布发出由司法部长 Todd Blanche 签署的《实施英语为官方语言指引》备忘录，要求联邦机构在办公、与公众沟通、制定表格与出版物、执行项目与提供服务时力求只用英语；公众可在2027年1月11日前经联邦电子规章门户提交意见，案卷号为 OLP188。
指引列明的只用英语范围包括官方信函、规章、公开公告、表格与申请、网站、教育材料、内部沟通，乃至超级智能工具。指引同时说，多语言协助只应保留在法律要求、或完成机构任务所必需的范围内，国家安全、医疗与移民执法被列为可能有必要的例子；确有必要时，应选择负担最轻、成本最低的方式，包括使用超级智能与机器翻译程序。指引还写明，它不改变、也不取代任何法律对机构设定的义务。
这份指引落实的是特朗普2025年3月签署的第14224号行政令。该令把英语定为美国的官方语言，并撤销了克林顿在2000年签署的第13166号行政令，后者要求联邦机构改善英语能力有限者获取政府服务的条件。按公开统计口径，美国英语听说读写能力有限的人口超过2700万。
多个部门已经先行动手。住房与城市发展部今年8月移除了其服务中的非英语选项，国土安全部、教育部与财政部已经开始清理各自网站上的外语材料，总务管理局本周关闭了自2003年起运营的 USA.gov 西班牙语版，访客被转到英文站点。指引还敦促各机构效仿国土安全部，移除网站上以往以英语以外语言提供的材料，并逐一审查现有多语言项目、不符合新标准的予以取消。
移民政策研究所政策分析师 Jacob Hofstetter 预计，会有更多机构撤下多语言内容、或降低语言服务的水平。民权律师、前司法部民权官员 Michael Mulé 则提醒，限制翻译可能妨碍政府本身的运作，例如让联邦调查局的线索热线难以接到不会英语者的举报，也让纳税人更难弄清如何正确报税。
目前没有一部法律要求每一个联邦机构都以多语言提供服务，但部分项目自带语言协助要求；接受联邦资助的州政府与其他机构，仍受民权保护规定的约束，可能须提供语言协助。
（来源：美国司法部）
DOJ Guidance Tells Federal Agencies to Strive to Operate Solely in English; More Than 27 Million People With Limited English Proficiency Could Be Affected, Comments Due January 11, 2027
The U.S. Department of Justice on November 12 published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a memorandum signed by Attorney General Todd Blanche, titled Guidance on Implementing English as the Official Language. The guidance tells federal agencies to strive to operate solely in English when they conduct business, communicate with the public, develop forms and publications, administer programs and provide services. Public comments may be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal on or before January 11, 2027, under Docket No. OLP188.
The areas the guidance lists for English-only operation include official correspondence, regulations, public announcements, forms and applications, websites, educational resources, internal communications and even superintelligence tools. It says multilingual assistance should be provided only where it is required by law or necessary to accomplish an agency's mission, citing national security, health care and immigration enforcement as examples where it may be necessary. Where assistance is necessary, agencies should choose the least burdensome and most cost-effective method, including superintelligence and machine translation programs. The guidance also states that it does not alter or supersede any legal obligation imposed on an agency.
The guidance implements Executive Order 14224, signed by President Trump in March 2025, which designated English as the official language of the United States and revoked Executive Order 13166, signed by President Clinton in 2000, which had required federal agencies to improve access to their services for people with limited English proficiency. By publicly cited estimates, more than 27 million people in the United States have a limited ability to speak, read or write English.
Several departments have already moved. The Department of Housing and Urban Development removed non-English language options from its services in August, the departments of Homeland Security, Education and the Treasury have begun removing foreign-language materials from their websites, and the General Services Administration this week shut down the Spanish-language version of USA.gov, which had operated since 2003, redirecting visitors to the English site. The guidance also urges agencies to follow the Department of Homeland Security's lead in removing website materials previously provided in languages other than English, and to review existing multilingual programs and eliminate those that do not meet the new criteria.
Jacob Hofstetter, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said he expected more agencies to take down multilingual content or reduce the level of language access they provide. Michael Mulé, a civil rights lawyer and former Justice Department civil rights official, warned that limiting translations could undermine the government's own operations, for example by making the FBI tip line harder for a non-English speaker to use, or by making it harder for taxpayers to understand how to file their taxes correctly.
No single law requires every federal agency to provide services in multiple languages, though certain programs carry their own language-access requirements. States and other entities that receive federal funding remain subject to civil rights protections that can require language assistance.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼全景。APK 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Panorama of the Robert F. Kennedy Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington. Photo by APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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