Within hours of President Donald Trump being sworn in, the new administration removed the Spanish-language version of the White House’s official website.
Site — Currently https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/ – Now gives users “Error 404” message. It also included a “go home” button that directed viewers to a page that featured a video montage of Trump in his first term and on the campaign trail. The button was later updated to read “Go to Home Page”.
Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion at the sudden change and frustration at what some said was a lack of efforts by the administration to maintain contact with the Latino community, which helped propel him to the presidency.
White House X, @LaCasaBlanca’s Hispanic profile and government page on reproductive freedom were also suspended. Meanwhile, Spanish versions of other government agencies such as the Department of Labor, Justice and Agriculture remained available to users on Tuesday.
Asked about the changes, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields responded Tuesday that the administration is “committed to bringing the Spanish translation section of the website back online.”
“It’s day two. We’re in the process of developing, editing, and correcting the White House website. As part of this ongoing work, some of the archived content on the website may be disabled. We are committed to reloading this content in a short timeline,” he said without elaborating.
Trump removed the Spanish version of the page in 2017. At the time, White House officials said they would reinstate it. President Joe Biden revived the page in 2021.
The removal of the page happened with Trump. Day one wave of executive orders Highlighted by the launch of a crackdown on illegal immigration, one of his key campaign promises. Trump declared a national emergency on the US-Mexico border on Monday and announced plans to send US troops to assist immigration agents and detain asylum seekers and refugees.
According to 2023 Census Bureau estimates, about 43.4 million Americans — 13.7% of the U.S. population age 5 and older — speak Spanish at home. America has no official language.
Monica Rivera, a brand and communications strategist in New York City of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, said the shutdown sends a clear signal.
“There are 43 million Latinos who speak Spanish as their first language, and removing direct access to information from the White House draws a distinct line between who they are serving and, more dangerously, the administration’s M.A. GA indicates that we as Latinos are ‘other’ and a less important part of this country,’ Rivera said.
Anthony Hernandez, a paralegal in the nation’s capital, was initially unaware of the move and said it showed what the coming years of Trump’s second presidency would look like, with particular problems. Along come headlines when “things as trivial as this are malicious. Go unnoticed.”
“A move like shutting down the Hispanic White House page and the X profile serves no purpose other than cutting off resources for millions of Hispanic Americans and immigrants trying to enter the United States legally,” Hernandez said. “And it’s a slap in the face to the millions of Hispanic voters who supported him in this recent election.”
Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubiois Cuban American and speaks Spanish. At his swearing-in on Tuesday, he gave remarks in Spanish, thanking God, his family and Trump.
Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders and communications strategists expressed surprise at the page’s removal, given Trump’s popularity among some Latino voters.
“If the White House is seriously interested in engaging with Latinos, the second largest group in the country, they need to ensure that updates can also be distributed in Spanish, which is the language of millions of people in our community. is the preferred language,” said Frankie Miranda President. and CEO of the Spanish Federation.
He described it as a way to ensure that “everyone is part of the civic process.”
Chris Klein-Hernandez, an American historian specializing in race, gender and sexuality at Connecticut College, said that removing content from official White House websites not only limits access to Spanish-speaking Americans and immigrants, but ” Some people question which constituencies the administration prefers.”
Jeff Lee, a former deputy cabinet secretary and deputy director of foreign and international affairs for former California Gov. Jerry Brown, said the move is an opportunity to “showcase” policy changes, particularly changes related to the economy and border security. So it seems contradictory.
“I haven’t seen any other language medium that’s gotten the kibosh. So I think it’s an interesting thing — if that’s the case,” Lee said.
The AP Votecast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters, found Trump Won a big share Black and Latino voters compared to him in 2020, and especially among men under 45. Young Latinos, especially young Latino men, were also more open to Trump than in 2020. Nearly 6 in 10 went for Biden, compared to Harris.
