The Trump administration's closed the Department of Education's (DE) Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) on May 14, 2026. The OELA was tasked with ensuring that the children of immigrants and others with typically lower English proficiency learned the language to a high academic and professional standard.
OELA's closure was not unexpected, as the U.S. government laid off the vast majority of its employees last year as part of sweeping cuts to the DE's workforce; the Trump administration has long intended to dismantle the DE, citing its apparent history of indoctrinating schoolchildren.
The current U.S. government's hostility towards the DE, however, may not be the only reason behind the dismantling of OELA. The office's immigration-oriented assistance programs may have, according to some experts, contributed to its demise.
Under President Trump, the government has taken a generally hostile stance towards immigration – both legal and illegal – by increasing deportations, fortifying the southern U.S. border with Mexico, halting the procession of asylum seekers, and dramatically raising H-1B visa fees.
Ivan Crewkov, co-founder and CEO at Buddy.AI, a voice-based AI tutor designed to help children learn English, spoke to Latin Times about the justification for and the repercussions of the closure of OELA. The messaging of the closure, he speculated, seemed to be: "let's just cut everything immigration related".
"I'm not sure if it is intended as an actual repellent [to immigrants], but it definitely sounds very political", Crewkov continued.
Reducing federal overreach in education or worsening educational inequality?
When the DE notified Congress of its plan to dissolve OELA in February, it promised to redelegate OELA's programs and duties to other offices. A standalone federal office, according to the Trump Administration, was unneeded – despite it managing federal programs of assistance for over 5 million public school students with low English proficiency across the U.S.
Kirsten Baesler, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education, told Education Week that OELA's dissolution was part of a wider effort to "return education to the [individual] states".
The administration argues that federal bureaucracy in the DE has contributed to declining educational standards, which in their view can be reversed by devolving the responsibilities of branches such as OELA to individual states.
Many experts disagree, however, arguing that the devolution of English language assistance will merely increase inequality between English learners in different states.
"Some states like Texas and California have higher shares of immigrants and they pay more attention [to English teaching], plus they have more resources to support students," Crewkov noted, further warning that not all states invest equally in English as a second language.
Louisiana, for example, has an increasingly large number of students who are native Spanish speakers but, according to local support groups, the state's resources to help them learn English are scarce. In 2023, 83.2% of students in Louisiana graduated high school; for non-native English speakers, the rate was as low as 43.7%.
Others also argue that OELA's dissolution could adversely affect U.S. competitiveness. Danielle Goldman, CEO and Co-founder of U.S.-based incubator for immigration solutions Build, was candid about the economic and political risks associated with dismantling OELA.
"English acquisition programs are not just educational supports – they are economic infrastructure for the U.S. At a time when the U.S. faces workforce shortages and global competition for talent, scaling back integration-focused programs sends the wrong message," Goldman told Latin Times.
"Whether someone is pro-immigration or more restrictionist, helping people successfully integrate into American society and the workforce has historically been one of the most pragmatic and bipartisan investments we make as a country," she concluded.
Workforce-focused English training platform EnGen estimates that, for every $1 USD invested in English teaching programs for workers, a return of $6 USD is generated for local U.S. economies. Meanwhile, a 2020 Boston Foundation report found that such investments provided measurable and immediate economic benefits to local economies and communities – not just individual students.
Education Week reported that Democrats in Congress attempted to thwart OELA's dissolution and had written to Education Secretary Linda McMahon in an attempt to persuade her to reverse her decision.
"The Department's decision will undoubtedly disrupt the administration of programs designed to support English learners," the letter read. Democratic Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia further argued that the DE "was created to provide equal access to all students, and with this action, some are going to be left behind".
