More Hispanics in U.S. speaking English

MIAMI — More Hispanics in the U.S. speak English proficiently than ever before and fewer are speaking Spanish at home, according to a report released Tuesday.

The percentage of Hispanics who speak English "very well" reached 68% in 2013, up from a low of 59% in 2000. At the same time, 73% of Hispanics report that they speak Spanish at home, down from a high of 78% in 2000, according to the report from the Pew Research Center.

Part of the reason for the shift is the rise in U.S.-born Hispanics, who now outnumber foreign-born Hispanics 35 million to 19 million and are more likely to be raised speaking English at school and at home.

"Immigration from Latin America, primarily Mexico, has slowed, leading to fewer Spanish-speaking new immigrant arrivals and a more settled U.S. Hispanic immigrant population," the authors found.

The rise in English proficiency comes as several states consider adopting English as their official language and some in Congress continue pushing to make English the national language. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, filed the English Language Unity Act in February, which he said would represent the "first step" toward encouraging greater assimilation by immigrants.

The ability of Hispanics, and other immigrant groups, to speak English will also play a role in the 2016 election, as immigration remains a highly contentious issue for both political parties.

Mauro Mujica, chairman and CEO of U.S. English, a group that supports making English the official language of the U.S., said he doubts whether Hispanics are picking up the language as quickly as the report states.

"I would be delighted if that's the way it is, but it's not what I see," said Mujica, who immigrated from Chile 50 years ago. "The numbers may be true in Utah or some other places, but it's not true in Florida, in California, in New Mexico, in Texas."

Even if more Hispanics were learning English, as the report found, Mujica said it still doesn't change the fact that the United States should adopt English as a national language. With more than 300 languages spoken in the country, he said it's imperative that Americans and their government are on the same page and speaking the same language.

"We don't want to be in a place in the future translating everything for everyone in 325 languages," he said. "We have to draw a line at some point."

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said he sees no need for drawing such a line, arguing that the numbers in the report prove that Hispanics are "becoming Americans" on their own. He said the group is assimilating just as every other wave of immigrants has done in the country's history.

"The last thing we need are big government solutions that make English the official language," he said. "That doesn't solve any problem. This data proves that Hispanics are integrating into the U.S. and are thriving."

Other findings from the report:

• Only 34% of foreign-born Hispanics report proficiency in English, a number that has remained stable since 1980.
• Of U.S.-born Hispanics, 89% report speaking English "very well," an all-time high for that segment and up from 72% in 1980.
• Of the 3.2 million Hispanics who do not speak any English, 21% are 65 and older.

The report is based on Pew's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from 1980 to 2013.