The federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 finds millions of Spanish speakers excluded from obtaining official information and updates about the current situation for the first time in years after President Donald Trump’s administration disabled the White House’s Spanish-language website in January.
In Arizona alone, an estimated 1.36 million residents are Spanish speakers, representing 20% of the population, which makes Arizona the fourth state with the largest Spanish-speaking population in the country just after California, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
On Jan. 22, just hours after his inauguration, President Trump ordered the removal of the Spanish-language White House website. What then seemed like a symbolic gesture has now become a concrete obstacle for the approximately 43 million Americans who speak Spanish at home.
“If the White House is truly interested in connecting with Latinos, the second-largest group in this country, then it needs to ensure that updates are also distributed in Spanish, a language preferred by millions of people in our community,” Frankie Miranda, president of the Hispanic Federation, said in a statement about the website’s closure.
Since January, the website whitehouse.gov/es has displayed a “404 Error” message. Although the deputy press secretary promised at the time that the administration was “committed to reactivating” the Spanish-language site, nine months later, the situation remains unchanged.
Since January, the White House website for official information in Spanish has displayed a “404 Error” message.
An information void in times of crisis: What is a government shutdown?
The impact of this dual situation — government shutdown and lack of official information in Spanish — is felt particularly strongly in Arizona, where Spanish is the second most spoken language after English, and it is estimated that more than 30% of the population is of Hispanic origin.
Kris Klein Hernández, a historian specializing in ethnic studies at Connecticut College, sees a troubling pattern in this situation.
“The elimination of the Spanish-language portal was neither an accident nor an oversight. In the context of the shutdown, it reveals itself as a deliberate policy that limits access to public information for specific communities,” Hernández said.
Each fiscal year, Congress allocates the necessary funds for federal agencies to operate.
However, when lawmakers fail to pass a budget or temporary funding measure, certain agencies must partially or completely suspend their operations, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Some services and positions are considered essential and therefore remain active even during a shutdown.
What does the government shutdown mean for Arizonans?
More than 34,000 federal employees worked in Arizona last year, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
The White House Office of Management and Budget warned that employees whose duties “do not align with presidential priorities” could lose their jobs. Trump even spoke about “cutting vast numbers” of workers, which set off alarm bells in unions that have already taken the threat to court.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, about 750,000 employees will be sent on unpaid leave each day. That equates to a $400 million daily hit in withheld wages. Those who perform essential functions — including the military, national security and air traffic control — will have to continue working but without pay until an agreement is reached.
The shutdown particularly affects bilingual employees considered “essential,” such as Transportation Security Administration agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where the ability to communicate in Spanish is crucial for security, and who will be asked to work without pay but will receive it after the government reopens.
The rest of the “nonessential” employees will be temporarily placed on leave until a funding agreement is reached.
Although airport employees, including security agents and air traffic controllers, will be required to continue working during the shutdown, airport operations could be affected.
Likewise, all national parks in the state, including the Grand Canyon, remain closed. Gov. Katie Hobbs confirmed that, unlike previous administrations, Arizona will not use state funds to keep them open.
How long can a government shutdown last?
Since 1977, there have been 21 federal shutdowns in the United States. Together, they total 121 days, which is an average of almost eight days per shutdown.
The longest in the last five decades occurred during Trump’s first term, and it lasted 35 days, between December 2018 and January 2019. Also during Trump’s first term, there were two other shorter shutdowns: one lasting three days in January 2018 and another one lasting just a few hours in February of that same year.
An uncertain future
As the shutdown drags on with no agreement in sight, the Hispanic community faces a double challenge: navigating the practical consequences of the government shutdown while dealing with what many perceive as deliberate exclusion from official information channels.
During the previous shutdowns, a Spanish-language website existed, but today, that official information channel has disappeared.
Boris Q’va is a national trending news reporter in Spanish for Connect / USA TODAY Network. You can follow him on X as @ByBorisQva or write to him at BBalsindesUrquiola@gannett.com.
What happens next? Government shutdown begins with insults
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Government shutdown: Millions without official information in Spanish
