CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta insinuated at the Wednesday White House briefing that blocking U.S.-bound immigrants who do not speak English would limit the pool of applicants to Great Britain and Australia.
“This whole notion of they have to learn English before they get to the United States, are we just going to bring in people from Great Britain and Australia?” Acosta asked White House senior advisor Stephen Miller. Miller appeared at the podium to advocate for new legislation restricting the number of legal permanent resident cards issued each year.
A 2015 analysis by English Worldwide estimated the number of global English speakers at approximately 1.5 billion.
“I am shocked at your statement that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English,” Miller said after the exchange. “This is an amazing moment, that you think only people from Great Britain or Australia would speak English is so insulting to millions of hardworking immigrants who do speak English from all over the world.”
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