<\/p>\n
Staff from the Miami Dade Tax Collector\u2019s office help people with their appointments as they arrive at a driver license office on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Hialeah Gardens. As of Feb. 6, 2026, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles requires all driver license knowledge and skills examinations to be conducted exclusively in English.<\/p>\n
Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n
mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Florida is having a language moment in 2026. But what language is it?<\/p>\n
A new state law requires driving tests to be English-only. Florida, the state with the third largest foreign-born population,<\/a> behind California and Texas, enacted the English-only driving tests<\/a> in February. The law banished tests in Spanish and Creole.<\/p>\n Then there is a new play in Miami<\/a>, \u201cEnglish Only,\u201d which looks back at the language wars in Miami-Dade County in the 1980s amid the Mariel boatlift, and an English-only law on the books for 13 years. The Miami New Drama play wraps up its run Feb. 22 at South Beach\u2019s Colony Theatre as Miami continue to communicate in many languages.<\/p>\n And finally, Bad Bunny\u2019s all-Spanish performance at the Super Bowl had some celebrating with watch parties at Miami bars, and others seething around the country about a language they don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n So, where does the language divide this year leave us? Will the return of an English-only requirement in Florida lead to other official language laws?<\/p>\n Don\u2019t expect immediate change, at least at the ballot box, legal experts say. You can still vote in the language of your choice \u2014 in South Florida, that\u2019s English, Spanish and Creole.<\/p>\n A section of the Voting Rights Act<\/a> from 2024 says that that federal voting\u2011rights law supersedes local law in elections. And that act requires that local jurisdictions offer all election\u2011related \u201cnotices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information \u2026 including ballots\u201d in other languages when Census thresholds are met.<\/p>\n Multi-language ballots are required \u201cregardless of whether the jurisdiction has declared English as its official language,\u201d the act says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe driver\u2019s license law … could support a movement that may try to pass state and\/or federal laws applying the same reasoning to ballots,\u201d Florida-based transportation attorney Doug Burnetti said in a Miami Herald interview. \u201cIndirectly, it could have an influence if laws are changed to require that you have a driver\u2019s license to vote. Then theoretically, an indirect effect would be that there will be less Spanish fluent voters.\u201d<\/p>\n How history has repeated in Florida \u201cWe\u2019re really telling the story of 1980<\/a> with the mirror to 2026,\u201d Miami New Drama Artistic Director Michel Hausmann told arts site ArtBurst Miami of the play \u201cEnglish Only.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s impossible not to. Maybe had we done this play in 2015 it would have read completely different. Hopefully in 10 years, this is not an issue we have anymore, but it sure as hell is an issue we have right now.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE: English-only driver license tests have begun. Some drivers get till March 31 in Spanish<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf English was good enough for Jesus Christ in the Bible,\u201d a Hillsborough County School Board member said, \u201cit\u2019s good enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n That was December 1983. Alongside the 3-year-old English-only Miami ordinance of the time, the Miami Herald reported a House committee\u2019s 10-8 vote to repeal a newly enacted foreign language requirement for students entering Florida\u2019s universities.<\/p>\n Fast-forward to 2026: American-born Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio, 31, conceived a Puerto Rican-themed Super Bowl show.<\/a> He performed the entire 13 minutes atop a Puerto Rico flag-festooned platform, with gyrating dancers in character spilling onto the football field.<\/p>\n Bad Bunny sang and rapped entirely in Spanish.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get up there and perform the whole show in Spanish is a middle finger to the rest of America. Who gives a damn that we have 40 million Spanish speakers in the United States? We have 310 million who don\u2019t speak a lick of Spanish. This is supposed to be a unifying event for the country, not for the Latinos.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s former Fox commentator Megyn Kelly,<\/a> arguing on Piers Morgan\u2019s \u201cUncensored\u201d talk show after the Feb. 8 Bad Bunny Super Bowl performance. She continued: \u201cWe don\u2019t need a non-English speaking, non-English performer or ICE- or America-hater featured as our prime time entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote<\/a> opined after the broadcast: \u201cI\u2019m not a Bad Bunny expert, am not versed in the language, didn\u2019t know the songs … and loved it. I loved it first for the rhythm and pulse, the vibe, what you feel in music. Whatever you call it, reggaeton, Latin trap, m\u00fasica urbana, I call it music that made it impossible to stand still.\u201d<\/p>\n Just two days before the Super Bowl, on Feb. 6, the English-only rule<\/a> for driving tests went into effect. Floridians must now take their driving tests \u201cexclusively\u201d in English, according to an announcement by Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 administration.<\/p>\n \u201cPreviously, knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver license classifications were offered in multiple languages,\u201d the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced. \u201cUnder the updated policy, all driver license knowledge and skills will be conducted in English.\u201d Printed exams in languages other than English are no longer being used.<\/p>\n According to U.S. Census data, about two-thirds of Miami-Dade\u2019s households speak Spanish at home.<\/p>\n While the state sets the rules for driving tests, locally elected tax collectors administer the tests. Dariel Fernandez, Miami-Dade\u2019s Republican tax collector, a Cuban American, said he supports the change.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single road sign is in English,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, a Democrat, called the English-only testing rule a bad idea from a safety standpoint because it will discourage some people who don\u2019t speak English from pursuing driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I would love for everyone to learn English, it\u2019s not necessary for you to know English to operate a motor vehicle safely,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a bad idea to have public policy that may unintentionally discourage people from taking the test and inadvertently encourage them to drive unlawfully.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida transportation attorney Burnetti said that the \u201cobvious real danger is that the state could wind up with more people driving without driver\u2019s licenses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cImagine there are thousands and thousands of drivers that were allowed to take the test and get a driver\u2019s license who may not have been able to pass the English-only test,\u201d Burnetti said. \u201cAs those licenses renew, those who cannot pass the English only test, may have jobs that they need drivers licenses for. There is a risk that many of those people will continue to drive without licenses, which means potentially two things: one, we won\u2019t know if they are still proficient enough to pass a test. Therefore, safety could be affected in that way.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo,\u201d Burnetti said, \u201cwithout a license, those people will most likely have no insurance, thereby causing potentially injured people to have no recourse against a negligent party. I\u2019m not saying I agree or disagree with the law. I\u2019m just pointing out the obvious potential risk and how it may affect highway safety.\u201d<\/p>\n On Feb. 10, a steady flow of people aimed to renew their drivers licenses at the state Department of Motor Vehicles\u2019 office in Hialeah Gardens. Many Spanish-speaking applicants required translation assistance<\/a> to communicate with tax collector staff, determine which protocols applied to them, what documents they needed to prove their legal status, how to schedule an appointment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were taking the test now, I couldn\u2019t do it,\u201d a Cuban man told the Herald as he scrolled through his phone searching for a last-minute appointment to renew his driver\u2019s license. Another driver said he had taken the test twice before and passed it in Spanish. He would have had no chance if it had been in English, he said.<\/p>\n The law changed then. What about now? From 1983: Even as critics of the Dade County anti-bilingualism ordinance are warming up to criticize it \u2014 some as too weak and others contending it is too overpowering \u2014 a coalition of Latins and non-Latins is getting ready to try to repeal the law.<\/p>\n That repeal effort failed, the same year local Miami leaders refused to grant key permits to \u201cScarface\u201d filmmakers over fears that Brian DePalma\u2019s bloody, set-in-Miami crime drama remake would fuel anti-Cuban sentiment.<\/p>\n A decade later, in 1993, the County Commission voted unanimously to overturn Miami-Dade\u2019s 13-year-old English-only law, capping years of acrimony and confirming the dawn of a new political era, the Miami Herald reported at the time.<\/p>\n Four Black commissioners, three white non-Hispanics and six Hispanics found common ground, voting 13-0 for repeal after a boisterous public debate that sometimes dissolved into shouts, jeers and catcalls.<\/p>\n \u201cDade County has finally shed its last symbol of adolescence,\u201d Commissioner Alex Penelas said. \u201cWe have matured as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2026, \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to predict when or if a repeal of any law will occur,\u201d Burnetti said, reflecting on the 1993 repeal of the county English-only law.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless there is a drastic change in the political climate, who knows when the law could be repealed, if ever. Especially if further similar English-only laws are passed by both the state and federal government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n No U.S. official language<\/p>\n What about the push to make English the official language of the United States?<\/p>\n ProEnglish, a Washington\u2011based advocacy group, which calls itself, \u201cthe nation\u2019s leading advocate of making English the official language<\/a> of government at all levels,\u201d is urging supporters to pressure members of Congress to sponsor bills<\/a> pushing for English as an official U.S. language.<\/p>\n The group recently praised Florida\u2019s English-only decision and said, \u201cMomentum is building in Congress to finally make English the official language of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 designating English as the official language<\/a> of the United States, a significant but largely symbolic gesture.<\/p>\n Congress, so far, hasn\u2019t passed such a law.<\/p>\n Alexandra Glorioso of the Herald\/Times Tallahassee Bureau and El Nuevo Herald staff writer Ver\u00f3nica Egui Brito contributed to this report.<\/p>\n This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Miami Herald<\/p>\n Howard Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n Miami Herald<\/p>\n Miami Herald consumer trends reporter Howard Cohen, a 2017 Media Excellence Awards winner, has covered pop music, theater, health and fitness, obituaries, municipal government, breaking news and general assignment. He started his career in the Features department at the Miami Herald in 1991. Cohen is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. Carmen Palaez plays Lucy, a community activist with a personal stake in the Mariel boat lifts, in \u201cEnglish Only,\u201d the new world premiere at Miami New Drama through Sunday, Feb. 22 at the Colony Theatre. (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography) <\/p>\n
Bad Bunny performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. Neilson Barnard Getty Images English-only driver\u2019s tests<\/p>\n
People wait outside a driver license office for their appointments on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Hialeah Gardens, Fla. As of Feb. 6, 2026, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles requires all driver license knowledge and skills examinations to be conducted exclusively in English. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
In this file photo from April 21, 1983, a film crew shoots a scene from Brian DePalma\u2019s “Scarface” on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Several scenes from the violent drama that starred Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a fictional crime boss who had arrived on the May 1980 Mariel boat lift, were filmed in Miami Beach. But most of the movie was shot in Los Angeles when Miami officials balked at granting permits. Miami Herald file <\/p>\n
People wait outside a driver license office for their appointments on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Hialeah Gardens, Fla. As of Feb. 6, 2026, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles requires all driver license knowledge and skills examinations to be conducted exclusively in English. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
\n ![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Newsroom_Headshots_MJO_46.jpg\")
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staff from the Miami Dade Tax Collector\u2019s office help people with their appointments as they arrive at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[78148,78146,78145,225,227,226,77698,78147],"class_list":["post-163363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-bad-bunny-super-bowl","tag-drivers-license-tests-english","tag-florida-english-only-policy","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-mariel-boatlift","tag-miami-bilingual-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}