US Lacking in Immigrant Language Support

The United States is a country made up of immigrants, but as the country continues to diversify, immigrant language needs are not being met.

How is the US accommodating — or not accommodating — immigrant language needs? How can immigrant language support be improved?

Why Is Immigrant Language Support an Issue?

According to recent census documents, every one out of every four people living in the US in 2008 was an immigrant or the child of an immigrant, many of whom speak a language other than English as their primary language.

Many people believe that to live in the United States, you need to have a working knowledge of English. Indeed, the US citizenship test looks at a prospective citizen’s English speaking and reading comprehension skills.

However, English — despite its prevalence — is not the United States’ official language. The US doesn’t have an official language, and many people who come to the US will not have a working knowledge of English.

New York City’s Struggle with Immigrant Language Needs

New York City is the biggest city in the United States and also one of the most diverse. Two years ago, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an executive order requiring city agencies (like welfare offices) to offer translation and interpreting services to immigrants and other non-English speakers.

In addition, Bloomberg also signed a law last year requiring that New York City pharmacies offer prescription label translations in six of the most frequently spoken languages in the city besides English.

Recent follow-up studies and research proves that, despite the laws being passed, thousands of non-English-speaking immigrants still have difficulties dealing with a variety of city services, such as the police and welfare offices.

What’s more, about 25 percent of pharmacies didn’t offer prescription translations, even though the law requires that they must be available. Of the pharmacies that did provide prescription translations, over 80 percent used computers to translate the labels, which resulted in instructions that were nonsensical or incorrect and potentially harmful.

If foreign-language speakers in New York City — the multicultural home to so many immigrants — are having trouble, how are immigrants in the rest of the United States faring?

How to Meet Immigrant Language Needs & Why It’s Important

The measures implemented by New York City illustrate some of the ways in which US public and social service institutions can better accommodate immigrant language needs.

Providing translators and interpreters at doctors’ offices and pharmacies is a step in the right direction, as is ensuring that application forms for services like Medicaid and food stamps are available in other languages.

As the United States has immigrant groups in different areas of the country, it’s likely that the types of language accommodations made will have to vary from one region to the next. State and municipal governments following in New York City’s footsteps will most likely have to assess which immigrant languages are prevalent in the area in order to ensure that the appropriate linguistic services can be provided.

While it would be much easier for the government to leave non-English-speaking immigrants to arrange their own language assistance, this is a careless approach. Ensuring that immigrants don’t have to seek out desperate measures to cover basic care also allows these individuals to get on their feet and become contributing members of US society.

Immigrant language support must be advanced — not only to help immigrants, but also because these actions will, in the long run, benefit everyone in the United States.