A patchwork of agencies, stakeholders and community groups help provide language-specific educational materials and translation services around city elections, what experts say is essential to making sure residents aren’t locked out of the democratic process.
Spanish translators were missing at two Queens polling places that City Limits visited Tuesday morning, while interpreters for other languages said they had interacted with very few voters.
According to the DOE, 43 percent of NYC’s students spoke a language other than English during the current school year. The Immigrant Family Communication program, which had been budgeted for only one year, was renewed in the 2023 budget but was not expanded to the $6 million requested by advocates.
Eric Adams introduced his plan for immigrant communities called WeRISE (Raise Immigrant Safety and Empowerment) while campaigning for office in June 2021. After three months in office, little progress has been made so far.
‘Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents have a legal right to have access to information in their preferred languages. This is not an optional service for the NYC Department of Education, it’s the law.’
“We’re trying the best we can.” A poll site in Queensbridge was missing its Spanish- and Chinese-language interpreters Tuesday morning. Workers handed out translated info cards instead, while the Korean-language interpreter was using Google Translate to assist voters.
One of the biggest challenges to Census outreach efforts has been reaching immigrant populations, workers say — particularly in Queens, where nearly half the population is foreign-born.
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