In 2010, following an Empire Justice Center training on language access at Touro Law School, a diverse group of advocates came together to form the Long Island Language Advocates Coalition, or LILAC. Our coalition included legal service providers, social workers from domestic violence, fair housing, and healthcare agencies, librarians, labor organizers, disability, education and immigration advocates, and court interpreters. We felt an urgency to respond to the continuing injustices we were seeing in our communities, where over ¼ million people did not speak, read, write, or understand English proficiently. Many were kept waiting hours at the local Department of Social Services, where they could not get assistance filing applications for Child Support or Orders of Protection in the courts, where they were often retraumatized in their interactions with the police, faced barriers to accessing healthcare, or were unable to get help for their children, who were frequently misclassified due to their school’s failure to properly evaluate them in their native language. We knew that these actions violated the law, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which included a prohibition against discrimination in the administration of public programs by any recipient of federal funding, based on national origin, including language. We therefore set out to educate local agencies about their language access responsibilities and best practices, and to teach the community about their rights.
Our work as immigrant advocates has remained profoundly influenced by the 2008 hate crime killing of Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero, who was killed in Suffolk County by a group of teenagers who made it a sport to beat and rob Latino immigrants. This came during a period of intense anti-immigrant rhetoric by local elected officials, similar to what we are seeing today. Many other Latino community members came forward to report that they too had been beaten and robbed by this same group of teens, and had tried to report this to the police, but were not taken seriously or provided with assistance in their language. This eventually resulted in a settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Suffolk County Police Department, wherein they were directed to address a pattern and practices of bias by better responding to hate crimes, improving language access, addressing bias in traffic stops and police misconduct, and improving their relations with immigrant communities. As advocates, we have continued to meet with the Department of Justice and the Suffolk County Police Department over the years to monitor the implementation of this agreement and to make them aware of continuing challenges faced by immigrants in our community. We have also been mindful of including impacted community members in meetings with policy makers and helping them to record and share their stories if they choose to do so.
In 2012, LILAC was successful in getting a countywide language access order signed by the then recently elected County Executive, Steve Bellone, signaling a more welcoming message to our immigrant communities. This came on the heels of Hurricane Sandy, highlighting the need for government agencies to provide open lines of communication with all members of the community, regardless of language. The order required the county agencies to develop language access plans, to assign language access coordinators, to provide interpretation in all languages and to translate vital documents into the six most frequently encountered local languages , (as identified by the American Community Survey), to properly train workers, and to provide people with a means of filing complaints in their language if they were not properly served. It also prohibited them from inquiring into the immigration status of anyone who needed language assistance. The departments included in the Executive Order ranged from the police, to the health department to social services, as well as many others. This has since been extended to include the Sheriff, the District Attorney and Legislature and codified into a permanent law in Suffolk, so that even though there has now been a change in administration, the language access law cannot be revoked. LILAC has pursued similar efforts in Nassau County, where a language access executive order was approved in 2013. However, whether due to budgets or biases, we have found that Nassau has been more resistant to change.
One of our greatest tools, in both Nassau and Suffolk, has been the use of language access testing. With the help of trained bilingual volunteers and stories from impacted community members, we have identified those departments which are or are not adequately serving the public. Although some may have language access policies in place, the implementation is often lacking. This was particularly apparent during the COVID pandemic, when there was an amplified need for accessible phone lines, written communications, and public service announcements in multiple languages. Such failures may be life threatening, interfering with access to essential health services or obtaining an adequate response from law enforcement.
Among the most egregious violations we have seen are those facing victims of domestic violence when dealing with the police. Oftentimes, officers may defer to the person who is more proficient in English, who may be the abuser, or will use children as interpreters, which may be highly inappropriate and traumatizing. If a person requests an interpreter, they should be provided with one, and it should not be up to the office to determine that the individual “ speaks enough English.” This often results in inaccuracy in the report and the denial of an Order of Protection or immigration relief. Victims report that they often give up on calling the police and feel that they have no alternative but to stay with the abuser, especially when the rea re threats related to their immigration status. In response to community complaints, in cooperation with the New York Immigration Coalition, LILAC conducted phone testing of the Nassau County Police Department in 2022 and issued a report, which documented the lack of language access in the NCPD. This led to a lawsuit by Latino Justice, CARECEN v. NCPD. LILAC is also a plaintiff in this lawsuit along with several impacted community members.
Achieving language access and justice is a struggle, but essential to ensure justice and safety for all members of our community. I am grateful for the opportunity to work on these critical issues and to partner with other advocates and members of our community in forging a system which is more inclusive, responsive and equitable.
To learn more about language justice advocacy or to join LILAC, please contact Cheryl Keshner at ckeshner@empirejustice.org or 631-533-5273.