Spectrum News: "Language access law aims to help immigrants in Western N.Y."

Date: October 31, 2024
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Viktoria Hallikaar | October 31, 2024

Building a new home for yourself or your family is hard. It’s even harder when you don’t understand what’s going on around you.

“The basic principle that makes a person a human being is being able to communicate, to be able to express yourself," said Patience Nimely-Keys, who works in immigration support at Access of WNY.

It’s something Nimely-Keys sees every day: immigrants struggling.

“There's so many difficulties. The biggest one is language barrier,” she explained. “They have to travel from their house, come here to read a sentence, to read a paper that says, 'you should bring this document.'”

It's a difficulty she knows first-hand too, since she came to the U.S. as a refugee 20 years ago.

“The person that will affect it more and more was my dad,” she said.

So Nimely-Keys stepped in.

“I have to read everything and then just summarize it to my dad," she recalled. "Kind of like the little mom in the house, you know?”

She translated school notices, DMV letters, bus schedules and more.

“It is so hard to try to express yourself in a language that you don't speak, and to try to read in that language and, you know, you don't know how to read. It is stressful,” she said.

That’s what a new law in Erie County is trying to help with.

“I want all new Americans that are now calling Erie County and Buffalo their home to be able to contribute to our society,” said April Baskin, chair of the Erie County Legislature.

Baskin led a push to pass a language access law, which mandates vital government documents be translated into the top six languages in the county and that live translation services are available.

“I do think that we need to see more counties across the state, making sure that there have no barriers,” she said.

It doesn’t apply to places already under state or federal guidelines, but places like the Department of Senior Services or Real Property Tax would see changes.

“We don't want to see children having the burden or the responsibility to be the translator for their family," said Baskin. "This bill helps eliminate and reduce that.”

One thing is for sure, understanding is huge.

“People will no longer feel stress, fear, trauma," said Nimely-Keys. "People will be able to finally be in peace.”

That can make that new home much more welcoming.

“It will make them feel like they are now actually part of the United States, to live the American Dream that everyone wants to,” Nimely-Keys said.

The law narrowly passed in the county Legislature, with all Republicans voting against it over cost concerns.

Over the next two years, a study will be done to figure out the top six languages in the county and how much translation costs would be.

Baskin says they’re not tying themselves to a policy that’ll bankrupt the county, adding that in areas that have similar laws, the costs didn’t exceed the million-dollar threshold.

Read the Spectrum News article on their website, here.