New York City’s homeless shelters have seen a staggering rise in interpreting requests since 2020. According to a September 2024 Mayor’s Management Report (MMR), requests for telephonic interpreting (OPI) increased fivefold, from 18,660 in 2020 to 107,083 in 2024.
The jump in interpreting requests follows a massive influx of migrants and asylum seekers, with a reported 210,000 coming to New York City since 2022.
At the same time, New York’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has seen an 89% increase in DHS shelter occupancy compared to the end of 2022. According to the MMR, “tens of thousands” of migrants remain at DHS sites as well as in emergency shelters run by other city agencies.
The MMR does not indicate what percentage of DHS site and shelter residents have limited English proficiency (LEP), nor does it quantify what portion of DHS’ daily or annual spend is for language services.
The MMR also attributed the increase in requests in part to more participating shelters and greater client/staff awareness of language services.
The report, however, does not capture the full scope of language services DHS provides occupants, since it only tracks the number of OPI requests. Spanish-speaking residents also have access to on-site interpreters and bilingual staff.
The discrepancy in language services for non-Spanish-speaking LEP migrants has not gone unnoticed, as demonstrated by an April 2024 City Council hearing that focused on the experiences of black migrants, including challenges some African migrants have encountered when trying to communicate with shelter staff.
New York’s Local Law 30 requires covered agencies — those providing direct public services or emergency services — to “translate commonly distributed documents into 10 designated languages,” which would likely cover Arabic and French, spoken by some African migrants. The requirement to provide OPI “in at least 100 languages” may or may not also apply to Wolof, Fulani, and Bambara, among other requested African languages.
New York City is not the only metropolitan area struggling to house and accommodate new migrants, with cities such as Chicago requesting billions of dollars in aid from the federal government. Exact numbers of migrants in major cities, and the costs associated with housing and other services, tend to vary since few estimates are comprehensive, but current data show no signs of a slowdown.
By Seyma Albarino
Senior Staff Writer at Slator. Trained interpreter and aspiring minimalist. Fan of dystopian fiction, not headlines. Based in Chicago.