The Eriksen release notes that “almost half of the population [served by HHC] may speak a primary language that is not English.” Separately, the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that New York State’s Health Department “would require hospitals to provide translation services for its region’s 20 most popular languages. Hospitals would also be required to conduct yearly assessments on the area’s changing linguistics needs and post signs that offer translation services. Advocacy groups say the need for the regulation is pressing in a state where one in five residents is foreign-born and about 150 languages are spoken.”

Eriksen also works for at least one New York State agency that is required by the 2001 settlement of Ramirez v. Giuliani to translate forms into Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.

As we have noted before, judicial rulings and executive orders relating to social services will force government agencies to provide oral interpretation and translated documents, forms, and instructions for U.S. citizens with limited English proficiency (LEP). Public and private firms providing services to the government or accepting federal funds will face the same requirements, thus creating new market demand for domestic translation and interpretation services. Language services aren’t just for globalization any more.