E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Language Access

Language Access

The phrase "language access services" describes services that agencies use to bridge the communication barrier with individuals who cannot speak, understand, read, or write  fluently in the host-country language. In the United States, federal law and executive orders mandate compliance with language access requirements for any agency receiving federal funds. Explore MPI's research in this area and visit the Language Access: Translation and Interpretation Policies and Practices section for national and state-level data on LEP individuals, commentaries by service providers, and more.

Recent Activity

Multimedia
October 12, 2022
Ensuring Effective Language Access Services and Policies in Early Childhood Programs
Image of an infographic showing key DLL stats
Fact Sheets
October 2022
Dual Language Learners: Key Characteristics and Considerations for Early Childhood Programs
By  Ivana Tú Nhi Giang and Maki Park
Cover image for Overlooked but Essential
Policy Briefs
October 2022
Overlooked but Essential: Language Access in Early Childhood Programs
By  Maki Park, Jacob Hofstetter and Ivana Tú Nhi Giang
Image of masked woman with a clipboard speaking with another woman outside her home.
Commentaries
May 2022
Schools Should Engage Diverse Community Stakeholders to Promoting Equitable Allocation of Historic Funding to Reimagine Education
By  Jazmin Flores Peña
Multimedia
October 21, 2021
Translating Into Success: Key Features of U.S. State & Local Language Access Laws and Policies
cover image for A Framework for Language Access: Key Features of U.S. State and Local Language Access Laws and Policies
Reports
October 2021
A Framework for Language Access: Key Features of U.S. State and Local Language Access Laws and Policies
By  Jacob Hofstetter, Margie McHugh and Anna O’Toole
Two U.S. educators discuss dual-language instruction.
Articles
September 17, 2021
The Changing Concepts around Immigrant Integration
By Corrie Macleod
A family from Syria walks through the town of Wächtersbach, Germany, where they now live.
Articles
January 7, 2021
Faith and Mental Health Help Shape the Integration of Muslim Refugees in Germany
By Diana Rayes

Pages

Coverthumb ImmigrantFamiliesChildWelfare
Reports
April 2019
Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies
By  Mark Greenberg, Randy Capps, Andrew Kalweit, Jennifer Grishkin and Ann Flagg
Coverthumb MPIE IntegrationToolkit
Reports
January 2019
Doing More with Less: A New Toolkit for Integration Policy
By  Meghan Benton and Alexandra Embiricos
coverthumb Into the Mainstream
Reports
June 2015
Into the Mainstream: Rethinking Public Services for Diverse and Mobile Populations
By  Meghan Benton, Helen McCarthy and Elizabeth Collett
thumb TCMcitiesApps2014
Reports
September 2014
Smart Inclusive Cities: How New Apps, Big Data, and Collaborative Technologies Are Transforming Immigrant Integration
By  Meghan Benton
coverthumb_TCM Cities McHugh
Reports
September 2014
Immigrant Civic Integration and Service Access Initiatives: City-Sized Solutions for City-Sized Needs
By  Margie McHugh
Cover MexinHI
Reports
September 2013
Newcomers to the Aloha State: Challenges and Prospects for Mexicans in Hawai'i
By  Jeanne Batalova, Monisha Das Gupta and Sue Patricia Haglund
cover healthcare families
Reports
June 2013
Health Care for Immigrant Families: Current Policies and Issues
By  Leighton Ku and Mariellen Jewers
MPIEurope FreeMovement Intg
Reports
March 2013
The Integration Needs of Mobile EU Citizens: Impediments and Opportunities
By  Elizabeth Collett

Pages

A family from Syria walks through the town of Wächtersbach, Germany, where they now live.
Feature
January 7, 2021
Faith and Mental Health Help Shape the Integration of Muslim Refugees in Germany

Faith plays a significant role in the mental health and social integration of refugees and asylum seekers. Yet in Germany, concerns about Islam and migrants from Muslim-majority countries have complicated social cohesion efforts, particularly in the wake of the 2015-16 refugee and migration crisis.

RedGreg TrainofHopeLinz Flickr
Feature
November 18, 2015
Immigrants in the Smart City: The Potential of City Digital Strategies to Facilitate Immigrant Integration

The digital era offers opportunities for cities to improve access and outreach to residents, including immigrants and minority groups, through online tools and apps. This feature article explores ditigal-inclusion strategies in "smart" cities New York, London, and Barcelona, as well as the creative use of new technologies in response to the European refugee crisis.

_LearnEnglish
Spotlight
July 8, 2015
The Limited English Proficient Population in the United States in 2013

In 2013, more than 25 million people in the United States reported limited English proficiency (LEP), an 80 percent increase since 1990. The LEP population, the majority of which is immigrant, is generally less educated and more likely to live in poverty than the English-proficient population. This Spotlight explores key indicators of the LEP population, both U.S. and foreign born, including geographic distribution, language diversity, and employment.

2015 04 17 10.44.09
Feature
June 10, 2015
Integration Key to Combating Radicalization: A Q&A with Solveig Horne, Norwegian Minister of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion
With rising inflows of humanitarian and economic migrants, Norway faces a series of integration challenges. In conversation with the Migration Information Source, Solveig Horne, Norway's Minister of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion discusses her work on integration policy, from the importance of language training and a feeling of belonging, to the protection of immigrant women and resettlement of asylum seekers.
SP FRS girls Apr2014
Spotlight
April 28, 2014
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

The U.S. immigrant population—estimated at 40.8 million in 2012 — is the nation’s historical numerical high, and it is also the largest foreign-born population in the world. About 20 percent of all international migrants reside in the United States, even as the country accounts for less than 5 percent of global population. This article presents the latest, most sought-after data on immigrants in the United States—by origin, residence, legal status, deportations, languages spoken, and more—in one easy-to-use resource.

Pages

archive >
EVENTPH 2014.10.21 11th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conf. USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez
Video, Audio
October 21, 2014

11th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This conference, keynoted by USCIS Director León Rodríguez, featured panels on local immigrant integration policies; expected executive action on immigration; the treatment of unaccompanied children from Central America; and innovations in government-funded legal counsel and accelerated court cases.

IMG_2543
Video, Audio
December 4, 2013

2013 E Pluribus Unum Prizes

The winners of the Migration Policy Institute's 2013 E Pluribus Unum Prizes, honoring exceptional immigrant integration initiatives in the United States, discuss their work at an award ceremony on December 4, 2013 in Washington, DC.

2013.9.24 Mexicans in Hawaii Batalova
Video
September 24, 2013

Mexicans in Hawaiʻi: Challenges and Prospects

This briefing at the State Capitol in Honolulu, organized in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, marked the formal release of a Migration Policy Institute report that presents key demographic and socioeconomic information about the Mexican-origin population in Hawai’i.

multimedia EPUP2012
Video, Audio
September 24, 2012

2012 E Pluribus Unum Prizes

The winners of the Migration Policy Institute's 2012 E Pluribus Unum Prizes, honoring exceptional immigrant integration initiatives in the United States, discussed their work during a plenary luncheon on September 24, 2012 at the National Immigrant Integration Conference held in Baltimore, MD.

multimedia languageaccess
Audio
September 19, 2012

Making It Work: Lessons in Collaboration on Language Access Contracting

A webinar on language access contracting for federal, state, and local officials, agency administrators, and community stakeholders concerned with the oversight and implementation of language access provision.

Pages

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs
September 2020

Educating English Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Ideas for States and School Districts

The 2020–21 academic year is underway, but many U.S. schools, students, and families are still reeling from the rocky transition to remote learning that occurred months earlier, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. For English Learners and students in immigrant families, many of the challenges are magnified. This policy brief examines how schools’ pandemic response is affecting these students and offers recommendations to help schools and districts support them in this period of uncertainty.

Policy Briefs
August 2019

Leveraging the Potential of Home Visiting Programs to Serve Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

Home visiting programs for young families are growing in popularity across the United States, and have demonstrated their effectiveness in supporting maternal health and child well-being. At the same time, more infants and toddlers are growing up in immigrant families and households where a language other than English is spoken. Why then are these children under-represented in these programs? This brief explores common barriers, ways to address them, and why it is important to do so.

Policy Briefs
June 2019

Legal Protections for K-12 English Learner and Immigrant-Background Students

A complicated web of laws, policy guidance, and court rulings affect how English Learner (EL) and immigrant-background students are educated across the United States. This EL Insight sorts through them to highlight seven key ways the U.S. government protects the rights of these students to a K-12 education. It also highlights who can enforce these rules and how they can be seen in action.

Reports
April 2019

Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies

With the children of immigrants a growing share of all U.S. children, and federal immigration enforcement and other policies undergoing significant change, some state and local child welfare agencies are developing new ways to improve how they work with immigrant families. This report examines key cultural, linguistic, and legal challenges, and how agencies are adjusting staffing, training, placement, and other policies to tackle them.

Reports
January 2019

Doing More with Less: A New Toolkit for Integration Policy

Across Europe, policymakers responsible for immigrant integration are dealing with a rapidly evolving set of challenges—from the diversification of new arrivals and changing European labor markets to rising anti-immigrant sentiment and tight budgets. This report explores promising strategies from other policy areas that could be used to develop, fund, evaluate, and make the case for investing in integration.

Commentaries
March 2016

Federal WIOA Plan Requirements Ignore Opportunities to Support Equitable Access for Immigrant/LEP Adults

As states move to implement the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which provides the national framework for workforce training and adult education services, the Obama administration recently missed a prime opportunity to ensure that immigrants and refugees receive equitable access to the law’s services, as this commentary explores.

Articles
November 18, 2015

Immigrants in the Smart City: The Potential of City Digital Strategies to Facilitate Immigrant Integration

The digital era offers opportunities for cities to improve access and outreach to residents, including immigrants and minority groups, through online tools and apps. This feature article explores ditigal-inclusion strategies in "smart" cities New York, London, and Barcelona, as well as the creative use of new technologies in response to the European refugee crisis.

Commentaries
October 2015

It is Time for Federal Agencies to Do More to Improve the Provision of Language Access Services

Whether driven by pragmatism, local laws, or federal civil-rights provisions, state and local governments and agencies across the United States increasingly have designed and implemented language access services (i.e. translation and interpretation) in response to growing Limited English Proficient populations. This commentary argues it is time for the federal government to follow suit.

Pages