Language Justice

(Photo by iStock/Warchi) 

Migrants and asylum seekers arriving in the United States today face a long and treacherous process. They must navigate not only the current administration’s policies but also the barrier of language.

“We talk about Trump’s wall, but honestly there are already word walls and paper walls in place, so the idea of a wall is redundant,” says Ariel Koren, the founder of Respond Crisis Translation.

Respond was created in October 2019 by a collective of professional translators and interpreters devoted to what they call “language justice.” In partnership with migrants’ grassroots organizations and nonprofits such as RAICES and Al Otro Lado, they offer pro bono translation of legal documents and testimonies and interpretation services for clients in detention centers in the United States and Mexico. By May 2020, they translated 8,500 pages of documents and served 875 clients.

Volunteers at Respond hope to give migrants and asylum seekers a fair chance to defend their claims and make their legal case to remain in the United States. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center study, more than 44 million immigrants live in the United States, and one in seven US residents are foreign born. Most are integrated and speak English, but many still need help navigating US bureaucratic structures. While the United States is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, it is extremely inflexible in regard to language. It requires, for example, that all asylum evidence be submitted in English, which makes it almost “impossible for non-English speakers to navigate its systems,” Koren says.

“Most migrants, if not all, suffer from language barriers without the help of translators and interpreters because they cannot understand what is going on or [do not] have the ability to fully express themselves to the judge or asylum officer,” explains Aida Farahani, a pro bono attorney coordinator at RAICES, based in Texas.

The work requires much more than language proficiency. A deep understanding of the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts of the country where the migrant is from is required, too, in order to effectively advocate for that person’s legal status in court. “The translator can make all the difference to the case,” says Leticia Morales, who runs the Texas Nicaraguan Community organization in Houston, Texas, and works closely with Respond.

When the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic in March—only five months after Respond’s launch—the network rapidly positioned itself as a team of first responders. They quickly broadened their scope to provide information and resources in 78 languages, including Mandarin, Vietnamese, and indigenous dialects such as Quiché (or K’iche’). Respond also expanded their services: They translate official health guidance measures, from how to wash your hands to how to petition the government for the release of migrants held in detention centers who risk exposure to the virus. They translate a broad range of benefits resources, from documents on how to fill out a job application to those on how to enroll children in distance learning education. Respond interpreters also offer phone assistance for more immediate needs, such as helping migrants to make medical appointments, report domestic violence, and access services.

With increased offerings due to COVID-19, Respond saw a surge in volunteers, from a dozen a day in January to hundreds per hour three months later, in the midst of the pandemic. Bringing on board hundreds of new and diverse translators and interpreters, Respond could invest in more languages and expand outside of the United States. An Arabic-language translation team, for example, now works in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Some of the more qualified volunteers have even found paid work with Respond, through a very limited pool of funds raised by individual donations. The organization hopes to continue to offer these temporary jobs during COVID-19. In the near future, Respond plans to fundraise and apply for grants funded by organizations that are aligned with their values.

Many Respond team members are migrants themselves, like Fernanda de Oliveira, who leads the Brazilian Portuguese team and who witnessed her own relatives from Brazil trying and failing to pursue the American Dream after being detained and deported. Oliveira hopes through her work with Respond to utilize language for the greater good. “I know that language can be a powerful tool to exclude people,” she says, “but I would rather use it as an inclusive tool to build bridges and connect people.”

Read more stories by Yula Rocha.