Interpretation and translation services for detained migrants at the border can be a matter of life or death. The Center for American Progress’ (CAP) new report on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ongoing failure in providing “real-time interpretation access” follows the tragic deaths of Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin and Felipe Gómez Alonzo, the two children who died while in federal immigration custody. Both of their families spoke indigenous languages.
“In the hours before Jakelin died, her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, signed a form in English saying that his daughter was in good health,” immigration reporter Eileen Truax wrote last year. “CBP officials say they provided a ‘verbal translation.’ But the Caals did not get a Q’eqchi’ interpreter, nor were they asked if they needed one. Most likely Nery Gilberto did not even know he had this option.”
Border arrests are at a record low, but we are seeing vulnerable families seeking asylum and protection at the border. “Many of these migrants primarily speak an indigenous language—in other words, one descended from the pre-Colombian languages of the area that were spoken across the Maya empire and other indigenous civilizations. In particular, Guatemalans made up nearly half of the children and families apprehended by the Border Patrol last year,” CAP states.
A Clinton-era order already requires federal agencies to “identify any need for services to those with limited English proficiency,” yet federal immigration agencies, with billions in funding at their disposal, are not keeping up. “[A]lthough DHS comes into contact with the broadest range of foreign-language speakers of any federal agency,” CAP continues, “it lags far behind in providing real-time interpretation for many of the people placed most at risk when their needs are ignored.”
There are ongoing investigations into the deaths of both of these children, and as CAP states, language accessibility must be a part of that.
“An important part of both the narrow and broad investigations—and an area in which the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties could play a key role—is how DHS and CBP can better meet their legal obligations to ensure that all individuals with limited English proficiency, including speakers of indigenous languages, have meaningful language support when accessing services and programs,” the CAP report concludes. It could mean all the difference to someone in crisis.