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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLawyers Are Furious That Immigration Courts Are Getting Rid of Interpreters
Lawyers Are Furious That Immigration Courts Are Getting Rid of Interpreters
The change could mean many immigrants will be left in the dark during their own hearings.
by Mary Retta
Jul 25 2019, 12:13pm
The Trump administration has begun taking steps to eliminate in-person interpreters from "master calendar hearings, the first appointments that migrants have in immigration court meant to inform them of their rights, next appointments, and required preparation. Instead, immigrants will be shown an orientation video with subtitles then have the potential to use a telephone interpreter.
The Department of Justice announced the change to immigration judges in June, citing a desire to increase efficiency, and were set to begin the week of July 15th, starting with courts in New York and Miami, according to Buzzfeed News. As of now, all videos have been recorded in Spanish, although there are plans to expand the program to include twenty other commonly requested languages in the near future. Sources told the San Francisco Chronicle that the orientation video was confusing and difficult to understand, and many experts fear that the change will have a detrimental effect on immigrants ability to defend themselves in courtor even understand whats happening to themall in the name of cost-cutting.
This orientation wont help anyone at all, said Claudine Murphy, an immigration attorney at the Immigration Justice Corps, a national organization that provides legal services to immigrant families. A person can watch one of those videos, but when they show up for a hearing and the judge asks them questions, they will still be unable to understand or respond.
Under the new mandate, immigrants will be unable to ask questions of judges during court proceedings unless they happen to have a bilingual lawyer. Judges are also allowed to try to track down an interpreter in the court house who happens to be in the building, or use telephone interpreting service that judges told the Chronicle can be woefully inaccurate and substantially delayed.
While some lawyers, like Murphy, are fluent in a second language and are able to explain court proceedings to their clients as they happen in real time, many cannot. For many clients, interpreters are vital for understanding court proceedings, especially those who are not yet represented by an attorney. According to immigration attorney Natalia Morozova, clients in immigration court who are unrepresented are already far less likely to make their court dates, and this is often because they do not understand what is going on.
In the more than 15 years that Ive been going to court with clients, I can count on both hands the number of cases that have been done entirely in English, said Morgan Weibel, the Executive Director of San Franciscos Tahirih Justice Center, a non-profit focused on aiding female migrants and refugees. Right now, about 95% of our clients in removal proceedings require interpreters. Its hard enough for non-lawyers to understand the legal jargon that is used in court settings, so imagine having to do that in a second or third language.
more...
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43jj9j/immigration-courts-getting-rid-of-interpreters?fbclid=IwAR2n5pm3aSvw_QrDLfNEVsGfkvWlsi0dJsc3K7P0WEb3U7Zon-klcMEf214
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Lawyers Are Furious That Immigration Courts Are Getting Rid of Interpreters (Original Post)
babylonsister
Jul 2019
OP
Some third world countries make you sign statements written in their language only.
keithbvadu2
Jul 2019
#6
If you ask me, this has the grubby fingerprints of Wormtongue Miller all over it.
yonder
Jul 2019
#7
This is more of any which way they can. More ink will be needed for the history books. nt
UniteFightBack
Jul 2019
#8
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)1. Kick and recommend for visibility of this evil
Tanuki
(14,918 posts)2. How is this not a violation of "equal protection"?
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)3. A desire to increase efficiency
Uh huh. Translation: "We're not sending refugees back to the lethally dangerous situation they're trying to escape quickly enough."
pecosbob
(7,537 posts)4. Denial of due process
enough
(13,256 posts)5. Evil. NT
keithbvadu2
(36,778 posts)6. Some third world countries make you sign statements written in their language only.
Some third world countries make you sign statements written in their language only.
yonder
(9,663 posts)7. If you ask me, this has the grubby fingerprints of Wormtongue Miller all over it.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)8. This is more of any which way they can. More ink will be needed for the history books. nt