By law, individuals undergoing U.S. immigration proceedings are provided by the government with interpreters, with more than 350 languages from all over the world available. These include the most widely spoken languages in the Americas and the world – Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, etc. However, in recent years, there has been a growing number of immigrants from Central America speaking only Indigenous languages, such as Mayan Mam, K'iche' and Q'anjob'al. These three languages, indigenous to Guatemala, are now among the top 25 most common languages spoken in immigration court. Many immigrants from Central American countries are asylum seekers, who have left their home communities due to ethnic, criminal, or gender-based violence.
The lack of interpreters and legal services offered in their native languages has led to many immigrants 'double exclusion', as the language barrier further compounds the already unjust and discriminatory immigration policies implemented by the U.S. government, according to Social Justice Collaborative (SJC), a nonprofit organization that works to protect the legal rights of immigrants and asylum seekers in the U.S.
Founded in 2012, SJC began with its legal services offered to immigrants in two languages – Spanish and English. SJC believes in the importance of being able to speak the same language of the people they serve, in order to make sure their voices and narratives are amplified and that they fully understand their rights. In the organization's early years, it encountered major language-related issues, such as court-assigned interpreters misunderstanding clients' statements. The issues even extend outside of the legal sector, as doctors have misdiagnosed patients due to the language barrier.
SJC was one of the first organizations to recognize and address this issue in the region and it made it a priority to expand its in-house capability to provide legal and interpreting services in the Mam language, in order to establish a relationship and build trust with the people it serves by enabling smoother communication and avoiding misunderstanding. This also promotes greater inclusivity and makes SJC more accessible to members of the Mam-speaking community, who are in dire need of affordable legal representation.
Today, Mam speakers make up 33% of SJC's clients and the organization has several Mam interpreters on its staff, allowing it to cater to the growing community of Indigenous Mayan Mam people, especially in the Bay Area. According to SJC, there are also pockets of Mayan Mam populations in cities such as Seattle and Nashville, which currently lie outside its range of operations.
Aside from Mam interpreter training, SJC also provides its team members with cultural training to prevent clients from being revictimized and its frontline staff who interact directly with clients are given regular training to mitigate the risk of secondary trauma.
According to SJC, speaking a person's native language is part of recognizing their humanity and this shows that they are more than just numbers. In debates regarding immigration, the Democratic Party usually argues on the side of migrants by highlighting their contributions to the economy. While the economic contributions are true, SJC says that this line of reasoning can sometimes lead to forgetting about immigrants' personhood. In fact, SJC has called out both Republicans and Democrats for implementing policies that violate immigrants' human rights and endangers their lives.
In its work with immigrants, SJC takes a holistic approach, going beyond direct legal services and extending into making sure that all of its clients' needs are being met. This includes access to physical and mental health services, education, housing, employment and many other aspects of life. SJC is enhancing its in-house capabilities, such as building a dedicated social work task force and it is also expanding its community network and partnerships with service providers and like-minded organizations.
Furthermore, SJC recognizes that the current immigration system is built on xenophobia and classism, which is why it engages in a variety of advocacy work, such as supporting policies to improve services for immigrants, as well as providing their knowledge and expertise in crafting more just immigration policies
"The government has always implemented policies or regulations that pose difficulties and complications for those seeking citizenship," says Carmelina Mendoza Ramírez, Legal Assistant at SJC. "These difficulties include long waiting times from government services or lack of transparency in administrative processes. In my experience, the government has made several changes that affect many people in all cases. For example, in cases of Affirmative Asylum, a long time goes by without a response to resolve [those] cases that have been pending for several years. Work Permits take a long time to obtain, which affects clients in their workplace heavily and [reflects in] the suspension of their driver's license as well. The same [happens] to those who apply for Legal Permanent Residency as well. Advanced Parole [is also delayed] for vulnerable children who are left without parental protection in their home countries. Their application is not reviewed quickly enough for them to travel with their parents."
According to SJC, it is incredibly important for the discourse around immigration to move away from seeing people as just pure numbers and towards recognizing them as whole persons with their own experiences, stories, culture and diversity.
SJC believes that not every immigrant community can be approached and treated in the same way. Each population has unique needs that must be met in order for policies and actions to achieve equity, which is making sure that everyone has access to the resources that they need. Organizations such as SJC are working tirelessly to ensure that immigrants, especially speakers of Mam and other Indigenous languages, are treated as fairly and equitably as possible.
