Má tin naátik: Indigenous Peoples’ Struggle Immigrating to the U.S.

Written by: Alondra Jara

 

 

 

There are currently 42 million indigenous people who live in Latin America and speak over 560 different languages. While many populations are struggling to keep their languages alive, here in the United States immigration courts are struggling to find translators who understand the influx of new indigenous immigrants. Currently, they have the ability to provide translators capable of speaking over 350 languages, but few indigenous languages. According to an ICE report released in 2015:

 

“As of March 2015, the following Mayan dialects are represented within the ICE family residential facilities: Quiche (K’iche), Mam, Achi, Ixil, Awakatek, Jakaltek (Popti), and Qanjobal (K’anjob’al). Efforts are currently underway to improve the language services provided in ICE residential facilities including identifying vendors through ICE’s existing Language Services Blanket Purchase Agreement that can provide interpretation services to indigenous speakers.”

 

These were the only indigenous languages covered in their “Language Access Plan.”

 

Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin in Guatemala. Photo: Jacob Soboroff, MSNBC, 2018.

 

                    

Even when they have translators who speak the same indigenous languages, there are regional dialects and legal terms that are difficult to translate or understand. So what happens when immigrants cannot understand or communicate with U.S. officials or courts? First, they cannot have a fair trial if they cannot understand what is happening or defend themselves. Even death is a possibility as seen in the case of 7-year-old Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin. Her father had been given an I-779 form to sign in English, not his native language, Q’eqchi’. The Department of Homeland Security denied wrongdoing because by signing the form he confirmed that neither he nor his daughter was ill and that they had provided a verbal translation, not in his native language.

 

 

 

               

Odilia Romero. Photo: Univision, 2018

 

Odilia Romero is a Zapotec translator and indigenous rights activist. She works with FIOB or Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales. The organization has a team of translator trainers to help immigrants during court proceedings. Here she describes an unfortunate case of what can happen when indigenous immigrants cannot communicate with officials and do not have appropriate translators:

“One gentleman had to spend three years in a mental institution because he spoke only an indigenous language and no one could understand him. They thought he was crazy. Finally, we learned about his case, got him an interpreter and were able to get him out of the institution. He said, ‘You Americans are the ones who are crazy,’ and he went back to Mexico. He didn’t want to press charges for the wrongdoing — he just wanted to go home.”

 

Cirila Baltazar Cruz and her daughter. Photo: Sharon Steinman, Courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center

In 2005, Cirila Baltazar Cruz, a Chatino woman, went to the hospital to give birth knowing little Spanish and no English. Her cousin was there to help talk to staff but was excluded from conversations. She was given a translator who spoke Spanish, but Baltazar Cruz could not understand what she was saying. The interpreter concluded that she offered sex in exchange for housing, wanted to give her daughter up for adoption, and was an unfit mother. Child Protective Services then took her daughter and placed her with a couple looking to adopt but were not licensed foster parents. Judge Sharon Sigalas agreed with the couple that Baltazar Cruz’s inability to speak English to the baby would cause developmental problems. For these court proceedings, Baltazar Cruz was not given a translator or allowed to see her daughter. After a federal investigation, the prosecutor, judge, and guardian ad litem recused themselves due to conflict of interest. Afterward Baltazar Cruz was finally given custody of her daughter almost a year later. The Southern Law Poverty Center filed a lawsuit against the hospital workers and the state child welfare caseworker.

 

All of this comes at a time when indigenous languages are disappearing at a high rate. 26% are currently at risk of disappearing. The two biggest factors contributing to this are intergenerational loss and the role of oral traditions. Indigenous parents tend to prefer that their children learn Spanish and Portuguese in Latin American countries so that they may have better opportunities and be less likely to experience racism. More efforts should be made by the U.S. government to properly train their translators and employees to better handle the influx of indigenous immigrants.

 

 

 

Works Cited

 “Department of Homeland Security.” DHS Statement on Tragic Death of Minor... - Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security, 18 Dec. 2018, www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity/posts/2256926350986655?__tn__=-R.

“Federal Court Delivers Important Victory in SPLC Case against Hospital, State Employees Accused of Taking Baby from Immigrant Mother.” Southern Poverty Law Center, 2014, www.splcenter.org/news/2014/03/12/federal-court-delivers-important-victory-splc-case-against-hospital-state-employees-accused.

Flatow, Nicole. “Judge Who Took Away Immigrant's Baby Said Lack Of English Would Cause 'Developmental' Problems.” ThinkProgress, 14 Mar. 2014, thinkprogress.org/judge-who-took-away-immigrants-baby-said-lack-of-english-would-cause-developmental-problems-509d02bf0166/.

Hernández, Odilia. “Odilia Romero, FIOB.” Committee on U.S./Latin American Relations, The Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations , 7 Mar. 2014, cuslar.org/areas-of-focus/migration/odilia-romero/.

“Language Access Plan.” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 14 June 2015, www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2015/LanguageAccessPlan.pdf.

“Languages at Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean.” World Bank, 22 Feb. 2019, www.worldbank.org/en/news/infographic/2019/02/22/lenguas-indigenas-legado-en-extincion.

Medina, Jennifer. “Anyone Speak K'iche' or Mam? Immigration Courts Overwhelmed by Indigenous Languages.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/us/translators-border-wall-immigration.html?fbclid=IwAR1r_-SVhU5uH27kvUiKB3qmq9FU-BWFswsxe10_oKRB9plGB4O5G5VNkSQ.

Miroff, Nick. “Hours before Her Collapse in U.S. Custody, a Dying Migrant Child's Condition Went Unnoticed.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Dec. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/hours-before-her-collapse-in-us-custody-a-dying-migrant-childs-condition-went-unnoticed/2018/12/14/1c454d18-ffb8-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?utm_term=.2fb1a8ed6f08.

‘No One Is Available’: When Immigration Judges Ask for Indigenous Languages Interpreters.” Univision, 31 July 2018, www.univision.com/univision-news/immigration/no-one-is-available-when-immigration-judges-ask-for-indigenous-languages-interpreters.

Truax, Eileen. “The U.S. Must Provide Interpreters for Indigenous Migrants. It Could Save Lives.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Dec. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/19/us-must-provide-interpreters-indigenous-migrants-it-could-save-lives/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.994e3205233f.