Not lost in translation: Local courts grapple with interpreter shortage
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TRI-CITIES, Wash. -- Immigrants from Russia, Vietnam, and India are setting up home in the Tri-Cities, giving our courts quite a challenge.
There are very few places where communication is as important as it is in a courtroom.
Each day, hundreds of people come to court to solve life's chaotic curveballs, and it's Ana Armijo's job to make sure all is not lost in translation.
"Some days I can start out in Franklin County, come over to Benton County, go back to Franklin County, and then go back to Benton County," she tells KEPR.
As a court interpreter, Armijo's clients range from small time crooks to suspected murderers; all of whom don't know a word of English.
Here in the Tri-Cities, its becoming the norm rather than the exception, especially as our area blossoms in a melting pot of different cultures and different languages.
Not many people speak Burmese or Farsi, so you can imagine the challenge for local courts when people who speak those languages are still entitled to justice.
Last year, our local courts spent more than $70,000 on interpreters. That was nearly $10,000 more than in 2011. The spike in costs come as more foreign languages pop-up in our courts, causing a shortage of local interpreters. To tackle the problem, the courts often bring-in outside help, causing costs to soar.
"You're having to pay for their travel and their lodging, and that adds to the expenses," says Benton Court Supervisor Pat Austin.
Court workers tell Action News Russian and Vietnamese translators are needed the most. That's in addition to Spanish translators like Armijo..
"(My clients) are always thankful," Armijo says. "I just explain to them that that's my job... and I do it gladly."
State grants do help pay some of the costs of interpreters, but as the costs rise, state money is often not enough to help our courts.
There are very few places where communication is as important as it is in a courtroom.
Each day, hundreds of people come to court to solve life's chaotic curveballs, and it's Ana Armijo's job to make sure all is not lost in translation.
"Some days I can start out in Franklin County, come over to Benton County, go back to Franklin County, and then go back to Benton County," she tells KEPR.
As a court interpreter, Armijo's clients range from small time crooks to suspected murderers; all of whom don't know a word of English.
Here in the Tri-Cities, its becoming the norm rather than the exception, especially as our area blossoms in a melting pot of different cultures and different languages.
Not many people speak Burmese or Farsi, so you can imagine the challenge for local courts when people who speak those languages are still entitled to justice.
Last year, our local courts spent more than $70,000 on interpreters. That was nearly $10,000 more than in 2011. The spike in costs come as more foreign languages pop-up in our courts, causing a shortage of local interpreters. To tackle the problem, the courts often bring-in outside help, causing costs to soar.
"You're having to pay for their travel and their lodging, and that adds to the expenses," says Benton Court Supervisor Pat Austin.
Court workers tell Action News Russian and Vietnamese translators are needed the most. That's in addition to Spanish translators like Armijo..
"(My clients) are always thankful," Armijo says. "I just explain to them that that's my job... and I do it gladly."
State grants do help pay some of the costs of interpreters, but as the costs rise, state money is often not enough to help our courts.
Like others have already stated, this article is rife with misconceptions and harmful assumptions. The ignorant descriptions of people requesting linguistic services are plain wrong and the author should be embarrassed by his perpetuation of stereo-types. Sad to see this in 2013.
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I echo Judy Jenner's and disappointed reader's words. While translators and interpreters continuously strive for more awareness and proper understanding of our profession, it is certainly frustrating to read such a stereotype from this media publication. And again, please, please, please, get it right with the interpretation/interpreter vs translation/translator definition. We would greatly appreciate it!
Stereotypes are dissapointed when printed in by professional journalists in well know media outlets such as KEPR. Your reference to litigants using interpreter services as murder suspects and crooks--is more a reflection of the courts not providing interpreters in civil cases as they are required to do under the 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VI--than as a trait of those who don't speak English. Please don't assume that all person who are limited English proficient are a) immigrants, b) undocumented, c) don't speak English. Those are other fallacies/stereotypes/over generalizations that those ignorant of census data tend to make. Moreover, even in criminal court where maybe the courts are trying to accomodate langauge needs I am certain that there are victms of crime that also use interpreting system. Did you look for that data?Race and language neutral are to crime/violence. Because our enforcement of laws is not color blind, and discrimination, racism and ignorance abound in Benton County in 2013, as this article exemplifies,larger groups of minorities and persons who are protected under a law 46+ years old (Civil Rights act) have a higher likelihood of finding themselves as alleged murderers or alleged crooks. Remember, in our democracy, being charged w/a crime does not make you a criminal.
While it is nice to see some more media coverage about the demanding work of certified court interpreters, I am dumbfounded by the author's bold statement that "Armijo's clients range from small time crooks to suspected murderers; all of whom don't know a word of English." Really? Is there any data to back this up? Not a word of English? This article is certainly not the finest work of journalism I've read in the recent past (to put it mildly). As a certified court interpreter and someone who's very active in the profession, I would like to point out that most defendants (and plaintiffs, because not all people who need interpreters are defendants!) usually do have a basic understanding of the language and can speak some English. However, they also have a constitutional and well-established right to an interpreter so justice can be served. I think it's a bit disturbing to make a categorical statement such as the one mentioned -- and it's bad journalism. And please, the language professionals who work in the courts assisting LEP (limited English proficiency) deal with the spoken word, not the written word. Therefore, these professionals are interpreters, not translators.Â