The Trump administration has directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end language translation services for people calling for information about their immigration or employment status or their benefits.
In keeping with his March 1 order making English the official language of the United States, the president has directed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to cancel a contract with a translation service provider, according to Government Executive magazine.
The translation service was offered to migrants calling the department for information about their status under E-Verify and other government programs.
The administration is also now directing agency call center employees to terminate any call from a caller who can’t make his needs known in English.
The formal guidelines are forthcoming, the administration notes.
The termination of the Legal Interpreting Services, Inc., is part of the administration’s government wide comprehensive review of the rationale for each contract it pays out. The translation service for USCIS would have cost upwards to $587,000 on a contract that was first awarded in 2022, the magazine added.
DHS also has a wider contract with Legal Interpreting Services costing the government about $3.6 million. It is not yet known if these translation services will also be targeted for cancellation in other departments.
USCIS has made no public statement on the cancellation of its translation services.
Advocates for illegal aliens say that the cancellation of the translation service will complicate the lives of migrants.
“Lack of interpretation services will only make it harder for many workers and families whose dominant language is not English from being able to correct immigration status errors in these databases,” said American Immigration Council representative Adriel Orozco. “This risks people being wrongly denied benefits or being unfairly terminated from their jobs.”
The president signed an executive order this month making English the official language of the United States, a move many advocates have been wanting for decades.
“A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language,” Trump’s March 1 order reads.
Trump’s order specifically noted that “new Americans” must be “encouraged” to learn English “to achieve the American dream.”
“Speaking English not only opens doors economically, but it helps newcomers engage in their communities, participate in national traditions, and give back to our society,” the order noted.
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