“Language justice goes beyond simply providing interpretation or translation. Language justice is about centering the dignity of those impacted,” writes Chi-Ser Tran, Supervising Attorney in the SSI Unit and Language Access Project at CLS.
In this article, written for MIE, Chi-Ser shares her experience of caring for her father through an illness, describing how the language services that were provided lacked the dignity that would have made a huge difference for her family. Chi-Ser also shares some of the ways that the Language Access Project at CLS works to implement systemic change for limited English proficient (LEP) communities, within court and governmental agencies as well as CLS’s own legal services.
Dignity in language access includes ensuring that the translations provided are understandable and accurate, in an individual’s preferred language, and made with translators and native speakers rather than machines. “Communities that are linguistically marginalized are often the most isolated and at risk, as they have difficulty accessing services and benefits,” says Chi-Ser.
