Latino members of Congress seek changes in translations of immigration documents
Rep. Robert Garcia wants to change a policy requiring congressional offices provide certified translations of non-English documents they’re filing on behalf of immigrant constituents.
Feb. 20, 2024, 2:18 PM CST By Nicole Acevedo
Latino members of Congress want U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to waive an internal policy requiring their congressional offices provide USCIS with certified translations of non-English documents they’re filing on behalf of immigrant constituents, according to a letter first obtained by NBC News.
Congressional offices often help constituents with immigration- related issues such as “inquiring for status updates and requesting expedited processing for citizenship cases, DACA renewals, permanent resident cards, work permits” and more, according to the letter.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who spearheaded this effort, said that most immigrants his office helps only speak Spanish, meaning that his staff spends many hours ensuring constituents have access to USCIS forms in Spanish, but then also translating their Spanish-language answers and documents to English before submitting them to USCIS, as required by its current internal policy.
Garcia said that while they’re happy to help constituents with translations, the USCIS requirement greatly limits his office’s ability to help more people, effectively placing “a huge barrier to folks trying to navigate the system and do things the right way.”
“We want to make sure USCIS is handling this process,” Garcia added. “Right now, we have middlemen that are doing translations.”
In the letter sent to USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou on Tuesday, Garcia and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus argue that such English-language translations should be done internally by USCIS.
“Utilizing the language skills of USCIS officials to translate documents within the agency would improve accuracy, eliminate burdens on constituents, and save congressional staff many hours of translating documents on behalf of constituents,” the letter reads. “While we recognize the administrative challenge associated with enacting this change, we firmly believe that it is a necessary and much-needed step.”
According to the letter, around 9% of people in the U.S. — over 25 million people — have limited English proficiency, and of these, over 16 million speak primarily Spanish.
For Garcia, this issue is also personal. An immigrant from Peru, Garcia came to the U.S. with his family as a child and became a U.S. citizen as a young adult in his 20s. Garcia recalls enduring “a really difficult process” as a Spanish-speaking immigrant adapting to a new homeland, learning English and navigating the complex immigration system in his second language.
“As we continue to have these conversations about the border and immigration, this just needs to be a part of it,” Garcia said. “The federal government is doing a huge disservice to the Spanish-speaking community and people that are trying to legally navigate the immigration process.”
NBC News has reached out to USCIS for comment on the letter.