US Courts and Immigration at Loss for Words with Need for Mayan Language Translation

The United States has always been home to large waves of immigration, and the government has systems in place to help those who arrived. United States immigration officials provide interpreters in hundreds of languages, such as Chinese, Haitian Creole, Arabic and especially, Spanish. With that said, indigenous Mayan languages, such as Mam, K’iche’ (Qhiché) and Q’anjob’al (Kanjobal) — which hail from Guatemala — are now in the top 25 most commonly spoken languages in the US immigration courts.

It's not uncommon for speakers of these languages not to speak Spanish, putting them at a great disadvantage when dealing with the US legal system and their respective cases.

USCIS courts across the country have seen a steady rise in speakers of indigenous Guatemalan languages during the last half decade, as affirmed by the US government. The list of rare indigenous languages that are stumping the US court system has continued to grow, now including Zapotec, Mixtec, Ixil and Popti, languages from southern Mexico and Central America.

Do you need help with Mayan language interpretation? Idiomatic USA provides interpretation and translation services in many of these languages. Please feel free to get in touch here!