Language Justice in Action: Translating the ICE Watch Legal Website into Hmong, Somali, and Spanish
At Respond Crisis Translation (RCT), we believe that access to information should never depend on the language someone speaks.
That belief guided our recent partnership with ICE Watch Legal, where our multilingual teams translated the organization's entire website into Hmong, Somali, and Spanish. The project expanded access to critical immigration-related information for communities that are too often excluded from English-only resources.
While the final product may appear simple “a website available in multiple languages”, the work behind it reflects the dedication, coordination, and community commitment required to make language access a reality.
Building Access from the Ground Up
When ICE Watch Legal reached out to RCT as a new partner, the organization was looking for support in making its resources accessible to a broader audience. The need was clear: community members deserve access to important information in languages they understand.
As the Multilingual Project Coordinator at RCT, I was responsible for organizing and coordinating the project across multiple language teams. Before translation could begin, the website content had to be extracted and organized into a translation-friendly format. Once the content was prepared, translators, reviewers, and language leads worked together to ensure consistency, accuracy, and cultural relevance across all three languages.
Tim Phillips, an attorney and ICE Watch Legal collaborator, shared:
“Know-your-rights information isn’t as helpful if it only reaches part of the community. Translating this site into Hmong, Somali, and Spanish was about making sure the people most affected by federal enforcement in Minnesota could actually use the guidance we were offering.”
From assigning linguists and coordinating timelines to proofreading and final review, every step required collaboration across teams. Despite the scope of the project, we completed the work in less than one month, allowing ICE Watch Legal to begin sharing multilingual resources with the communities they serve sooner than anticipated.
More Than a Translation Project
What makes this project particularly meaningful is that it was completed without dedicated funding.
The translators, reviewers, and coordinators who contributed to this effort donated their time, expertise, and energy because they understood the importance of making this information accessible. Their commitment demonstrates the power of community-driven collaboration and the belief that language access should not be limited by an organization's budget.
Too often, community organizations are forced to choose between providing essential services and investing in multilingual accessibility. This project demonstrates what is possible when organizations come together around a shared mission.
The partnership between RCT and ICE Watch Legal reflects a simple but powerful idea: access to information is a community responsibility.
Why Language Justice Matters
Language justice is about more than translating words from one language to another. It is about ensuring that people can access information that affects their lives, families, and communities. It is about recognizing that meaningful access requires more than simply publishing information, it requires making that information understandable, culturally relevant, and available in the languages people use every day.
For many immigrant families, access to accurate information can influence important decisions and help them better understand available resources and support systems. When information exists only in English, barriers remain. When information is available in multiple languages, more people can engage with it, understand it, and use it.
Language access helps build trust, strengthens community connections, and creates opportunities for people to participate more fully in the decisions that affect their lives.
At a time when many communities are seeking reliable information and support, multilingual access has never been more important.
A Collective Effort
This project would not have been possible without the dedication of the Hmong, Somali, and Spanish language teams who contributed their expertise throughout the translation and review process.
Their work reflects the values that guide Respond Crisis Translation every day: collaboration, accessibility, community care, and a commitment to ensuring that language is never a barrier to information.
One of our Hmong translators shared:
“I participated in this project because translation is an important part of my daily work and an opportunity to keep learning while helping others. To me, language justice means fairness, making sure everyone has access to information and is treated equally, regardless of the language they speak. Projects like this matter because they help people stay informed, understand current issues, and avoid being disadvantaged by language barriers. I hope these translations help community members navigate daily life and better understand the situations that affect them.”
Reflecting on the importance of language access, Tim Phillips shared:
““We built ICE Watch Legal because people needed fast, reliable answers. Language access is part of that. It doesn’t do as much good to have the right information if it’s not in a language someone can read in the moment they need it.””
Looking Ahead
The completion of this project marks the beginning of a new partnership and an important step toward expanding access to multilingual resources.
As the demand for language access continues to grow, so does the need for sustained support for translation, interpretation, and community-centered communication. Projects like this are only possible because of the people who believe that everyone deserves access to information in a language they understand.
We are proud of what was accomplished in less than a month, and we are grateful to every translator, reviewer, coordinator, and partner who contributed to making this work possible.
Together, we are helping build a future where language is not a barrier, but a bridge.
By
Danielle Josyle
RCT Multilingual Projects Coordinator