For some people, immigration seems easy. It is planned … For many others, it is not easy, not planned, and most of the time sudden and uncertain. They barely have time to gather their documents and essential belongings. I know people who always carry their documents with them because they don’t know when or if they will go back home. They don’t even know if they won’t find their house burned down when they return.

As asylum applications are subjected to increased scrutiny and over 60,000 people are currently detained by ICE, we are seeing a dramatic increase in immigration detention cases and deportation defense cases, which has reshaped the nature of our work. As the needs on the frontlines shift, our mission remains the same: ensuring that everyone navigating the carceral immigration system has access to language support.

In the United States, many immigrant women and underserved families face enormous barriers to healthcare access. For some, health insurance is financially out of reach. For others, language barriers create fear, confusion, or mistrust within medical systems. And, in reproductive healthcare settings, those barriers can become even more urgent and dangerous.

Working on multilingual community health projects is often described in terms of coordination, timelines, and deliverables. But the reality of this work is also emotional, relational, and deeply human.

For the recent Community Health Assessment project with Contra Costa County Public Health, my role was to support …

Looking at the state of the language industry right now so often can make us, as language activists, feel defeated, hopeless, even horrified. LinkedIn is full of stories about how AI is going to take our jobs, screenshots of exploitative agencies offering fake translation jobs or, when they’re real, rates that are completely inhumane. Governments and institutions across the globe …

by Ayah Najadat
As a language practitioner and activist at Respond Crisis Translation, I often find myself standing between bureaucratic systems and the humanity buried beneath them. Words – or the absence of the right words – can carry life or death consequences. Over time, I have learned that words are never impartial…

In Western Europe, linguistic diversity is a fact. Linguistic justice is not. Every day, people around the world interact with immigration services, hospitals, courts, and schools, without understanding the language spoken. The consequences are often severe …

My journey with Respond Crisis Translation began after I graduated with a degree in English Translation in Gaza. I had heard so much about Respond’s supportive and empowering environment through online platforms and translator communities, …

Linguists with Respond Crisis Translation participated in interviewing and sharing their expertise in this research article titled “Held Incommunicado: The Failed Promise of Language Access in Immigration Detention.”