Respond Blog

Partners Andrea Vargas Partners Andrea Vargas

Human beings don’t belong in cages

Yet Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) imprisons tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and other noncitizens every day, just because of their immigration status. These “civil detention” facilities dotted throughout the United States are notorious for their unsanitary conditions, rampant abuse, violent conduct, negligent and…

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Language in Action Ariel Koren Language in Action Ariel Koren

Meet Elizabeth, a budding Kaqchikel interpreter and ICE detention survivor fighting for language access

When I asked Elizabeth the word for freedom in Kaqchikel, her native Mayan language spoken in Guatemala , she told me there is no direct equivalent. She provided her own poetic translation: Nq'isamuj' y manq'i pahe tu'j which translates to: “luchar sin detenerse” - ¨to fight without being stopped¨…

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