I Am Happy That I Can Be That Voice of Help
How Respond’s Kreyòl Interpreters Are Assisting Haitian Migrants at the Southern Border
by Laura Wagner
Many of you have probably seen the horrifying photos from Del Rio, Texas: U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback, chasing Haitian migrants as they attempted to cross the Rio Grande. For Haitian observers and anyone familiar with Haitian history, the significance of these images cannot be overstated: armed U.S. authorities, clad in cowboy hats, whipping Black people whose ancestors overthrew their enslavers more than 200 years ago.
They crossed the river, their babies in their arms and their scant belongings in plastic bags. In previous decades, Haitian refugees attempted the perilous sea voyage from Haiti to Miami, but for the last several years, most have come to the U.S.-Mexico border instead. After the 2010 earthquake, which killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced perhaps 1.5 million more, Haitians traveled to Brazil and later Chile, seeking the same thing everyone wants: stability, security, the ability to take care of the people they love. But as economic and social prospects have worsened, amid COVID-19, anti-Black violence, and, in the case of Brazil, mounting fascism, many Haitians have decided to chèche lavi -- to seek a decent, livable life elsewhere. (While the U.S. immigration system draws a line between "economic migrants" and "political asylum-seekers," there is no clear division, and never has been.)
In the midst of this unfolding atrocity, Respond Crisis Translation offers compassionate, skilled, trauma-informed interpretation and translation for Haitian asylum seekers at the border and beyond, as well as the organizations that serve them. If no one explains to migrants and asylum-seekers what their rights are, they may not know they have rights to begin with. If migrants and asylum-seekers are deprived the opportunity to tell their stories -- thoroughly, in detail, in their native language -- it can mean the difference between life and death. Respond's interpretation and translation work makes it possible for organizations like Haitian Bridge Alliance, Al Otro Lado, RAICES, and so many others to assist, protect, and advocate for Haitian migrants. In other words, if we don't have the resources to do our job, they cannot do theirs.
In addition to our regular interpretation and translation work, The Kreyòl (Haitian Creole) team has undertaken several special and longer-term projects in recent weeks, in collaboration with our partner organizations.
Nadege Chérubin provided simultaneous English-Kreyòl interpretation so that Haitian clients could understand a hearing in Al Otro Lado v. Mayorkas, a case that challenges the government's policy of turning back asylum-seekers at the border.
Respond's Kreyòl-speakers have spent dozens of hours working with Al Otro Lado, conducting intakes for Haitian families seeking humanitarian parole.
As of last week, we have begun providing interpretation for Haitian Bridge Alliance's newly-launched Temporary Protected Status (TPS) clinics.
In the past three days, we have done same-day emergency English-to-Kreyòl and Spanish-to-Kreyòl translations for FWD, the California Welcoming Task Force, and ImmDef, all of whom are providing urgent information to Haitian migrants at the border.
Because families must apply for TPS, asylum, and humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis, we are committed to doing this work for the long haul.
Haitian migrants fleeing South America travel, mainly on foot, through Peru, Ecuador, Colombia. At the Darién Gap, which separates Colombia from Panama, they must cross a dense jungle filled with snakes, thieves, drug traffickers, and human smugglers, where women are raped and children die from gastrointestinal infections. Last month, more than 20,000 people crossed the Darién Gap, according to Panamanian authorities. Most of those people were from Haiti.
If they are lucky enough to make it through, they still need to cross Central America and Mexico, where they face hostile border authorities in multiple countries, linguistic exclusion (many Haitians speak little, if any, Spanish), the inability to work legally, and anti-Black, anti-Haitian racism.
Some will reach the Promised Land, struggling against the river's current... and against a world that has never given them a fair chance. What they are doing -- entering a country, seeking humanitarian protection -- is completely legal. As punishment for this legal act, they are pursued by men on horseback and whipped like runaway slaves -- and will most likely be sent back to Haiti. After their long and terrifying trek, they will be forced back to a country still reeling from last month's earthquake and the political fallout of President Jovenel Moïse's assassination. Deporting Haitians, or anyone else, without due process is illegal. But the government has chosen to weaponize and distort Title 42, a public health order that has been in effect since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to deny migrants their right to due process.
Not even a year ago, Joe Biden visited the Little Haiti Cultural Center in Miami, promising to reform the Trump administration's racist, discriminatory immigration policy. “You know, there’s an expression I often use. I say, ‘There’s no ‘quit’ in America,'" he declared. "Well, there’s clearly no ‘quit’ in the Haitian community!… And I promise you there’ll be no ‘quit’ on my part as your president, making sure the Haitian community has an even shot, gets back on its feet, and moves in the direction to be able to realize its incredible, incredible potential.” Biden even acknowledged that “The Haitian community, by itself, could determine the outcome of this election… So not only do you have an opportunity, I think you have an obligation to see to it you take care of the folks you care so much about. Because I promise you, I give you my word as a Biden, I’ll be there. I’ll stand with you.”
Despite his promises, Biden's administration continues to deport thousands of people, including small children, to Haiti. (When a federal judge ordered the government to stop expelling migrants under Title 42, the Biden administration, incredibly, appealed the order.) At the same time, citing political instability, the administration also redesignated Temporary Protected Status for Haitians who were already in the US. "Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," stated Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In other words, the situation is bad enough that Haitians who happened to already be in the US can stay, but it's not so bad that the government can't deport thousands of families who have trekked the length of the Americas in search of a better life.
In the face of these many challenges and injustices, Respond plays a crucial role in ensuring that the rights of Haitian migrants are respected.
"What motivates me is knowing that I’ve helped countless families," says Carmen, one of Respond's interpreters. "I can sleep better knowing that I’ve helped someone better understand their situation and that their race and nationality didn’t stop them from getting the help they needed."
With our support, asylum-seekers "are able to find support from lawyers and others," says Johanne, another interpreter. "We are helping others and it’s amazingly humbling to be able to do that."
"When a person does not fully understand a language, the interpreter becomes their voice," Carmen adds. "I am happy that I can be that voice of help, helping clients accurately convey their story, or understand the choices they have to make or making them understand what is next for them on their journey to the United States, playing a part in a client’s success in TPS/T-42 form so they are accepted for their entry to the United States, helping someone understand their rights in court…. The responsibilities of an interpreter can be big, but the rewards can be even greater."
Many of Respond's Kreyòl interpreters are immigrants themselves. "As an immigrant, I am aware of the challenges my people face and also the inequities of the migration process," says Jo-Ann. "Respond is working to bridge the gap between those most vulnerable and more fortunate like myself by playing a key role in their migration journey."
Indeed, our team members who live in Haiti experience some of the same political and economic insecurity that has led our Kreyòl-speaking clients to flee.
"I am a Haiti-based interpreter," Carmen continues. "I really do love my job, including its challenges! Through the course of what I do, I’m lucky to meet some very interesting people and it doesn’t feel like going to work. For me, it feels as if I’m meeting someone new, someone vulnerable who, through working with brilliant, multidisciplinary support teams, I’m helping to get the right outcome and enabling them to live a better life… Receiving payment for doing something I love is great, especially in a country where it is very hard to get a decent/respectable job... Respond has given me a great opportunity to get my life back on track after voluntarily deporting myself due to not having papers. Once I started getting paid for my labor, I was given another chance to survive in a country where finding work is almost insurmountable."
Some of our interpreters, both in the US and in Haiti, are experiencing new vulnerability due to the pandemic. "My financial situation has changed drastically so I rely on getting paid work from them to help sustain myself and my son and continue helping my community," Jo-Ann explains.
"A lot of interpreters are immigrants too," says Karine. "It is good to see that the job they are doing is valorized not only with words, but with a salary that some of them never had before."
Jocelyne*, another interpreter, explains that being compensated allows her to devote more time to Respond than she could if she were a volunteer. "Being an immigrant, and having moved to the States in my forties, I had to work harder to achieve some type of stability." For her, the fact that she is able to help other Haitians is key. "It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to be able to help people in need and I feel grateful for my fellow Haitian people to have access to an organization like this."
As part of our commitment to language justice, Respond is determined to pay our Haitian interpreters, as well as other Black interpreters, Indigenous interpreters, and interpreters who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. As Nadege says, compensation "helps support a translation practitioner’s career, enabling them to make a living on a craft [they] are passionate about while serving a great cause for human dignity."
The urgent need for skilled, trauma-informed Kreyòl interpreters and translators is not going away anytime soon. Supporting our team allows them to continue to support Haitian migrants and asylum seekers for as long as the need exists.
* Pseudonym
