Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effects of Lesser Spoken Language Access in Immigration Court

拟议的研究探讨如何稀缺的口译服务形状获得公正的移民法院通过民族志案例研究。 虽然被告有权在所有听证会上获得口译员，但很少有较少使用或罕见语言的口译服务。因此，答复者经常放弃口译服务。该研究分析了法庭当局如何在当地优质语言服务仍然有限的情况下，努力维护规定最佳做法的语言使用计划。该研究通过第一人称访谈和对法庭程序的观察，将语言和沟通理论应用于机构政策。从一年多的初步实地调查的结论扩展，研究观察如何（1）翻译资源的稀缺性创造了法官，律师和非政府法律的援助之间的劳动经济，以帮助受访者理解诉讼程序;（2）有限的语言服务的法庭空间允许移民法官创新沟通策略，以弥补受访者的理解差距;（3）在有限的资源压力下，法官依据机构和个人对语言的信念和语言理解来决定是否需要口译服务。这种长期的人种学研究移民法院将有助于社会法学和人类学奖学金的流动性和公民身份的审查语言访问在移民裁决的关键组成部分。

The proposed research examines how scarcity of interpreting services shapes access to justice in immigration courts through an ethnographic case study. Though respondents have a right to an interpreter at all hearings, interpreting services for lesser spoken or rare languages are minimally available. As a result, respondents frequently waive interpretation services. The research analyzes how courtroom authorities attempt to uphold language access plans that prescribe best practices while availability of quality language services remains limited on the ground. The research applies language and communication theory to institutional policies through first person interviews and observations of courtroom proceedings. Expanding on conclusions from over a year of preliminary fieldwork, the research observes how (1) scarcity of interpreting resources creates an economy of labor between judges, lawyers, and non-government legal aid to help respondents understand proceedings; (2) courtroom spaces with limited language services allow immigration judges to innovate communicative strategies to compensate for gaps in respondent understanding; (3) under the pressure of limited resources, judges rely on both institutional and personal beliefs about language, and linguistic comprehension, to make decisions about the necessity of interpreting services. This long term ethnographic study of immigration court will contribute to sociolegal and anthropological scholarship on mobility and citizenship by examining the critical component of language access in immigration adjudication.