As courtrooms grow more diverse under 'zero tolerance,' difficulty finding interpreters leads to frustration

The San Diego Union Tribune reports:

A status hearing for a Ghanaian man accused of crossing the border illegally was abruptly cut short when the phone connection between the courtroom and Ashanti Twi interpreter on the line went dead. The defendant, who does not speak English, would have to come back to court the next day to try again.

At another hearing, a young Mexican woman also being prosecuted for illegal entry didn’t understand what was happening around her as she was seated in court. She needed a Mixteco interpreter, but the one on hand spoke a different dialect. Still, they pressed on, slowly attempting to explain the charges against her, with confusion and tears etched on her face.


Similar scenarios of communication breakdown have become commonplace in San Diego federal court as the Trump administration has vowed to treat every illegal border crossing as a crime under a “zero tolerance” policy.

Since the policy’s implementation in May, the demand for foreign language interpreters has spiked, but filling the need has not been easy.

The increased caseload has led to logistical problems in court, frustrations as defense attorneys struggle to communicate basic legal concepts to their clients, and concern among the defense bar that due process is being skirted.

Several prosecutions have been dismissed this summer due to language issues.

The invasion of the non-English speakers....