Bridging a linguistic and cultural divide in a humanitarian crisis

The situation within the detention facilities throughout the United States is a humanitarian crisis as evidenced by multiple international human rights violations. For the detained children who are separated from or arrive without their parents, the situation is even more dire. Within detention centers, children are deprived of proper medical attention, food, and water. In addition to the stress of the situation, they are often not provided the legal resources to guide them through the process. A patchwork solution that will be explored in this thesis is the role that medical interpreters could play in relaying to staff what is required in terms of medical care, and the role of legal interpreters in acting as a language translator between the young clients, their legal counsel, and the officials presiding over legal proceedings. These have the potential to provide a small improvement in outcomes, though lasting major effects will not occur without comprehensive immigration reform.