16 The Linguist Vol/56 No/6 2017
www.ciol.org.uk
FEATURES
How do the ever-shifting immigration policies of the US President
impact on the country's translation industry, asks Terena Bell
O
n 27 January 2017, the US President
Donald Trump signed an executive
order putting a 90-day hold on visas
for people from seven countries: Iran, Iraq,
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It's
easy to see how this might affect translation.
This executive order promised to keep out the
'terrorists' by banning immigration from
countries that pose the greatest security threat
to the United States, according to the Trump
Administration. Of course, it could also keep
out everyone who understands what potential
terrorists from those countries might be
saying, as the languages spoken in these
countries – Maay Maay Somali, Sudanese
Arabic and so forth – aren't frequently taught
in American schools. As if to prove the point,
a US Army interpreter was among the people
who were en route to the United States
while the order was being signed and were
detained after landing.
Ask industry leaders, though, how Trump's
ever-shifting immigration policies might
impact on interpreting and translation in the
US, and the message seems to be 'nothing
to see here; move along'. Nevertheless, the
day the order went through, members of the
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters
and Translators (NAJIT) did step up, providing
free services to the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) attorneys representing
detainees. The Iraqi Arabic interpreter
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who interpreted for
the 101st Airborne for 10 years, was released
on 27 January (the day he was detained).
At the request of Red T, a non-profit that
works to protect interpreters in high-risk areas,
the NAJIT co-signed an open letter to the
President on 31 January: "As representatives
The Trump effect
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