Trump administration ending in-person interpreters at immigrants’ first hearings

Photo courtesy of Executive Office for Immigration Review website

Tal Kopan for the San Francisco Chronicle broke a story about a policy change with potential due process implications for noncitizens in the beleaguered immigration court system.

The Trump administration plans to replace in-court interpreters at initial immigration court (“master calendar”)  hearings with videos informing asylum seekers and other immigrants facing deportation of their rights.  It is a cost-saving measure.   Advocates for immigrants are concerned that the new procedure could jeopardize their due-process rights, add confusion and potentially make the system less efficient by causing more of them to go underground or appeal cases.

The Justice Department informed the nation’s immigration judges of the change last month at a training session, multiple sources familiar with the situation told The Chronicle.

KJ