Deaf Mongolian immigrant held by ICE in Otay Mesa for months without access to interpreter

The Otay Mesa Detention Center operated by CoreCivic Photo by Adrian Childress Times of San Diego A deaf Mongolian man has spent more than four months in a Southern California immigrant detention center without the opportunity to communicate with anyone who understands Mongolian Sign Language according to his civil rights attorney He s basically been in solitary confinement because he has not had one person literally speak to him in Mongolian Sign Language for the entirety of the time that he s been in proceedings and detained commented his attorney Alegr a De La Cruz director of litigation for the Disability Rights Legal Center U S Southern District of California Judge Dana Sabraw this week ordered bureaucrats at the Otay Mesa Detention Center to provide him with a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter The judge also directed immigration administration to redo two assessments that could affect his request for asylum One would examine his mental healthcare and the other would evaluate whether he has a credible fear for his safety if he returns to his country How can he meaningfully participate if he doesn t know what s being disclosed and he cannot communicate Sabraw solicited a federal attorney at the hearing on Wednesday Assistant U S Attorney Erin Dimbleby revealed numerous people don t fully understand the legal proceedings in immigration court The man s family requested that CalMatters identify him by the name Avirmed because of their fear that he could be harmed by the Mongolian governing body if he is returned to his home country Avirmed s detention after seeking asylum underscores the sharp shift in perimeter policies from the Biden administration to Trump s Under Biden asylum seekers who were not threats to society safety were often circulated on bond rather than being detained while their cases moved through immigration court The Trump administration has taken a much stricter approach with detention numbers reaching record highs a tactic his supporters say is working Since President Donald Trump took office unauthorized territory line crossings have plummeted to historic lows But Avirmed s representation by the Disability Rights Legal Center also shows how particular immigrant advocates are changing tactics in response to the Trump administration s immigration crackdown In this development they re drawing on federal disability laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities by any federal campaign including the immigration court system The Trump administration recognizes its own power and it can be very dangerous unless someone checks it the way the judge did noted Sylvia Torres-Guillen the president and CEO of the organization Key ICE interviews without interpreters Avirmed left Mongolia early this year and entered the U S in February seeking asylum from persecution because of his disability A assault in Mongolia left him with a traumatic brain injury that causes seizures and memory loss He was attacked because of his disability according to court records His family declined to say how he reached the U S A legal complaint filed on his behalf says Avirmed gave frontier bureaucrats a letter written in Mongolian and translated into English notifying them of his disability and his intent to seek asylum Customs and Perimeter Protection agents refused to read or accept the letter his attorneys allege in the complaint against the Department of Homeland Prevention Agents transferred him to Immigration and Customs Enforcement where he was placed in detention at the for-profit Otay Mesa Detention Center run by CoreCivic where he is still being held Agents interviewed him without an attorney or sign language interpreter and tried using Google Translate to ask him if he feared returning to Mongolia according to the complaint They badly misunderstood him identifying his sponsor as a daughter named Virginia Washington when he does not have a daughter according to the lawsuit His sponsor is his sister who lives in Virginia Avirmed also underwent a mental healthcare evaluation without any interpretation which the judge ordered ICE to repeat saying he has a right to be involved where he understands and can respond and communicate and be part of the process not a bystander California authorities have been critical of mental robustness information in ICE detention centers By law they have access to inspect federal immigration detention facilities An April record from California s Attorney General s office documented what it described as severely inadequate mental medical care services inside ICE facilities No facilities consistently offered adequate psychotherapy services for the mental wellbeing conditions the bulk commonly observed in detainee populations in California the description states naming detention centers in Imperial and San Diego counties that California leaders identified to have behavioral fitness staffing vacancies The companies that operate the detention centers contested the attorney general s findings with one calling the analysis an example of a politicized campaign to interfere with deportation efforts Like Greek to me Avirmed has no criminal record According to ICE s material which shows less than or out of people now detained at Otay Mesa have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor Sabraw the judge agreed with De La Cruz and Avirmed s other attorneys that the -year-old man was likely unable to understand what was happening during earlier proceedings so they should be repeated with an interpreter and in a language he understands He has a right doesn t he To be able to fully participate in any crucial proceeding Sabraw sought Dimbleby MSL Mongolian Sign Language is not a super common language Dimbleby argued at one point For future proceedings the federal ruling body had proposed providing Avirmed a relay squad that would allow him to testify through a certified deaf interpreter The interpreter would then translate the testimony into American Sign Language and then the ASL would be translated into spoken English Under this relay proposal everyone would understand except for Mr Avirmed Sabraw pointed out The judge disclosed the leadership s plan does not allow Avirmed to participate in court proceedings because he does not understand English or ASL That s like speaking Greek to me Sabraw noted CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable