Trump administration cancels translation services for those seeking to access or correct their immigration status

The Trump administration will no longer provide translation services for individuals or businesses calling the Homeland Security Department on questions related to their employment status or benefits, according to a memorandum obtained by Government Executive. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will cancel a contract that provides that translation capacity, the memo stated. Forthcoming instructions to employees, a summary of which was reviewed by Government Executive, directed employees to discontinue any call when they are not fluent in the caller’s language. Employees will not integrate the third-party vendor into the call to provide translation, nor will they transfer calls to other employees who may speak the caller’s language. 

Formal guidance was expected soon.

The contract termination, according to one employee affected by the change, will impact those who call with questions regarding programs such as E-Verify, which tracks individuals’ employment status, and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which federal, state and local entities, as well as other licensing agencies, use to determine individuals’ immigration status and their eligibility for benefits. Individuals, companies or agencies who call USCIS to inquire about discrepancies in work authorization papers, for example, or to correct errors will no longer have translation services available.

The contract, with Legal Interpreting Services, Inc., was set to last at least through November with the option to extend it through November 2026. USCIS has obligated $422,000 on the contract since it was awarded in 2022 and was  slated to spend up to $587,000. USCIS has previously exercised options to extend the contract and modified it to include additional translation time. 

Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel with the American Immigration Council, noted that SAVE provides immigration status verification to more than 1,100 agencies, while E-Verify is used by more than 5,000 employers. The databases those programs rely on are not always accurate or updated, he said. 

“Lack of interpretation services will only make it harder for many workers and families whose dominant language is not English from being able to correct immigration status errors in these databases,” Orozco said. “This risks people being wrongly denied benefits or being unfairly terminated from their jobs."

The agreement is part of a larger one DHS holds with the company, to which the department has obligated $3.6 million and is slated to spend up to $13.5 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent the most money on the contract, providing translation services to hurricane victims. USCIS has also tapped into the contract for its asylum division. The fate of those awards was not immediately clear. 

A memo to USCIS staff said the agency had been directed to complete a comprehensive review of the rationale for each contract. As a result of that review, the director’s office determined the translation contract should be terminated. Trump this week nominated Joseph Edlow to serve as head of USCIS, who led the agency in an acting capacity at the end of the president’s first term. Trump last month tapped Kika Scott, a long-time career DHS executive, to lead USCIS in the meantime.

USCIS did not respond to requests for comment.