D - Contact with LEP Persons Outside the Courtroom

EOIR recognizes that it provides services outside of its courtrooms and is likewise committed to ensuring that people with LEP have meaningful access to these services. All EOIR staff may encounter people with LEP in the course of their official duties. 

Service Window  

EOIR has employees who are multilingual and can speak to people with LEP at service windows to provide basic information on an informal basis. At OCIJ service windows, EOIR provides "I Speak" cards to allow people with LEP to visually identify their language. Additionally, OCIJ service windows have a telephone positioned in the public area to allow in-person visitors to call the service desk with the assistance of telephonic interpreters. EOIR relies on contracted telephonic interpreter services to provide qualified interpreters for numerous languages on an unscheduled basis within three minutes of EOIR’s request. OCIJ and the BIA provide quick reference guides to staff with instructions to obtain a telephonic interpreter. Staff receive on-the-job training after entering on duty and refresher training as needed. 

Phone 

People with LEP routinely contact EOIR by telephone. All EOIR components and offices have access to the contracted telephonic interpreter services. Therefore, when people with LEP call one of the components or offices in the field or at EOIR headquarters, EOIR employees can obtain an interpreter in many languages. EOIR also maintains an automated toll-free phone service that provides respondents and their attorneys with specific information about their cases. This service is available in English and Spanish. All immigration courts, BIA, OGC, and OCAHO also have translated their automated messages into Spanish. [17]  

Correspondence 

People with LEP communicate with EOIR in writing. EOIR is capable of responding to correspondence it receives in a language other than English when sent to its non-adjudicatory components. This does not include comments to rulemaking. Regarding the adjudicating components, i.e., the immigration courts, the BIA, and OCAHO, the regulations allow an individual to submit a document in a foreign language, but it must be accompanied by a certified English translation. See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1003.2(g)(1), 1003.3(a) (3), 1003.33; 28 C.F.R. § 68.7(e). 

Language Services Unit 

EOIR is committed to providing accurate interpretations at its hearings. OCIJ’s Language Services Unit (LSU), manages all the interpreter services available at the immigration courts. The LSU continually strives to improve interpreter services. Since 2008, the LSU further enhanced biannual reviews of EOIR’s staff interpreters and established a quality assurance team that monitors contract interpreter performance. Also, in addition to its own review of interpreter quality, EOIR created a webpage that provides the public with instructions on how to file a complaint against an interpreter. [18] OCIJ also encourages its immigration judges to inform the LSU, through established reporting procedures, of interpretation concerns they observe during immigration proceedings. Following subsequent review or evaluation, appropriate actions may be taken to address any concerns. 

Legal Access Programs  

EOIR’s Legal Access Programs Team administers programs that, among others, provide respondents in immigration proceedings with basic information on immigration law and court procedures. The Legal Access Programs Team oversees contracts with non-governmental organizations to conduct individual and group orientation services that provide general information and follow-up services such as pro se self-help workshops and referrals for pro bono representation. 

If a respondent needs assistance because they have LEP, EOIR, by contract, requires the legal service provider to furnish the orientation materials in a language the respondent understands either verbally, through an interpreter or audio recording, or in writing. These providers have translated documents, such as pro se self-help materials, into many languages to provide meaningful access to those informational services.  

Legal service providers also must provide interpreters at individual and group orientations for people with LEP. 

Website  

EOIR recognizes that individuals are more frequently turning to the internet when seeking information about proceedings before EOIR. EOIR maintains several written materials in both English and Spanish on its website, including documents on how to avoid being a victim of fraud and how to submit a complaint about an immigration practitioner. Additionally, in October 2020, EOIR released its Immigration Court Online Resource (ICOR) in English and Spanish. ICOR is a web-based and mobile friendly tool that provides respondents, appellants, representatives, and other interested parties with a centralized location for resources pertaining to immigration proceedings before EOIR. ICOR provides information to help individuals learn about and prepare for immigration proceedings, including a tool to access general information about the forms of relief and protection from removal. In September 2021, EOIR released ICOR in four additional languages: Chinese, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Eastern Punjabi. Additionally, EOIR maintains an online Automated Case Information System that provides basic case-related information in both English and Spanish to individuals in removal proceedings. 

In December 2021, EOIR also released, Respondent Access, which provides unrepresented individuals in immigration proceedings before EOIR with the option to file change of contact information online and access to self-help tools. Respondent Access is currently available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Eastern Punjabi. 

[17] The BIA’s toll-free number is provided in English and Spanish. At this time, the BIA’s Telephonic Instructions and Procedures System (TIPS) line is only available in English.

[18] https://www.justice.gov/eoir/filing-a-complaint-regarding-an-immigration-court-interpreter.