That article reminds us of a recent situation we encountered. We had a client seeking asylum in a somewhat remote location in the United States who requested Triqui interpretation. We were about to provide a Triqui interpreter over the phone for telephonic interpretation, given that in-person interpretation in such a remote location was not really possible for the client. However, at the last minute, the asylum office decided that they did not allow telephonic interpretation. There could be any number of reasons for the telephonic interpretation cancellation. Yet, these incidents have got us thinking. What rights do non-citizens have in the United States, especially in regards to translation and interpretation?

According to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, any program that receives Federal funds or financial assistance cannot discriminate based on race, color, or national origin of a person; this also means that these programs must provide access to people with limited English proficiency. Read more about Title VI here and more about Title VI and LEP services here.

However, Title VI does not provide an all-encompassing solution. Service providers are only required to take “reasonable steps” to give access to their programs to LEP individuals. Whatever the case, non-citizens do have the right to request language assistance from Federally-funded institutions. Non-citizen’s rights to have access to translation and interpretation is a basic human need for communication. We at Monterey Language Services are all for supporting the human rights that non-citizens deserve to have in whatever format that interpretation would be conducted, be it in-person, by phone, or over video.

This blog post is our first attempt to look into non-citizen rights to translators and interpreters, so stay tuned for more to come!

I was representing Monterey Language Services, making a company presentation at a client site.  The name “Monterey Language Services” pleasantly and surprisingly initiated a big discussion.    ~By Mei-Ling Chen

Why are we called “Monterey Language Services”?  The answers from the audience included:

• We are located in Monterey County.
• John Steinbeck wrote a lot about Cannery Row in Monterey.
• Everybody knows Monterey.
• When asked where you live and you say Monterey, everyone knows which city you are referring to.

The answers began to branch out further:

• The Monterey area is famous for languages because of several renowned higher education language institutions, such as Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and Defense Language Institute (DLI).
•  Monterey showcases the language history of the area.  Immigrants of almost every ethnicity worked in Cannery Row.
• ·Monterey has the unofficial title of the language capital of the world.

The name “Monterey Language Services” does have its significance to us, just like names such as Oxford, Napa and The Hague have international significance as authorities on academics, wine, and law.

Because of the name, and the fact that many of us are trained and educated here, we are driven to provide high-quality translation and interpretation services. We are committed to keeping high quality as the leading force in the translation and interpretation services industry.

The name “Monterey Language Services” inspires us to serve the community, as well as every other part of the nation and world.  With this commitment in mind, it is no wonder that the name Monterey Language Services attracted so much interest among the audience whom I met locally yesterday.

What a wonderful time to start a new year!  We wish everyone a successful year to come!