“How can he meaningfully participate if he doesn’t know what’s being said and he cannot communicate?” said a judge about the case back on July 9
A deaf Mongolian asylum seeker detained for months in Southern California without access to a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter has been released from federal immigration custody, his family confirmed to local media.
The man, identified as “Avirmed” at his family’s request due to concerns of retaliation by the Mongolian government, had been held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center since February.
His release came after a federal judge ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated his civil rights by failing to provide an interpreter, thereby preventing him from meaningfully participating in his asylum proceedings, as Cal Matters reports.
Judge Dana Sabraw of the U.S. Southern District of California ordered ICE on July 9 to provide Avirmed with a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter and redo two key assessments—the first evaluating his mental health, the second assessing whether he has a credible fear of returning to Mongolia.
“How can he meaningfully participate if he doesn’t know what’s being said and he cannot communicate?” Sabraw asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Dimbleby at the time, to which Dimbleby answered that many people don’t fully understand the legal proceedings in immigration court.
