Saturday, April 13, 2002
E.O. 13166's Farsi Fallacies
The Sunday, April 14th Washington Post "Outlook" section contains a story entitled "Lost in Translation: The Tale of a Tiny Tape" which notes that the FBI had insufficient translators of Farsi prior to September 11th and is still trying to rectify the situation with marginal success:
[The FBI testified]: "We have hired, since Oct. 1, 39 contract linguists -- 33 Arabic, four Farsi, and two Pashtu -- and another three language specialists. We have backgrounds completed with security adjudication pending on another 97. And we have 246 contract linguists going through background investigations currently. And that is, as I say, in Arabic, Farsi and a number of other languages where we need the specialists."
The interesting thing here is that, thanks to Clinton Executive Order 13166, every recipient of federal funds must be ready to do what the FBI still cannot do: provide an Farsi translation on the spot to anyone who prefers to speak or read Farsi.
Linda Chavez memorably described the E.O. 13166 problem for Hispanics this way:
Just wait until some Mexican American grocer who accepts food stamps finds out he has to hire Farsi translators for his store, then we'll see how popular this executive order is in the Latino community."
A further hint of this problem may be found in the Washington Post's special "Fairfax" section earlier this week in "Hospital Pressed For More Charity Care":
Two weeks ago, the [Alexandria-based Tenants' and Workers' Support Committee] staged a four-mile march and car caravan to Inova Alexandria Hospital . . . Health officials also said they have been working closely with the workers committee to resolve debts and help the non-English-speaking community learn about aid opportunities.
The story is accompanied by pictures (not available on line). One protestor carries a sign, in English: "More Bilingual Staff in the Hospital." Another sign, in Spanish, reads "La Communidad Necesita Acceso a Serviciosdesald." A third, bilingual, sign reads "Health Care is a Right."
The government has convinced some immigrants that they never need learn English. E.O. 13166 has made not learning English a protected civil right. But with insufficient translators available, an unlimited entitlement is on a collision course with fiscal reality.
|posted by Jim on 11:17 PM|
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