DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Listening Session: Updating the DHS Language Access Plan

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent this bulletin at 03/20/2023 11:34 AM EDT

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is distributing this stakeholder invitation in support of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Department of Homeland Security. This is not a USCIS led engagement.

 

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Listening Session
Updating the DHS Language Access Plan  

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 29, 3:00 pm ET
Register: https://hq-dhs.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsf-uuqj4qHyx1_xSoYzUTmrG1uBkfvys

The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) invites stakeholders to participate in a listening session on language access. The listening session is to receive input to update the DHS Language Access Plan for the purpose of strengthening language access across DHS. This session will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm ET.

The listening session will begin with a brief overview of the DHS Language Access Program, which seeks to ensure the Department provides meaningful access to persons with limited English proficiency across our missions and activities. We will also share recent language access initiatives. We encourage you to review DHS Language Access Plans | Homeland Security and the US Department of Justice November 21, 2022 Memorandum for Heads of Federal Agencies, General Counsels, and Civil Rights Offices regarding Strengthening the Federal Government’s Commitment to Language Access before the listening session. Following the overview, we will open up the discussion to hear from stakeholders. In particular, we are interested in hearing about:

  • General input on the DHS Language Access Plan, e.g., identification of any gaps, what more CRCL and DHS Components can do to strengthen the plan
  • Quality of DHS translations and interpretation
  • Meaningful access for speakers of Indigenous languages and less common languages
  • Meaningful access for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
  • Effective methods for reaching LEP communities about DHS information, programs, and activities  

We look forward to hearing from you about these topics and invite you to register for the listening session using the following link: https://hq-dhs.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsf-uuqj4qHyx1_xSoYzUTmrG1uBkfvys.

Due to the potential number of participants, we are requesting that you email us at LanguageAccess@dhs.gov if you would like to speak on any of the above topics during the listening session, and if so, which topic.  

If you would like to send written feedback, please email comments to LanguageAccess@dhs.gov by April 17, 2023. CRCL plans to consider all feedback as we update the DHS Language Access Plan and will share feedback we receive with DHS Components as appropriate. 

We will provide Spanish language interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation Service for the listening session. To request other accommodations or interpretation in other languages, please email LanguageAccess@dhs.gov by 4 p.m. ET on March 17, 2023.

More information about language access at the Department of Homeland Security can be found at the DHS Language Access webpage.     

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