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Backlog at immigration courts could grow with a pay dispute by interpreters
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Oct 9, 2015
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Backlog at immigration courts could grow with a pay dispute by interpreters
Court interpreters ensure that judges, lawyers and those facing deportation all understand each other. But a contract and pay dispute may thin their ranks.
The Los Angeles immigration courts are the busiest in the nation, receiving 18,236 cases in 2014.
The Los Angeles immigration courts are the busiest in the nation, receiving 18,236 cases in 2014.
(
Dorian Merina / KPCC
)

Court interpreters ensure that judges, lawyers and those facing deportation all understand each other. But a contract and pay dispute may thin their ranks.

The nation's busy immigration courts decide thousands of cases every day.

Court interpreters play a critical role in that process, ensuring that judges, lawyers and those facing deportation all understand each other.

But those interpreters may be headed for a steep decline because of a new contract and dispute over pay and other work conditions.

Buzzfeed reporter Adolfo Flores and court reporter Carmelina Cadena join Take Two to describe how it could increase the already-backlogged set of cases that face immigration courts.