Deaf Migrants Deported Without Access to Sign Language Interpreters

Mother Jones reporter Julia Métraux found that some of the more than 100 Deaf immigrants deported from the United States in 2026 were given no sign language interpreter, or interpretation inadequate to their needs. One man identified as Emilio, a Venezuelan who had lived in Texas for close to four years, spent nine weeks in immigration detention without understanding what was happening to him; he asked for an interpreter and said he did not get one, and only realized he was being dropped in Mexico — a country he is not from — when the bus reached the border. Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, detention centers and immigration courts that receive federal funding are required to accommodate disabled people.