US immigration system's machine translation errors deny asylum to vulnerable people
The US immigration system's reliance on machine translation tools has caused errors in asylum applications, leading to denials for vulnerable individuals. An Afro-Indigenous man from Brazil spent six months in ICE detention unable to communicate, as the tools did not understand his regional accent. Another applicant's use of "I" was mistranslated as "we", and a domestic abuse survivor's reference to her abuser as "mi jefe" (colloquially meaning father) was translated as "my boss". These errors are alleged to have resulted in asylum denials and potential deportations.
- Organisation involved
- US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Product, system or model
- Machine translation tools
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