Lost in AI translation: growing reliance on language apps jeopardizes some asylum applications

Translators say the US immigration system relies on AI-powered translations, without grasping the limits of the tools

In 2019, Carlos fled Brazil with his sister and two nephews after his son was murdered in front of him by a local gang. Upon arriving in the US, he was separated from his family and detained in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center.

Carlos, who is Afro-Indigenous, speaks Portuguese but does not read or write it. Staff at the Calexico, California, detention center spoke only English or Spanish. The staff used an artificial intelligence-powered voice-translation tool to interpret what Carlos was saying, but the system didn't pick up or understand his regional accent or dialect. So Carlos spent six months in Ice detention unable to meaningfully communicate with anyone.