Shariff Yarrow of Somalia holds his son Hilim, 2. Yarrow has struggled to learn English since he came here a year ago with his family. This struggle has kept him from getting his driver’s license, which means he has to ride a bike to his two jobs. Credit: By Ellie Bogue of The News-Sentinel

Shariff Yarrow, 31, has failed the state driver’s license test twice. He understands the traffic signs, but trips up on other portions of the test. A native of Somalia, Yarrow came to Fort Wayne last October.

The test is only offered in English and Spanish, and though the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has certified interpreters in 30 languages, only one speaks Somali — Yarrow’s native language — none in Fort Wayne. Of 106 state-certified interpreters, only three live in Fort Wayne, Indiana’s second-largest city. Yarrow speaks limited English and works to improve it by attending literacy classes at the African Immigrant Social and Economic Development Agency (AISEDA), 1223 E. Wayne St.

He and his wife, Halima, have five children, and he works two janitorial jobs to support them. His sole mode of transportation is bicycle, even though he did drive in Somalia.

“It’s very tiring. I need a car,” he said. The shortage of qualified interpreters affects all levels of state government and services, said Adrienne Meiring, a staff attorney for the Division of State Court Administration. It has eight interpreters, all certified in Spanish only. She said the trial courts need interpreters for at least 20 more languages, ranging from Aramic to Urdu to Punjabi.

Moises Castillo, an administrative assistant at United Hispanic-Americans Inc./Benito Juarez Cultural Center, is one of three state-certified interpreters/translators in Fort Wayne. Credit: By Nicole Lee of The News-Sentine

Later this month, representatives from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles will meet with officials from the governor’s office and the Legislative Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs to evaluate the feasibility of a statewide pool of interpreters.

If you are a certified interpreter, “you’re going to be a … sought-after commodity,” said Meiring.

Moises Castillo, 25, an administrative assistant and interpreter with United Hispanic-Americans Inc./Benito Juarez Center, 1210 Broadway, knows that all too well. He is one of three BMV-certified interpreters in Fort Wayne, and the only one in Spanish. The other two are certified in Bosnian and Thai.

“We need more translators in the community,” he said. “It’s hard to find the right person.”

The Chadian Community of Indiana, AISEDA and the Myanmar Indigenous Christian Church, three Fort Wayne groups advocating for immigrants’ rights, have criticized the BMV for what they call overly stringent requirements for becoming an interpreter.

State-certified interpreters must be at least 18 years old and work for a government agency, educational institution or cultural/religious organization. They must submit to a criminal background check and sign a release authorizing the bureau to perform a background check of their credit history, state tax records and court records.

The BMV revised the regulations in January to “ensure credibility of the service and protect the safety of the public,” said spokesman Greg Cook.

The advocacy groups sent a letter to Joel Silverman, commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, expressing their concern about the requirements. Silverman is working to address the groups’ concerns, Cook said. “We take these letters seriously. We don’t want to provide a canned response.”

On Aug. 8, the groups presented their case to the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, a city agency that investigates complaints and adjudicates cases involving discrimination. Though the commission has no official power to affect any change in this instance, Maye Johnson, the chair of the commission, said, “If nothing more, this organization can be a sounding board.”

State representative Matt Bell, D-Avilla, attended the meeting, and said he plans to research the issue further. Bell is executive director of the Literacy Empowering and Advocating Project based in Noble County.

“I want to learn more,” he said.

The advocacy groups say the solution is simple. The BMV should allow them and others like them to provide the human resources necessary to help legal immigrants get a license. If not, the BMV should subcontract with a private agency that can.

Yazar Oo, who sits on the board of the Burmese Community Center in Fort Wayne, said his organization has a different solution: translate the driver’s manual and test into Burmese. Cook said right now the BMV cannot afford to provide the test in additional languages. Oo said the community center is willing to pay the cost to do so.

The advocacy groups say if legal immigrants can’t get driver’s licenses here, the need to have transportation to work may force them to leave Indiana and become tax-paying residents of neighboring states such as Ohio and Michigan that offer the test in multiple langauges.

Ohio does not provide interpreters or translators, but does offers its driver’s test in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, French and Japanese, said Fred Stratman, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Public Safety.

“We’re getting a diverse population growth here, and we felt it was important to meet the needs of our customers,” Stratman said, adding that, aside from some upfront costs, the tab has been minimal. In Ohio, as in Indiana, the law requires a basic command of English to read and understand the road signs part of the test.

In Michigan, instructions on obtaining a driver’s license are available in English, Spanish and Arabic. Though a representative could not be reached, the state’s Web site says residents should contact the individual license branch to determine in which language the driver’s test is offered. An interpreter/translator service is also available.

“The bottom line is we are an international community (here) and we need to embrace one another,” said Diana Jackson, a member of the advocacy group African Community-Fort Wayne Inc. “Everyone wants to be a part of the American dream.”

Source: News Sentinel, Aug 17, 2005