Ozark Profile : Bilingual paralegal speaks immigrants’ language in more than one way
Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006
Alex Thomas says
there is something
about speaking to somebody in his or her native language. "It’s like an instant bond and it really allows people to open up and discuss their issues more than they might have," he says. Thomas, 30, of Fayetteville, is the bilingual paralegal for the 4 th Judicial District Prosecutor’s Office in Washington County.
The advertisement for the job, he said, was for a liaison between the Hispanic community and the prosecutor’s office, which is the idea behind the position.
While Thomas deals with many in the Hispanic community, he says he also is available for anyone who needs his help.
He has been in the job since last March.
Thomas has lived in Fayetteville for 10 years, having studied Latin American History and Spanish at the University of Arkansas. He is a few hours shy of graduating, something he says he is planning to do.
He has had a variety of jobs. One he held during college involved working for an attorney friend, which is how he says he gained his paralegal experience.
Born in San Antonio, he also spent his childhood in Cleveland; Saltillo, Mexico, where his mother cared for a sick aunt; and Dallas.
His mother having been an immigrant, he has a special place in his heart for those who leave their home countries to come to the United States.
He attended Brookhaven Community College in Dallas and then came to school at the UA because had friends in Fayetteville. When he came up to visit, he said, he "just fell in love with the place."
While much of what Thomas does is deal with people who have been involved with crimes, whether as victims or defendants, he also is available to help those with a language barrier dealing with other issues at the courthouse.
His position was created by the Washington County Quorum Court because of the need for interpreting.
Thomas interprets documents in the prosecutor’s office and transcribes taped interviews from Spanish to English. He also has helped with the prosecutor’s office Web site, as well as making forms available in Spanish.
He has taken certification courses to be certified by the state as a court interpreter and is set to take a test for certification in April.
He also does some investigative work, and works with the victim assistance aspect of the prosecutor’s office, talking with Hispanic women who are not bilingual about getting protective orders in abusive situations.
Sometimes, he said, women will wait until the situation becomes really bad before trying to get out because the man is often the bread-winner and she does not want him to go to jail. "They’re more likely to wait it out as long as they can," Thomas said.
In their home countries, these kinds of abusive situations are often handled by the woman’s male relatives because of the strong family ethic in the Latin American culture.
A key issue, Thomas said, is that this area is still a relatively young immigrant community, where family networks such as those in Chicago, New York, and some cities in Texas and California are not in place.
Sometimes Thomas’ job is just about helping immigrants understand their rights because they are different than those in their home countries.
He also deals with a variety of other issues that affect the Hispanic immigrants, one of them being the inability to get a driver’s license because they do not have Social Security cards. "But they’re going to drive anyway," Thomas says, suggesting that a driver’s permit may be something to think about for immigrants who do not have Social Security cards.
While they face numerous challenges, Thomas says immigrants are trailblazers, pioneers, and they want a slice of the American dream. He also says they are a big part of the economic growth in Northwest Arkansas because they do much of the work, whether it be in construction or production. "To me, immigrants are a special breed of people," he said, adding that not all people in Latin American countries, obviously, choose to come to the U.S. "They’re willing to risk their lives to make a better life for themselves and their kids. If that’s not an entrepreneurial spirit, I don’t know what is."
Still, he said, he is the kind of person who wants to help anyone, not just immigrants. "And that’s why I love this job because it gives me the opportunity to help people."
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