Translating Words, Transforming Lives

June 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Every day the Refugee Translation Project works closely with asylum seekers and legal service providers to deliver critical language support to communities and individuals in crisis. Because of your support, RTP has helped prevent deportations and detention, win asylum cases, and produce essential resources so that people can better understand their legal rights.

Together, we bring hope and opportunity to some of the most vulnerable in our communities. Behind every translated document is a person seeking safety, a family trying to stay together, a refugee fighting for the chance to rebuild their life with dignity.

As demand for our services continues to grow, your support ensures that language is never a barrier to justice, protection, or opportunity. To strengthen that commitment, we have launched our Translating Words Transforming Lives fundraising campaign to expand the number of people we serve.

Since the beginning of 2026, we’ve translated over 1,200 pages of documents for 136 clients. Lucia now has the opportunity for a fair asylum hearing in immigration court. Mamadou was able to submit high school transcripts and enroll in a CUNY degree program. Aisha was granted a guardianship in family court so that she could apply for her special immigrant juvenile status.

These are only a few examples of how just 5 to 10 hours of written translation can change a life.

A gift of $50 begins the intake process for a new client.

A gift of $100 enables our translators to translate important identification documents.

A gift of $500 covers the translation of a full asylum application.

Update from a Partner on the Immigration Frontlines

May 13, 2026

RTP continues to support our refugee communities through these difficult times. When checking in with our partners on the ground, Caféwal, a resource center in Manhattan, had this to say:

“Countless times we at Caféwal have been approached by community members with upcoming court dates, desperate to have their evidence translated with imminent deadlines. Again and again RTP translators have responded with sensitivity and alacrity, completing the translations with professionalism, accuracy and astonishingly rapid turnaround. I can’t express the relief and gratitude that every single person expresses when they are able to bring the certified translations to their attorney and meet their legal deadlines. We too, as intermediaries supporting our friends, share that sense of immense relief that we are helping to give folks a fighting chance at winning asylum in an unforgiving and continuously eroding system.

“When our community members, many of whom have experienced untold trauma, are accompanied by an RTP-trained interpreter to a legal or medical appointment, they have the support of someone who is not only trained in the ethics of interpretation, but who is able to speak both the language and shared culture of the patient/client and who can act as a community liaison. The deep cultural understanding that informs the experience provides invaluable support and comfort…Every accompaniment that promotes accurate communication with compassion and humanity, every translation that provides proof of why a person had to flee their country of origin, is itself a compelling win in a landscape of unfettered brutality…in this very hellscape, the work of RTP has provided a rare beacon of hope.”

With the support of our donors, we continue to provide these vital services to the community at Caféwal. Thank you to everyone who has supported us for your commitment to dignity and justice! You are literally saving lives.

Keep our work going!

Batters Up! 4th Annual RTP Cyclones Baseball Fundraiser!

March 24, 2026

Dust off your mitt and join us at Maimonides Park in Coney Island on Sunday, April 19 at 2pm for an afternoon of home runs, hot dogs, and helping others! It’s the fourth annual Brooklyn Cyclones Fundraiser and we got great seats behind home plate!