A federal judge just delivered a major decision that restores American Sign Language interpreters to White House press briefings under Donald Trump’s administration.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali declared that removing live ASL interpretation unlawfully excluded deaf Americans from vital information.
“Given the nature of the programming at issue here…the court finds that denying deaf Americans access to and the benefit of it presents a clear, present, and imminent harm,” Ali wrote in his decision.
The lawsuit was brought by the National Association of the Deaf, which argued the Trump team’s rollback of a Biden-era policy violated the Rehabilitation Act. The law prohibits the federal government from excluding individuals with disabilities from public communications.
Ali agreed and issued an immediate injunction to bring interpreters back. However, he stopped short of requiring ASL access across all White House media, including videos or briefings from the Vice President and First Lady.
The administration tried to claim that having interpreters next to the president was intrusive. The judge firmly disagreed.
“Disliking the ‘image’ of ASL interpreters alongside the president is not a basis to defy the Rehabilitation Act,” Ali stated, adding that remote interpretation is a workable solution.
