Speakers urge better Spanish-language access at Escambia County Jail; chief says bilingual line, handbook and staff available
Summary
Multiple community members said Spanish-only detainees at the Escambia County Jail lack reliable interpretation and faced prolonged ICE holds; the jail chief said the facility has an interpreter line, Spanish materials and fluent staff and reported 27 detainees with ICE detainers.
Several Pensacola-area residents told the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners at a public forum that Spanish-speaking people held at the county jail lack adequate communication of their rights, charges and medical needs.
Grace (resident and advocate) said she had received repeated calls from inmates and family members reporting that detainees did not speak to a single person in Spanish. She described a Honduran man with multiple broken bones who, she said, had not received adequate medical treatment after an arrest.
Hirasol Alfonso, an immigrant and Pensacola resident, and community organizer Charlie Dial also urged the county to improve language access and accepted offers from volunteers willing to provide translation support for detainees and families. Sami Epstein, another organizer, said an on-site interpreter or a volunteer interpreter pool could help prevent mistaken arrests and miscommunication.
The jail chief responded to the public comments, saying the facility provides several language resources: a bilingual telephone interpretation line, an inmate handbook in Spanish, and bilingual options on the kiosks used by detainees. “We have a bilingual line that they can call and speak to. Our inmate handbook is in Spanish. Everything on the kiosk is in Spanish and English both,” the chief said. The chief also said the jail has multiple staff who are completely fluent in Spanish and that the facility can use an 800-number interpreting service for other languages.
On counts, the chief said, “Currently we have 27 that have local charges or state charges, and an ICE hold, a detainer on them, and we have 1 currently that's just waiting to be picked up,” and explained that detainees with local charges must be adjudicated before ICE determines whether to take custody.
No formal action was taken at the forum. Several speakers offered to organize volunteers to provide translation help; commissioners and staff acknowledged the concerns and indicated county leaders and law-enforcement chiefs would follow up.
