Impact of Trump’s anti-DEIA orders on Deaf federal employees
President Donald Trump’s executive order on January 20 to end DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) programs and jobs in the federal government has had an impact on Deaf federal employees.
I was able to talk with a couple of people who are experts about the federal workforce who explained some things, which I will share. They asked to have their identities kept anonymous because they are afraid of retaliation.
Last week, when Trump signed the order to remove DEIA-focused programs and jobs, this affected some Deaf employees who lost access to interpreting services. This is because agencies can decide how to organize offices and staff, and where to put services like reasonable accommodations and interpreters.
Several years ago, some federal agencies added “A” for accessibility to their DEI offices, which made it DEIA. Other offices kept it separate.
Some agencies interpreted Trump’s order to suspend their DEIA programs and staff — that it should include staff responsible for accommodations and interpreter contracts — even though the law requires agencies to provide accommodations.
This impacted some Deaf employees as they lost access to interpreters. This included staff sign language interpreters and coordinators – some were sent home and told not to work just because they were in a DEIA office.
However, not all Deaf federal employees lost their interpreters because it really varied from agency to agency, and there are some who said they still have their interpreters. Some agencies after a few days realized they should not have sent staff like interpreters and interpreter coordinators home, and called them back and moved them to another office.
Some Deaf people work in DEIA offices themselves and they might be laid off.
Here’s some background information. There are many Deaf employees across the government. This is because the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal agencies and federal contractors to use affirmative action to hire more employees with disabilities and provide reasonable accommodations, including interpreters.
This law is very important because it is what gives Deaf employees in the federal government their rights against discrimination and to get interpreters and accommodations, not the ADA. The ADA applies to private businesses, not the government. The Rehab Act is also what prohibits any program that gets federal funding from discriminating against Deaf people in their services, not the ADA.
One way the government increases hiring of people with disabilities is by using a process called Schedule A, which is in the law. It can be very hard to get a federal job and competition is high. Schedule A allows people with disabilities, including Deaf, to apply for a federal job without having to compete against others. They do have to meet qualifications (requirements) for the job.
Under some administrations, agencies were encouraged to use Schedule A more. But other administrations can encourage agencies to use it less, which can make it harder for Deaf people to get federal jobs.
One downside to Schedule A is probation is two years instead of one, as other hires have. Those working during probation periods can be easily terminated, so people hired through Schedule A are vulnerable for twice as long.
Naturally, Black Deaf federal employees could experience a double impact as they would be more easily singled out on two things – race and disability.
I reached out to the president of the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA), Sheryl Emery, for insights.
Emery said the NBDA are significantly concerned about Trump’s executive orders that are intended to dismantle DEIA because these orders were specifically designed to target the Black community and people of color.
Emery said she wanted to be clear that the biggest benefactor of DEIA programs have actually been white women and that statistics show that Black people and Deaf people still lag behind in critical areas of education, employment and healthcare.
Emery said she is concerned that Schedule A could be dismantled and that chief diversity officers have already been let go, which can impact the use of Schedule A.
Emery said she encourages folks to document, document, and document things that are happening to them — anytime they are excluded from training or meetings or experience no communication access. This information can be used to establish a lawsuit with an attorney.
The National Association of the Deaf said Trump’s DEIA Executive Order has “caused some deaf and hard of hearing people to lose their jobs, or to have their communications access threatened or removed.”
NAD recently posted a survey for federal employees to try to measure the impact, and said they are ready to provide legal assistance to employees who are being impacted.
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