Mayan Languages Are Expanding Across the U.S.—And Courts, Schools, and Clinics Are Catching Up

As Indigenous migrants build communities from Los Angeles to New York City, language access is becoming a justice issue especially in immigration courts, health care, and public services. Mayan languages in the United States have become more present and in demand over the past decade, fueled by the migration of Indigenous people from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as well as the inclusion of these languages on digital platforms like Google Translate.

In fact, Google translate now includes many of the global indigenous languages for example, Andean - Quechua, once thought to be dying language but growing thanks to artists and social media influencers. We are now seeing that the Maya languages: Mam, K’iche’, and Q’anjob’al have become in demand requiring interpretation and language experts especially in U.S. immigration courts.

The Migration Shift Driving New Language Needs

According to a report from the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 3.8 million Central American immigrants lived in the United States in 2021, representing 8% of the total foreign-born population. The report highlights high migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which together account for 86% of Central American residents in the country.

MPI data show that more than half of this population is concentrated in four states: California, with 25% of the Central American population—mostly in Los Angeles; Texas, with 13%; Florida, 11%; and New York, 7%.

The organization Communities Indígenas in Leadership (CIELO) advocates for the rights of Indigenous migrants from Mexico and Central America. According to the report Indigenous Migrants in Los Angeles County, more than 36,500 Southern California residents identified as coming from an Indigenous community in Mexico or Central America in a 2020 census conducted by CIELO and the Equity Research Institute (ERI). Indigenous communities are changing the demographics and neighborhoods of the United State’s top cities.

Los Angeles as a Hub: CIELO Data and the “Oaxacan Corridor” 

In October 2023, the city of Los Angeles officially designated a 1.6-mile stretch of Pico Boulevard in the Pico-Union neighborhood as the “Oaxacan Corridor.” The move came after a growing number of food, retail, and service businesses from Indigenous migrants who settled in Los Angeles and the surrounding area.

Not All Indigenous Migrants Speak Spanish

Hundreds of Indigenous languages are spoken across the Americas, with more than 364 alone in Mexico, according to surveys collected by Communities Indígenas in Leadership (CIELO). More than two-thirds of the people who accessed the organization’s services identified themselves as Zapotec. Other groups receiving the most services included K’iche’, Chinantec, Mixtec, and Mixe.

Organizers explained that many Indigenous migrants speak neither English nor Spanish, yet assistance is often offered only in one of these languages. One organizer said the lack of interpretation and translation services in Indigenous languages leaves communities uncertain about which resources are available to them.

Why Is Assuming All Latinos Speak Spanish Harmful?

“Most people talk about all things Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran. They speak as if we’re all in a bottle and all Latino… We have many languages here in Los Angeles. Many assume we are Latino and no longer see us as Indigenous. They see us as Latinos who all speak Spanish and all come from Guatemala. But it’s a very diverse culture. We have many cultures here,” said Ángel Novelo, a Yucatec Maya organizer with CIELO.

Elsewhere, about a quarter of the more than seven million residents in the San Francisco Bay Area identify as Latino, mostly with roots in Mexico and Central America, according to BBC reporting based on census data.

The U.S. government often counts all Indigenous immigrants as ‘Hispanic’, which isn’t always accurate. Many of these individuals use Spanish only to communicate outside their communities, and some do not speak it at all, practicing solely their native language.

Tessa Scott, a linguist specializing in the Mam language at the University of California, Berkeley, said: “Many Mam speakers arrive in the U.S. with needs, experiences, and histories different from monolingual Spanish speakers and those outside Indigenous cultures. If you call all Guatemalans ‘Hispanic,’ you might assume everyone in that group speaks Spanish fluently—but that’s not the case.”

California Recognizes Maya Languages

During Hispanic Heritage Month in 2024, thousands of Mesoamerican Indigenous immigrants celebrated the signing of California’s Latino and Indigenous Disparities Reduction Act. The law requires state agencies to collect more detailed data on the preferred languages of Latino immigrants, including Maya languages like K’iche’ and Mam, to better understand and address their needs.

According to The Los Angeles Times, some activists spoke in favor of the law. Arcenio J. López, executive director of the Mixteca/Indigenous Community Organizing Project (MICOP), said, “We have all worked hard to reach this moment, and we are incredibly grateful that the Governor signed SB 1016 into law. This decision is a major milestone in recognizing the thriving Mesoamerican Indigenous communities in California.”

“Our voices have been heard, and we are thrilled to see this crucial step toward equity and data justice, ensuring that the Indigenous community is fully represented and supported,” López added.

California’s SB 1016 and What It Changes

The law helps guarantee equitable access to essential health services while highlighting the linguistic diversity within the Latino community. Many Indigenous communities require interpreters to communicate effectively, underscoring that not all Latinos can be classified as Hispanic.

“Indigenous Guatemalans, many from Maya cultures such as the Mam, often face intense discrimination and violence from people of different social backgrounds. This is frequently what drives them to come to the U.S., where they can seek asylum,” Tessa Scott, a linguist, told the BBC. “Labeling all Latin Americans as Hispanic can obscure these complex social, cultural, and ethnic hierarchies, preventing asylum seekers from accessing specialized services such as legal help and trauma support.”

From Classical Maya to Today’s Digital Revival

For nearly 2,000 years, Maya languages had their own writing system, known as Classical Maya. Many Maya communities survived the Spanish conquest and have preserved their culture and languages to this day.

“We are as engaged with the world as any other society,” said Genner Llanes-Ortiz, a Maya researcher at Bishop’s University in Canada. He added, “If we want to draw a historical equivalence, we can compare Classical Maya to Latin. It was a prestigious language spoken by the elite, while the rest of the population spoke their own languages, which gradually merged with Latin.”

He continued, “The use of Maya languages was so widespread during the colonial period that community records, ledgers, wills, political statements, and memorials were written in them, all using Latin characters that are still preserved in the archives of Seville.” He noted that even after Mexico gained independence from Spain, Maya languages continued to serve as a lingua franca throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.

In an interview with Univision, Angélica González, a linguist and Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis, explained, “Clear language is a communication standard. It’s about communicating with empathy and being able to understand and use information the first time it’s accessed.”

The survival of Maya languages despite colonization and globalization reflects the determination of communities to keep their traditions alive, even in times of immigration, attacks on the greater Latino community and profound demographic change in the United States.