Brazilian Man’s Suicide Sends Shockwaves Through ‘Inhumane’ ICE Detention Center
Detainees at New Mexico’s Torrance County Detention Facility recently launched a hunger strike, motivated in part by the August death of a 23-year-old asylum seeker in custody.
Eduardo Campos Lima Oct 13, 2022
Trump Turned the Justice System Into a Black Box. Biden Could Fix It
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has suffered from years of poor funding and political interference by the Trump administration. Fixing it could be one of the most important tasks on Biden’s criminal justice reform agenda.
Ethan Corey Feb 02, 2021
Joe Biden Has to Be More Than the Man Who Defeated Trump
A Democratic president who politely listens to progressive rhetoric while failing to act on it is one who just watches the planet burn a little more slowly.
Jay Willis Nov 12, 2020
Marie Newman Wins Illinois House Seat, Pledging To Fight For Working Families And The Middle Class
“This economy doesn’t work for everyone; it works for very, very few people,” Newman said.
Cinnamon Janzer Nov 03, 2020
For Illinois Democrat Marie Newman, Progressive Is ‘Practical’
Newman, who is running for a U.S. House seat, wants Medicare for all, green jobs, and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Cinnamon Janzer Oct 27, 2020
The Financial Toll of COVID-19 Deaths
Organizations in New York City have stepped in to help families with funeral costs and related matters in communities hit hard by the disease, but their money and resources are strained.
Bryce Covert Jul 15, 2020
‘We Are Scared’: Stuck Inside ICE Detention’s Coronavirus Epicenter
People incarcerated in the Otay Mesa Detention Center decry crowded units and substandard medical care as COVID-19 tears through the facility.
Chris Gelardi May 06, 2020
Congress Does Not ‘Care’ About My American Family
Intentionally disqualifying millions of American citizens from much-needed stimulus funds during this unprecedented health crisis is both unnecessary and cruel.
Jane Lilly López Apr 24, 2020
As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Panic and Confusion at Immigration Courts Across The U.S.
Lawyers, judges, and advocates for migrant children wonder what it will take to close all 69 immigration courts. ‘I hope that it won’t take a death, but I worry that it will,’ one lawyer said.
Liz Robbins Apr 03, 2020
Coronavirus Prompts Urgent Calls For Minors In Detention To Be Released
‘Continuing to maintain these youths in this hotbed of contagion poses an unconscionable and entirely preventable risk of harm,’ one lawsuit states.
Liz Robbins Mar 30, 2020
A Chance To Repeal A ‘Walking While Trans’ Ban
In 1976, New York criminalized “loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense,” a law that has allowed for policing that targets LGBTQ and immigrant New Yorkers of color. Now, a broad coalition is hoping to repeal the law, as a step towards broader decriminalization.
Vaidya Gullapalli Feb 05, 2020
Immigrant DNA Collection And The Fear Of ‘Population Surveillance’
An enormous database of DNA samples could pave the way for increasingly exclusionary anti-immigrant policies
Vaidya Gullapalli Jan 08, 2020
ICE’s Fake University Seemed To Be More About Creating Fear Than Addressing Fraud
Rather than target fraudulent universities, ICE created its own to go after foreign students.
Vaidya Gullapalli Dec 16, 2019
Helping ICE Stir Up Anti-Immigrant Fervor in Maryland
WJLA’s Kevin Lewis selectively reports on immigrants arrested for sex crimes to paint a misleading picture of violence in Montgomery County.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 01, 2019
Putting Their Lives And Livelihoods On The Line To Protest Immigration Policy
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. No aspect of the Trump presidency has prompted the level of outrage, ire, frustration, devastation, and desperation as his treatment of people who did not happen to […]
Sarah Lustbader Aug 13, 2019
Targeting A Group That ‘Lends Legitimacy’ To Human Caging
The American Correctional Association has granted accreditation to includes detention centers, prisons, and jails where people are held in horrific conditions.
Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 07, 2019
What ICE Reveals About Itself When It Detains U.S. Citizens
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Americans might be forgiven for overlooking immigration news of late. Some have been busy trying to ease their disappointment over the Mueller hearings, and many, apparently, have […]
Sarah Lustbader Aug 01, 2019
Spotlight: The Citizenship Question, the Supreme Court, and Who Deserves a Do-Over
What if Justice Roberts gave criminal defendants do-overs like he did for the Trump administration?
Sarah Lustbader Jun 28, 2019
Arizona Man Faces Deportation After Filing Lawsuit Against Coconino County Sheriff
Jose Montelongo-Morales challenged the jail’s immigration detainer policy. He and some of his family members were arrested months later.
Lauren Gill Jun 18, 2019
Suicides, ICE Cooperation, and Racism Allegations at Maryland Jail
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler’s office, which partners with immigration enforcement, faces jail deaths and a discrimination claim from a Legal Aid attorney.
Lauren Gill Jun 18, 2019
Spotlight: Prosecuting Lifesavers Exposes Deep Problems With Laws and Their Enforcement
Four women leave water and food in a place where desperately hungry and thirsty people are likely to find them. The hope is to save lives. Others come along and, sneering, pour out the water. One, laughing, calls it “trash.” Another kicks the jugs, violently. A video capturing these acts on several occasions between 2010 and […]
Sarah Lustbader Jun 11, 2019
Good Samaritans Punished for Offering Lifesaving Help to Migrants
In recent years, the number of people federally charged with smuggling and harboring has jumped nearly a third.
Debbie Nathan Apr 17, 2019
In El Paso Jails, Immigrants Are Incarcerated Far Past Their Release Dates
In the deep blue home of Beto O’Rourke, attorneys and advocates are questioning the county’s multi-million-dollar contract to detain migrants and refugees.
Debbie Nathan Mar 20, 2019
ICE Wanted To Deport Him to Jamaica. But He Was Born In The U.S.
A Philadelphia-born man was detained by ICE and nearly deported. The agency’s mistake was caught, but the case exposes a new collaborative program that encourages jails to hold immigrants for ICE.
Debbie Nathan Mar 06, 2019
ICE-friendly Policies. A String of Jail Deaths. Why Does This Sheriff Keep Getting Elected?
Advocates say Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern is an odd fit for the Bay Area, but mounting a challenge has proved daunting.
Kyle C. Barry Feb 14, 2019
Migrants Say They Pay For Inclusion On ‘La Lista’ To Make Border Crossing
Migrants near Brownsville, Texas say that if they don’t bribe Mexican officials they’re stuck at the bottom of a list of people seeking refuge in the U.S. via international bridges.
Debbie Nathan Jan 25, 2019
Migrants Endure Brutal Conditions in Border Encampments
As they wait for permission to cross into the U.S., migrants, including children and infants, sleep on concrete and under plastic tarps, exposing them to cold, wind, rain, and illness.
Debbie Nathan Jan 17, 2019
Trump Has Turned the War on Trafficking Into a War on Immigrants
The president is drawing on two decades of bipartisan support for crackdowns on traffickers to secure support for his agenda at the border.
Melissa Gira Grant, Debbie Nathan Jan 09, 2019
Caging Kids Is An American Tradition
Trump didn’t start it, but we can end it.
Ethan Brown Jan 03, 2019
‘Things Have Changed’: A New Texas Anti-Immigration Measure Feeds Fear of the Police
SB 4 encourages officers to ask for the status of anyone they detain.
Debbie Nathan Dec 10, 2018
Immigrant Who Fled Gangs and Torture Challenges ICE Detainers
Attorneys for a Honduran woman are suing over the widespread jailhouse practice of honoring ICE requests to hold incarcerated immigrants for pickup.
Debbie Nathan Dec 03, 2018
States Are Enacting Their Own Bans Against ‘Sanctuary City’ Policies
In response, a new ‘Freedom Cities’ movement is rising to defend immigrants’ rights.
Debbie Nathan Nov 09, 2018
A Trump Favorite For His Hardline Anti-Immigration Stance, Maryland Sheriff Now Faces Re-Election
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins seeks a fourth term as critics blast him for a record that includes poor jail conditions, in-custody suicides, and the deaths of two young people at the hands of his deputies.
Raven Rakia Oct 31, 2018
Rural Oregon Sheriffs Lead Charge to Repeal State’s Sanctuary Law
More than one dozen sheriffs support Measure 105 that would allow for cooperation with federal authorities even when an immigrant suspect has not been apprehended for any crime.
Mike Faulk Oct 30, 2018
This Florida County’s Sheriff Is Controversial. But His Election Won’t Be Close.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office stands accused of violating immigrants’ rights and dismissing a shocking number of jail deaths.
George Joseph Oct 23, 2018
Program Meant To Fight Terrorism and Narcotrafficking Is Being Used to Target The Undocumented Community
Opposition to Operation Stonegarden, however, is spreading; one Arizona county just rejected over $1 million of its funds.
Debbie Nathan Oct 22, 2018
Justice in America Episode 8: Crimmigration
Josie and Clint talk with Alida Garcia, an attorney and advocate at FWD.us, about where immigration and criminal law increasingly overlap.
Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith Sep 12, 2018
Deported Before His Case Was Closed
Immigrants are being deported while their cases are still pending, immigration attorneys say.
Zack Peterson Sep 11, 2018
It Is Now Even Harder for Trafficking Survivors to Get Visas
Local advocates are struggling with a new immigration memo that makes it more difficult to support these survivors.
Melissa Gira Grant Aug 22, 2018
‘They treated me like a dog’: An Immigrant Was Forced to Clean the Truck of the Border Agent Who Arrested Him
Under ‘Operation Streamline,’ Border Patrol has become responsible for the housing and transporting of immigrants.
Max Rivlin-Nadler Aug 14, 2018