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
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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Spotlight: Prosecuting Lifesavers Exposes Deep Problems With Laws and Their Enforcement Sarah Lustbader
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Deported Before His Case Was Closed Immigrants are being deported while their cases are still pending, immigration attorneys say. Zack Peterson
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
‘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
Milwaukee Candidates Clash In Race to Succeed The Infamous Sheriff Clarke Several candidates are vying to become Milwaukee Sheriff in the wake of Sheriff David Clarke's resignation last fall. But will they truly spurn his legacy of jail deaths and cooperation with ICE? Raven Rakia
More Than A Month After Anti-ICE Protests, Detained NYC Immigrants Still Denied In-Person Hearings Their attorneys say the new video-teleconferencing policy is exacerbating backlogs and prolonging detention. Emma Whitford
After Hearing Concerns about ICE, Texas Sheriff Ran Apparent Traffic Sting That Led to Deportation Proceedings A community group met with the Bastrop County sheriff in an effort to build trust between the sheriff’s office and the immigrant community. Then, the sheriff ran a sting that led to more than one dozen arrestees being handed over to ICE. Michael Arria
Trump’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy Has an Antidote New bail funds aren’t just getting immigrants out of detention—they’re helping them stay in the country permanently. Max Rivlin-Nadler
Immigrants and activists flood San Diego to protest ‘Operation Streamline’ Defense attorneys say they’ll have only minutes to meet with their clients before the immigrants are convicted en masse. Max Rivlin-Nadler
Mayors Who Care About Child Separation Should Look in Their Own Backyards Families are torn apart by the criminal justice system every day. Josie Duffy Rice
ICE Limits Access To Lawyers For NYC Immigrants In Detention, Citing Protests Advocates decry court's shift to using teleconferencing for hearings. Emma Whitford
Thousands of ‘Lawyer Moms’ Will Swarm Congress To Fight For Migrant Children 'We have a reaction as mothers to what’s been going on.' Carimah Townes
Exclusive: Immigrant Detainees In an Oregon Federal Prison Are Being Held In General Population Units As a consequence, authorities are keeping them in cells for 22 to 23 hours a day, according to Oregon’s federal public defender. George Joseph, Max Rivlin-Nadler
Chaos in the Courthouse as Border Arrests Surge Public defenders say immigrants arrested under Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy are being denied their due process rights. Max Rivlin-Nadler
NYC Mayor Remains Intent on Restricting Legal Help for Immigrants with Felony Convictions Emma Whitford
A National Campaign to Crack Down on Massage Businesses May Harm the Women it Wants to Help Melissa Gira Grant, Emma Whitford
Protesting ICE Courthouse Arrests Doesn’t Get NYC Prosecutors Off the Hook for Everyday Injustice Nick Encalada-Malinowski
From Gang Allegations to Deportation: How Boston is Putting its Immigrant Youth in Harm’s Way Kade Crockford
Family, Former Attorney of Queens Woman Who Fell to Her Death in Vice Sting Say She Was Sexually Assaulted, Pressured to Become an Informant Melissa Gira Grant, Emma Whitford
After Deadly Vice Sting, Advocates Say End to Prostitution Arrests Is Long Overdue Emma Whitford, Melissa Gira Grant
Mississippi Woman Jailed 96 Days Without Attorney Has Fifth Circuit On Her Side “The district court found this constitutionally permissible. It is not.” Carimah Townes
ICE Is Making Its Massive Data Collection Effort Secret As It Labels More and More Immigrants ‘Gang Members’ Max Rivlin-Nadler
