Quotes & Media Coverage
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Washington Post: Khalil ruling tests Trump deportation tactic of sending detainees to Louisiana
Tags Share Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil was deemed eligible for deportation just three days after his first court hearing, prompting due process concerns from his attorneys. The Trump administration alleges Khalil, a legal U.S. resident, poses a national security threat due to his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Advocates say the case reflects a broader strategy…
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WBUR: Poor conditions at Louisiana ICE detention center holding Tufts student, advocates say
Tags Share WBUR has reported, former detainees have described punitive and unsanitary conditions at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, where a Turkish Tufts University student, Öztürk, is being held. In an August 2024 report, Anthony Enriquez—vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights—warned that Öztürk faces the…
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CNN: Why ICE is really moving detainees over a thousand miles from where they were arrested
Tags Share According to CNN, Georgetown fellow Badar Khan Suri was arrested outside his Virginia home on March 17, launching a week-long ICE detention across multiple states and over 1,000 miles. An Indian national on a visa, Suri faced isolation and harsh conditions emblematic of a system that, according to a 2024 Robert F. Kennedy…
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The Guardian: Was the supreme court’s deportation ruling a win for Trump or immigrants?
Tags Share The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can use the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport certain Venezuelan immigrants—but emphasized that due process must be upheld. Trump called it a win, though critics dubbed it a pyrrhic victory. Immigration advocates, including the ACLU, claimed success, noting the court affirmed individuals’ right…
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University of Dayton human rights award to honor Kerry Kennedy
Tags Share The University of Dayton’s Human Rights Center will honor Kerry Kennedy with the Oscar Romero Human Rights Award for her 40-year commitment to global human rights advocacy. Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, has worked extensively to support human rights defenders worldwide. The award ceremony is scheduled for April 20 at…
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Verite News: Legal guide uses immigration work in Louisiana to educate advocates around the country
Tags Share Last month, RFK Human Rights, the Acacia Center for Justice, and the ACLU of Louisiana published a new guide that trains attorneys, advocates, and grassroots organizations on how to provide legal services in immigration detention facilities. Speaking with Verite News, our VP of U.S. Advocacy & Litigation Anthony Enriquez describes the purpose of…
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Boston Globe: Detained Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was one of several sent by ICE to Louisiana. Here’s why.
Tags Share Following the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, the Boston Globe reports on Öztürk’s detention in a notorious Louisiana ICE facility. Referencing the long history of abuse at the facility, the Globe cites RFK Human Rights’ 2024 “Inside the Black Hole” report, which exposed widespread physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect,…
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Al Jazeera: Daniel Cortes De La Valle
Tags Share Speaking with Al Jazeera, our client Daniel Cortes De La Valle recounts his experience in a notorious Louisiana ICE facility – the same facility where student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil is currently detained. While detained in the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, Daniel was subjected to horrific abuse, including severe medical neglect, denial…
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The Wall Street Journal: Inside Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil’s ICE Detention Center
Tags Share As of April 1, student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remains detained at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, an immigration detention facility more than a thousand miles from where he was arrested. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, attorney Sarah Decker highlights the facility’s isolated location and ICE’s broader pattern of secluding people…
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NBC News: Detained immigrant students sent to remote Louisiana facilities accused of human rights abuses
Tags Share “We met many, many, many people who didn’t have access to lawyers who could help them, didn’t have access to their families, didn’t have access, really, to the outside world.” Speaking with NBC News, our Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation Sarah Gillman describes the long history of human rights violations across Louisiana ICE…
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ProPublica—Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”
Tags Share ProPublica reports on human rights abuses on U.S. deportation flights, including RFK Human Rights’ lawsuit on behalf of African asylum-seekers restrained for hours in the Wrap, a cross between a straitjacket and a sleeping bag that one federal judge has called torture. “Flight attendants were told they would fly rock bands, sports teams…
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Bloomberg Law: Trump DHS Sued by Immigrant Groups Over Non-Citizen Registry
Tags Share On March 31, RFK Human Rights and partner organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s attempts to create a national immigrant registry via a long-dormant, WWII-era federal law. Read the full article to learn more.
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