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Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination runs counter to fundamental U.S. and international human rights values of fairness and equality under the law. But it continues to manifest in the U.S. criminal and immigration systems through discriminatory arrests, deportations, incarceration and detention, and law enforcement harassment and violence.
Guided by principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, we work to end racial discrimination in the U.S. criminal and immigration systems.
Litigate
We go to court with human rights defenders pursuing systemic change.
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J.K.A. v. United States of America: Stopping Retaliation for Protesting Detention Center Abuses
These cases seek accountability for torture and other cruel and degrading treatment the government inflicted on individuals it held in immigration detention in Louisiana and during and after their deportation flights to Cameroon.
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K.N.N. et al v. United States of America: Stopping Torture on Deportation Flights
This case challenges the abusive use of a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportation flights.
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Haitian Bridge Alliance v. DHS: Exposing Anti-Black Discrimination at the Border
This case is a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking documents related to the mass detention and expulsion of more than 15,000 people at the U.S. southern border in Del Rio, Texas in September 2021. The majority of those expelled were Haitian and other Black immigrants.
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Pigott v. Gintz: Defending Children against Race-Motivated Police Seizures
This case seeks accountability for a Louisiana police officer’s use of race-motivated excessive force during a police seizure.
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Michael Brown Case Urges Justice Reform
The Black Lives Matter movement emerged after Brown was killed by police. But the entire system must change.
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Impunity Persists For Rekia Boyd’s Killer
RFK Human Rights is not done fighting for the 22-year-old black woman killed by a police officer in Chicago.
Expose
We uncover wrongdoing in reports, complaints, and public hearings.
Educate
We inform the public and policymakers about systemic human rights abuses and how to stop them.
Our Partners
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California Mandela Campaign
Solitary confinement is one of the most severe and destructive practices used in detention facilities. The World Health Organization, United Nations, and other international bodies have recognized solitary confinement as greatly harmful and potentially fatal. People with disabilities, pregnant people, youth, and the elderly are all at heightened risk from the harm caused by solitary…
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The #HALTsolitary Campaign
The New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NYCAIC), the coalition behind the #HALTsolitary Campaign, works to end solitary confinement for all people, promote alternatives proven to better protect people’s health and safety, and build on these changes to dismantle the racial injustices and punishment paradigm that underpin the entire incarceration system.
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Haitian Bridge Alliance
The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) also known as “The BRIDGE” is a 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black people, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture…
Read the Latest
Associated Press: Civil rights groups sue to restore jobs at Homeland Security oversight offices that were gutted
New York Times: Lawsuit Aims to Reverse Firings at Internal Oversight Offices Within D.H.S.
Joint Submission of Coalition of Immigrant Rights Organizations to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the United States
ProPublica—Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights v. DHS: Fighting Mass Surveillance
USA Today: You say you’re American? You’d better be ready to prove it to police, ICE
Documented: Trump Immigrant Registration Plan Is a Scare Tactic, Law Experts Say
In Conversation with Taffi Ayodele, New York City Comptroller’s Office
In Conversation with Erick Russell, Treasurer of Connecticut: Advancing Economic Equity in Connecticut
Help us protect human rights
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