U.S. Advocacy and Litigation
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share U.S. Botched a Deal to Swap Venezuelans Held in El Salvador for Americans The Trump administration’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was overseeing a deal to free several Americans and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela in exchange for sending home about 250 Venezuelan migrants the United States had deported…
-
Newsweek: More ICE Deaths ‘Inevitable’ as Detention Numbers Soar
Tags Share Deaths in U.S. immigration detention have already matched last year’s total, with months still left in the fiscal year, and advocates warn the toll will rise. Amid record-high detention levels under the Trump administration, RFK Human Rights and the ACLU are sounding the alarm on dangerous, preventable conditions inside ICE facilities. Speaking with…
-
CNN: Cuts to DHS watchdogs spark more questions as deportation efforts increase
Tags Share As deaths in immigration detention rise and new facilities rapidly expand, the Trump administration has slashed oversight mechanisms within the Department of Homeland Security. Advocates, including RFK Human Rights, warn that the gutting of key accountability offices mandated by Congress puts lives at risk due to the “inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and abuse…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump Administration Ends Legal Protections for Half-Million Haitians Who Now Face Deportations The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential deportation. DHS said that conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the…
-
Ninety U.S. civil society groups express “deep concern” to FIFA about immigration policies ahead of 2026 World Cup
Tags Share Ninety U.S.-based civil society groups have warned FIFA that it risks becoming a “public relations tool to whitewash the reputation of an increasingly authoritarian government”, in a joint letter that calls on FIFA to publicly urge the US government to reverse immigration policies and practices introduced by the Trump administration. The letter describes…
-
Bloomberg: Florida Taps Contractors With No Detention Experience for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Tags Share In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is rapidly constructing a massive state-run immigrant detention facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” designed to hold thousands of people detained under President Trump’s deportation plan. The site, built on an abandoned airstrip in the Everglades, has drawn backlash from human rights advocates and environmentalists. RFK Human Rights’ Anthony Enriquez…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center Sparks Major Concern as Construction Begins: ‘An Obscene Human Rights Violation’ Florida has begun building a new migrant detention center deep in the Everglades, springing into action after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved the development. But activists and locals have already raised major concerns, citing environmental and human…
-
WIRED: ‘They’re Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls
Tags Share A new WIRED investigation revealed a surge in 911 calls from ICE detention centers, exposing delayed emergency care, pregnancy complications, and suicide attempts. Many facilities are overcrowded and under-equipped, putting detainees at serious risk. Anthony Enriquez, Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at RFK Human Rights, states that the system isolates people…
-
Human Rights Groups Urge UN to Intervene on Behalf of Migrants Detained in Notorious Salvadoran Prison
Tags Share Washington, D.C., June 18, 2025 – Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and the Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights submitted a report to the United Nations highlighting egregious human rights violations for hundreds of…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Masked ICE Agents Detain 9-Month-Pregnant U.S Citizen in L.A. Crackdown A U.S. citizen in her ninth month of pregnancy was hospitalized with sharp stomach pains after being arrested — and later released — by ICE agents who accused her of obstructing the arrest of her undocumented husband. ICE has been conducting large-scale raids and arrests…
-
BBC: Who has been arrested by ICE under Trump?
Tags Share In a recent piece by the BBC, reporters investigate who has been arrested by ICE under the Trump administration, revealing a dramatic escalation in detentions that targeted not only undocumented individuals with criminal records, but also long-term residents with deep community ties and no criminal history. Many foreign nationals with green cards or…
-
Hundreds Forcibly Disappeared to El Salvadoran Mega-Prison
Four groups, including RFK Human Rights, filed a request seeking precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) against El Salvador for the unlawful detention of hundreds of individuals forcibly and illegally transferred from the United States in recent months.
Share