U.S. Advocacy and Litigation
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US police use lethal, military-grade force against Black people and civic space activists: report to UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Police use of lethal force in the United States is on the rise, with more police killings reported in 2024 than any other year on record. This gruesome milestone was reached due to increased access to military-grade weaponry, aggressive suppression of civic space, and the continuation of a historical pattern of violence against Black people.
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RFK Human Rights Submits Evidence to UN Special Rapporteur of Disproportionate, Deadly Policing in the U.S.
Tags Share Washington, D.C., June 6, 2025 – Today, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (“RFK Human Rights”), submitted a detailed report to the Special Rapporteur, an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, highlighting emerging trends and patterns in U.S. law enforcement’s use of lethal force. Submitted ahead of the 80th Session…
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Courthouse News Services: State Department faces lawsuit over migrant detention agreement with El Salvador
Tags Share “Ten of our clients were kidnapped from U.S. streets and locked away in one of the world’s most notorious blackhole prisons in a scheme to use U.S. taxpayer dollars for enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention and torture.” Quoted in Courthouse News Service, our vice president of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation Anthony Enriquez describes RFK…
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The Hill: State Department sued over Trump deal to house migrants in El Salvador prison
Tags Share RFK Human Rights and other immigrant advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the State Department over a controversial Trump administration deal that pays El Salvador to house deported migrants in a new prison facility. The lawsuit argues that the agreement is not only a violation of U.S. asylum laws but also illegal…
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AP News: Immigrant rights groups sue to invalidate Trump administration’s El Salvador prison deal
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, along with other immigrant rights groups, has filed a lawsuit to invalidate the Trump administration’s controversial deal with El Salvador, which allows the transfer of deported individuals to a new prison facility in the country. The groups argue that the agreement violates U.S. asylum laws and international human…
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Bloomberg: Trump Faces New Lawsuit Over Migrants Sent to Salvadoran Prison
Tags Share The Trump administration faces a new legal challenge over its agreement with El Salvador to detain migrants in the notoriously harsh CECOT prison. Filed in federal court, the lawsuit alleges that the arrangement violates U.S. laws by denying due process, using unauthorized federal funds, and subjecting detainees to cruel and unusual punishment. Robert…
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WIRED: ICE Quietly Scales Back Rules for Courthouse Raids
Tags Share ICE has quietly rescinded guidance that required its agents to respect state and local laws during courthouse raids, giving frontline officers more discretion to make arrests without legal review. Anthony Enriquez of RFK Human Rights calls this move “another attack” on protections for sensitive places like courthouses and schools. Recent high-profile arrests at…
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Pittsburgh Post Gazette: At Pa.’s largest detention center, immigrant safety endangered as cuts cripple DHS oversight arm
Tags Share At Pennsylvania’s largest immigrant detention center, Moshannon Valley, conditions have become increasingly dangerous amid severe cuts to the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights oversight office. A sweeping investigation into death, abuse, medical neglect, sexual harassment, and excessive solitary confinement has been jeopardized after the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL)…
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Ending solitary confinement in immigration detention: a guide to litigation and advocacy strategies
Tags Share Egregious abuse of solitary confinement is found throughout the U.S. immigration detention system. From 2017 to 2021, the United States imprisoned immigrants in solitary confinement over 14,500 times. In 2017, the average duration of placement was 33 days; in 2022, the average was 22 days, with a high duration of 242 days. The…
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Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) is a U.S.-based human rights non-profit organization. Established in 2004, it is a partnership of human rights advocates in Haiti and the U.S., dedicated to tackling the root causes of injustice that impacts basic human rights in Haiti. In partnership with our Haiti-based sister organization, the…
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National Immigrant Justice Center
The National Immigrant Justice Center’s (NIJC) mission is to establish and defend the legal rights of immigrants, regardless of background, and to transform the immigration system to one that affords equal opportunity for all.
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