U.S. Advocacy and Litigation
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Cornell Law School
The Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic at Cornell Law School focuses on innovative work on behalf of undocumented and DACA communities through the Path2Papers Project and on advocacy for detained immigrants and asylum seekers.
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Dispatches from Detention: Locked up Indefinitely
Tags Share Dispatches from Detention shares stories of people encountered by RFK Human Rights attorneys in legal outreach trips to the country’s most isolated immigration detention centers. Names have been changed to protect privacy. Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, Batavia, New York “When will this end?” – Marcus, a lawful permanent resident Marcus, a Black man
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Lucero v. United States: Accountability for anti-Latino racism and violence
This case seeks international accountability for the creation by the United States government of a climate that fosters discrimination and violence against Latinos residing in the country. This climate has led to a sharp increase in the number of human rights violations committed against Latinos in the United States.
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Amid increase in anti-Latino violence, attorneys urge international commission to hear years-old murder case
Tags Share New York, NY, August 26, 2025 – Attorneys at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and LatinoJustice PRLDEF last week petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to hear the case of Oswaldo Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant who was murdered in 2008 in a racially-motivated attack by a group of teenagers. In
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The Marshall Project: The Next Alligator Alcatraz Could Be in Your State
Tags Share Immigrants held in detention are increasingly being sent to state and federal prisons, including many with troubling human rights records. This new practice has already led to abuses, as the unclear legal authority dictating the status of ICE detainees held in prisons means that they are often unable to contact their attorneys or
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump’s ‘Law and Order’ Push in D.C. Looks a Lot Like an Immigration Raid When Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he would deploy hundreds of National Guard members and federalize the local police to “take back” the capital, he framed the mission as a crackdown on violent crime. He cited cases of
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Pataraia v. Noem: Fighting indefinite detention after winning an immigration case
This case challenges the U.S. government’s policy of indefinitely detaining people who have won immigration relief from deportation after a finding that they will be persecuted or tortured if deported to their countries of origin.
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The Intercept: Teen Immigrant’s Release Propels Lawsuit to End ICE’s Courthouse Arrests
Tags Share A Buffalo teen arrested outside of his asylum hearing has been released after a judge ruled his arrest was unlawful. Following this victory, the New York Civil Liberties Union and other organizations are suing the Trump administration to end courthouse arrests nationwide. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights staff attorney Sarah Gillman said, “We
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share These Civil Rights Advocates Toured Louisiana ICE Detention Centers. Here’s What They Saw. In late July, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided access to three detention centers they operate in Louisiana to a group of about 20 civil rights advocates. Their tour included the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, located on
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Kerry Kennedy for Newsweek: Your Financial Portfolio Might Be Funding Immigration Prisons
Tags Share Kerry Kennedy and the ACLU’s Alanah Odoms describe the growing humanitarian crisis occurring in ICE detention centers, and how many people might be unknowingly contributing to it through their investment portfolios. The article urges readers to divest from this “cruel detention network.” Read the full story here.
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News4JAX: A man spent 88 days in solitary confinement at the Baker County ICE detention center. His experience led to a lawsuit
Tags Share Two immigrants are suing Florida’s Baker County Detention Center, alleging abuse in solitary confinement. Guillermo Serrabi says officers pressured him to sign deportation papers, assaulted him, and denied medical care during 88 days in isolation. A second lawsuit, filed by “Ana Doe,” claims she was punished after requesting menstrual products and strapped into
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New lawsuit demands public records on evidence-based alternatives to immigration detention
Tags Share New York, NY, August 11, 2025 – Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights filed a federal lawsuit seeking answers as to why the Trump administration funneled billions in taxpayer dollars to private prison executives for expansion of immigration detention while at the same time quietly dismantling a cheaper, community-based national program that
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