United States
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WMTW: Gov. Mills receives RFK Human Rights Award
Tags Share “I feel it is the responsibility of all Americans to speak in defense of their principles, for the rights of others, and for the rule of law which protects us all.” Governor Janet Mills was honored with the 2025 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington, D.C., recognized for her legal advocacy…
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Suit Challenges Trump Administration’s Black Site Agreement with El Salvador to Disappear People
Tags Share Washington, DC — Today, a coalition of immigrants rights organizations and criminal defense lawyers filed a lawsuit to block the U.S. State Department’s backdoor agreement with El Salvador to implement the Trump-Vance administration’s practice of disappearing people indefinitely from U.S. territory into El Salvador’s prison system without due process, legal justification, or public…
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CBS News: Immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra’s daughters accept RFK award while she remains in ICE custody
Tags Share Denver immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra was honored with a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, but was unable to accept it in person as she remains in ICE custody. Her daughters, Luna and Zury Vizguerra, accepted the award on her behalf during the ceremony, highlighting her ongoing fight for immigrant rights and justice. …
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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Tags Share ICE has quietly rescinded guidance that required its agents to respect state and local laws during courthouse raids, giving frontline officers more discretion to make arrests without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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ABC News: Immigration courts dismissing cases of Venezuelan migrants sent to El Salvador: Attorneys
Tags Share Immigration courts are dismissing the cases of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, sparking alarm among lawyers and human rights advocates who say the move violates due process. Attorneys say these migrants, many with pending asylum claims or legal protections like TPS, were deported without fair hearings, and…
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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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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share DHS Says it Won’t Eliminate Oversight Offices but is Still Pursuing Layoffs The Homeland Security Department is no longer planning on shuttering three oversight offices whose entire workforces were told in March that they were being laid off. Officials are still going through with reductions in force, however, leading to continued questions from…
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RFK Human Rights, Adasina Social Capital, and FreeCap Launch New Briefs Highlighting Financial Risks of Private Prison Investments
Tags Share New York, NY, May 29, 2025 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, in partnership with Adasina Social Capital and FreeCap Financial, has released the first in a new quarterly series of investor risk briefs detailing financial risks for shareholders of GEO Group and CoreCivic, private prison companies operating upwards of 90% of U.S.…
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91.5 KJZZ Phoenix: DHS oversight offices return to function, but questions remain about their future
Tags Share Almost all employees at three key oversight offices within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were laid off when the agency closed them in March, citing a shift in mission. Speaking with KJZZ Phoenix, Anthony Enriquez, Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, criticized the move, emphasizing…
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Immigrants’ rights organizations file FOIA lawsuit over illegal age determination procedures for unaccompanied immigrant children
Tags Share New York, NY, May 28, 2025 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the National Immigration Project, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana last week filed suit for records of a government investigation on coercion of unaccompanied immigrant children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
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RFK Human Rights publishes resource guide for victims of arbitrary detention
Tags Share Washington, D.C., May 28, 2025 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights today published a new guide that outlines best practices for engaging with the United States government on arbitrary and wrongful detention cases. The guide was created as a practical resource for family members of individuals who are arbitrarily detained overseas. It is…
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