Arbitrary Detention
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RFK Human Rights v. Department of Homeland Security: Ensuring oversight of immigration enforcement
This case challenges the executive branch’s sudden closure of three oversight offices within the Department of Homeland Security that Congress mandated be created, funded, and staffed in order to safeguard human rights and protect the public from government wrongdoing.
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New York Times: Lawsuit Aims to Reverse Firings at Internal Oversight Offices Within D.H.S.
Tags Share An assortment of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday aimed at stopping the Department of Homeland Security from permanently shuttering its internal oversight divisions after the Trump administration fired critical staff members, grinding operations to a halt. The lawsuit was filed in New York and brought by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights,…
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New York Times: Private Prisons for Immigrants
Tags Share “The Trump administration has justified cuts to public health, education and international aid programs in the name of ‘government efficiency.’ At the same time, it is passing billions of taxpayer dollars to private prison executives to expand an immigration incarceration system that is notorious for abuse, mismanagement and waste.” Responding to the Trump…
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Washington Post: Khalil ruling tests Trump deportation tactic of sending detainees to Louisiana
Tags Share Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil was deemed eligible for deportation just three days after his first court hearing, prompting due process concerns from his attorneys. The Trump administration alleges Khalil, a legal U.S. resident, poses a national security threat due to his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Advocates say the case reflects a broader strategy…
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WBUR: Poor conditions at Louisiana ICE detention center holding Tufts student, advocates say
Tags Share WBUR has reported, former detainees have described punitive and unsanitary conditions at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, where a Turkish Tufts University student, Öztürk, is being held. In an August 2024 report, Anthony Enriquez—vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights—warned that Öztürk faces the…
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The Guardian: Was the Supreme Court’s deportation ruling a win for Trump or immigrants?
Tags Share The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can use the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport certain Venezuelan immigrants—but emphasized that due process must be upheld. Trump called it a win, though critics dubbed it a pyrrhic victory. Immigration advocates, including the ACLU, claimed success, noting the court affirmed individuals’ right…
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Kansas Reflector: CoreCivic plans for ICE facility in Kansas have generated public opposition. It’s plowing ahead.
Tags Share Writing in the Kansas Reflector, our legal fellow Medha Raman and two co-authors denounce the private prison company CoreCivic’s attempts to reopen a notorious Leavenworth jail as an immigration detention facility. The authors highlight CoreCivic’s past failures in the Leavenworth community and the long record of abuse at other CoreCivic-operated ICE facilities across the country. Read…
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Verite News: Legal guide uses immigration work in Louisiana to educate advocates around the country
Tags Share Last month, RFK Human Rights, the Acacia Center for Justice, and the ACLU of Louisiana published a new guide that trains attorneys, advocates, and grassroots organizations on how to provide legal services in immigration detention facilities. Speaking with Verite News, our VP of U.S. Advocacy & Litigation Anthony Enriquez describes the purpose of…
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Boston Globe: Detained Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was one of several sent by ICE to Louisiana. Here’s why.
Tags Share Following the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, the Boston Globe reports on Öztürk’s detention in a notorious Louisiana ICE facility. Referencing the long history of abuse at the facility, the Globe cites RFK Human Rights’ 2024 “Inside the Black Hole” report, which exposed widespread physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect,…
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Al Jazeera: Mahmoud Khalil case—Judge rules activist’s case can remain in New Jersey
Tags Share Speaking with Al Jazeera, our client Daniel Cortes De La Valle recounts his experience in a notorious Louisiana ICE facility – the same facility where student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil is currently detained. While detained in the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, Daniel was subjected to horrific abuse, including severe medical neglect, denial…
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The Wall Street Journal: Inside Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil’s ICE Detention Center
Tags Share As of April 1, student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remains detained at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, an immigration detention facility more than a thousand miles from where he was arrested. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, attorney Sarah Decker highlights the facility’s isolated location and ICE’s broader pattern of secluding people…
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