By Syra Ortiz-Blanes “The preliminary injunction filed last week includes several sworn statements from people, identified only by initials, who describe emotional, financial and social harm that the passage of Section 10 has inflicted upon their lives. ‘Our plaintiffs show the profound human impact of who this law affects. We have families that are now afraid to travel together back …

For Immediate Release:   July 17, 2023 Contact: [email protected] The complaint challenges the constitutionality of a provision within the law criminalizing the transportation of individuals into Florida MIAMI – Today, legal organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice and American Immigration Council, filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s new anti-immigrant …

By Dara Kam “Migrant workers and advocates have filed a federal lawsuit challenging part of a new Florida law that makes it a felony to transport into the state people who enter the country illegally, arguing the law is vague and will lead to ‘unlawful arrest, prosecution and harassment.’ The law, championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is among a series …

For Immediate Release: April 14, 2023 Media Contact: [email protected] MIAMI — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Americans for Immigrant Justice released the following statements in response to the Eleventh Circuit decision in the City of South Miami, et al. v. DeSantis, et al., a case challenging Florida’s law prohibiting sanctuary policies and requiring local police to act as …

by Syra Ortiz-Blanes “Legal service groups that represent detained migrants have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging the agency prevents lawyers and their clients in Miami’s Krome Detention Center and three other detention facilities from speaking regularly and confidentially. ‘Defendants have systematically failed to ensure compliance with constitutional requirements, federal law, and ICE’s own policies regarding access to counsel,’ …

By Daniel Wiessner “Groups that provide legal services to immigrants seeking asylum have filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. agency that operates detention facilities of violating the U.S. Constitution by making it difficult for lawyers to meet with detainees. The five nonprofit groups, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, claim U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has prevented regular …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 13, 2022 Contacts: Devra Gelman, Americans for Immigrant Justice, [email protected] ACLU of Florida Media Office, [email protected], (786) 363-2737 Jocelyn De Carvalho, Milbank, [email protected] MIAMI, FL — Several legal services organizations filed a lawsuit today against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for unlawfully preventing attorneys from communicating with immigrants detained in four detention facilities in Florida, Louisiana, …

We’re honored to be awarded by The Florida Bar Foundation for our work in the Gayle litigation, resulting in improved conditions for immigrants detained by ICE during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tara Price (left) of Shutts & Bowen LLP presented the award to Americans for Immigrant Justice senior litigation attorney Jennifer Coberly (right). The Gayle major class action litigation was brought …

Five years after being separated under Trump’s 2017 Family Separation pilot program, our client “Ana” and her father have finally been reunited in the United States!  Ana was just two years old and non-verbal when she and her father entered the US. After the pair was detained, Ana’s father – her sole living parent – was suddenly separated from the …

For Immediate Release August 12, 2021 Contact: Lisa Lehner, Director of Litigation 305-573-1106 ext. 1020 | [email protected] GLADES COUNTY, FL— Today, Muslim Advocates, Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) and the law firm King & Spalding, announce a settlement with the Glades County Detention Center for its discriminatory and abusive practices at a county-run immigration detention facility that systematically prevented …

Souther Poverty Law Center “MIAMI – Immigrants held in U.S. custody and their attorneys reached a settlement with the federal government over COVID-19 protocols at three South Florida Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. The agreement presumptively provides for six months’ oversight of ICE’s compliance with reduced population requirements, CDC pandemic guidelines, and ICE’s own Pandemic Response Requirements by a federal …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  February 8, 2021 Contact: Jennifer Coberly, Senior Litigation Attorney, [email protected] MIAMI, FL – A federal court ruling allows a father and son torn apart at the border due to Trump-era family separation practices to continue their lawsuit for justice. After verbal abuse and threats of violence, law enforcement officers tore Juan,* three years old at the time, from his …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  February 5, 2021 Contact: Lisa Lehner, [email protected] ALBEQUERQUE, NM – On February 5, 2021, Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice), Ian Ross and Erica Perdoma of Stumphauzer, Foslid, Sloman, Ross & Kolaya, PLLC and David Urias and Josh Ewing of Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg Urias & Ward filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit seeking justice for …

By Angelica Albaladejo, The Guardian “The first time Immigration and Customs Enforcement flew Marta across the country, she feared catching the coronavirus. After five months of being shuttled among various facilities, she was worried about infecting others. In February, when her cross-country journeys started, ICE knew Marta’s lupus and asthma could increase her risk of contracting the virus and experiencing severe …

A father and son who were separated at the U.S. border when seeking asylum sued the federal government Friday, slamming the Trump administration’s policies as “barbaric” and a “brutal intimidation tactic.”

MIAMI, FL – On August 28, 2020 Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) filed one of the first Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) cases seeking justice for a family separated at the border during the U.S. Government’s pilot program for family separation. In November 2017, “Andres” and his three-year old son “Juan” crossed the U.S.-Mexico border fleeing Honduras, following death …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 19, 2020 Contact: Eric Naing, [email protected] or Ariela Moscowitz, [email protected] Civil Rights Advocates Demand Miami ICE Facility Stop Feeding Pork to Detained Muslims  ICE Chaplain’s Dismissive Response to Immigration Detainees’ Complaints: “It is what it is.” WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Muslim Advocates, Americans for Immigrant Justice and the law firm King & Spalding LLP sent a …

By Alexi C. Cardona, Miami New Times “Lily Hartmann, a human-rights advocate for Americans for Immigrant Justice, says the detainees asked officials for other food and tried to address the issues on their own before turning to advocates. The letter says detainees’ complaints to detention staff have gone ignored and that a chaplain dismissed them by saying, ‘It is what …

“‘ICE officers at Krome have repeatedly served pork or pork-based products to Muslim detainees, contrary to the detainees’ sincerely held religious belief that they are forbidden…

By Monique O. Madan, The Miami Herald “Attorney Lisa Lehner of Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Florida non-profit immigration organization, told the judge that her client, Deivys Perez Valladares, who was transferred from Broward to Krome, never received a decision regarding his release or an explanation for his transfer. ‘Medical staff at BTC did not complete a medical examination prior …

By Nathan Hale, Law 360 Detainees at three Florida facilities have slammed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s bid to escape an order requiring it to improve conditions and limit transfers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the Florida federal court’s ruling was justified and more recent events only reinforce that conclusion. Responding Monday to ICE’s motion for reconsideration of the June …

AI Justice desempeñó un papel clave en una reciente decisión de la Corte Federal contra el tratamiento de los niños inmigrantes por parte del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) de EE. UU. La semana pasada, después de dos años de litigio y un juicio de 18 días, el juez de la Corte de Distrito de los Estados …

By Monique O. Madan, The Miami Hearald U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has asked a federal judge to undo an order she issued last month requiring the agency to give soap, cleaning supplies and masks to detainees at three South Florida detention centers. The June 6 mandate — which also strictly limits ICE transfers to other facilities and bars COVID-19-positive …

Por Monique O. Madan, el Miami Herald Un juez federal de Miami fijó una fecha de juicio en enero para un caso relacionado con el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de EE. UU. Y los inmigrantes detenidos en tres centros de detención del sur de Florida en medio de la pandemia de coronavirus. En documentos de la corte …

By Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post A federal judge ruled Thursday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has unlawfully transferred thousands of unaccompanied children who turned 18 to adult detention facilities without considering alternatives, in violation of a 2013 law. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of Washington, D.C., said he will order changes “in the near future” after a …

Por Porter Wells, Ley Bloomberg Los detenidos de inmigración en tres instalaciones en Miami que dicen que ICE ha sido inconstitucionalmente indiferente a sus riesgos de contratar a Covid-19 pueden presentar sus reclamos como una clase, dictaminó el Distrito Sur de Florida. La clase certificada, calculada en aproximadamente 1,400 individuos, estará compuesta por todos los detenidos de inmigración civil detenidos …

Esta demanda federal, presentada en el Tribunal de Distrito de Miami, buscó obligar a CBP a producir documentos completos sobre las condiciones de detención en todas las estaciones de detención a corto plazo ubicadas en el Valle del Río Grande y resultó en la producción de miles de páginas de información sustantiva durante un período de varios años. Además, AI …

En febrero de 2016, AI Justice, junto con el abogado adjunto Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger, Tetzeli y Pratt, Pensilvania, resolvieron un caso histórico de la Ley Federal de Reclamaciones de Tort en nombre de Alba Quiñonez Flores, desafiando las condiciones inhumanas de su detención en múltiples estaciones de detención operadas por Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP) a lo largo de la …

AI Justice y sus colegas defensores organizaron una exitosa campaña de 2013 para poner fin al uso del programa de Comunidades Seguras de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas en el condado de Miami-Dade. En octubre de 2013, Miami-Dade se convirtió en el primer condado de Florida en finalizar su participación en el programa S-Comm al negarse a asignar fondos para …

AI Justice fue instrumental en la adopción por parte de la Administración de Obama en junio de 2012 del programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA), que permite a los inmigrantes indocumentados que llegaron de niños a trabajar y residir, al menos temporalmente, sin temor a ser deportados. En abril, Cheryl Little publicó un artículo de …

Líder en la lucha por la aprobación de la Ley DREAM. Representó a los estudiantes de Trail of Dreams que marcharon 1,500 millas a Washington, D.C.en 2010.

Se asoció con la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Harvard para presentar una acción legal exitosa ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la Organización de Estados Americanos para proteger a los solicitantes de asilo que huyen en barco.

Testificó sobre cuestiones de inmigración ante numerosos organismos nacionales e internacionales, incluido el Subcomité de Inmigración del Poder Judicial del Senado de los Estados Unidos; el Subcomité de la Cámara de Operaciones Internacionales y Derechos Humanos; La Comisión de Derechos Civiles de los Estados Unidos; La Comisión Nacional de Eliminación de Violaciones en Prisiones; La Organización de los Estados Americanos; …

Expuso condiciones deplorables de detención de inmigrantes en la cárcel del condado de Jackson en Florida, lo que provocó una investigación del Departamento de Justicia, un informe mordaz que confirmó las acusaciones de detenidos y el retiro de todos los detenidos de la cárcel.

Líder en defensa de los haitianos. A la vanguardia de la lucha por el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) para los haitianos, reuniéndose con miembros del Consejo de Política Nacional de la Casa Blanca y del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional. Logró la liberación de los traumatizados sobrevivientes del terremoto de Haití en 2010 que habían sido detenidos por Inmigración a …

Co-aconsejó una de las primeras demandas: National Coalition of Latino Clergy y Christian Leaders et al. v. Arizona – desafiando a S.B. de Arizona Ley 1070. Dirigió el equipo legal preparado para demandar al estado de Florida si se aprobara un proyecto de ley antiinmigrante en 2011.

Por Carolina Bolado Ley 360 (1 de mayo de 2020, 2:12 PM EDT) – Un juez federal de Florida ordenó el jueves a la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas de los Estados Unidos que reduzca significativamente el número de personas bajo su custodia en tres instalaciones de Florida debido a la pandemia de COVID-19 y Entregue jabón, materiales de limpieza …

By Monique O. Madan, The Miami Herald U.S. immigration officials have told a Miami federal judge that the court has no authority over how the government chooses to detain and release immigration detainees, and that filing twice-weekly accountability reports to the court would be “unduly burdensome.” Over the weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a response objecting to a …

Para publicación inmediata Contacto: Lisa Lehner, directora de litigios 305-573-1106 ext.1020 [email protected] Miami, FL – (16 de octubre de 2019) – Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) tiene presentó una Queja y Solicitud de Acción en nombre de sus clientes y otros detenidos del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) ubicado en el Centro de Detención del Condado …

By DANIEL RIVERO & MONIQUE O. MADAN • SEP 30, 2019 A federal judge has temporarily blocked a portion of a controversial Florida law that called on local police to cross state lines to assist federal immigration officials but left in place a provision where the officers would have to hold undocumented immigrants until the feds pick them up. In an order issued on …