Gavel on desk

Immigration advocates move again to block Florida transportation law in federal court – Miami Herald

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 …

Civil Rights and Legal Advocates File Lawsuit Against Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law SB 1718

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 …

Detained person holding phone

Legal organizations sue ICE, say agency prevents communication with Krome detainees – Miami Herald

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,’ …

Detained person holding phone

U.S. immigration agency blocks lawyer access to detainees, groups say – Reuters

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 …

Legal Organizations Sue ICE for Illegally Preventing Attorneys from Communicating with Detained Immigrants in Four States

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, …

AI Justice Litigation Program Awarded Florida Bar Foundation’s Goldstein-Van Nortwick Award for Excellence Second Runner-Up

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 …

Formerly Detained Muslims Receive Damages for the Denial of Their Right to Observe Their Religion by Glades County Detention Center

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 …

Man in Court

Settlement Mandates Federal Court Oversight of Three Florida ICE Detention Facilities for Remainder of Pandemic

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 …