News Alerts

March 7, 2023 – The National Immigration Project and Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin today filed a complaint in the United States District Court of the Central District of California under the Federal Tort Claims Act against ICE for the death of Martin Vargas Arellano on behalf of his son Martin Vargas.
Read the press release »

March 7, 2023 – Yesterday, The New York Times reported that the Biden Administration is "considering" a return to the cruel and abusive practice of detaining migrant families. The National Immigration Project condemns this practice and news of its possible revival in the strongest possible terms.
Read the press release »

January 13, 2023 – The National Immigration Project commends the Biden administration's move to ensure that workers who are potential victims or witnesses in pending labor investigations will temporarily live free from fear of deportation from the United States.
Read the press release »

January 11, 2023 – In 2022, as we marked 20 years of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the ACLU of Louisiana and immigrants' rights coalition partners - National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK), and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) - launched a legal rights initiative designed to provide people detained in Louisiana with knowledge about their right to seek relief before federal courts through the writ of habeas corpus. In conjunction with Covington & Burling LLP, the group developed and distributed "Pro Se" materials in eight languages to detention centers.
Read the press release »

December 29, 2022 – Earlier this week the United States Supreme Court decided to allow Title 42 to remain in effect, continuing a cruel and unjustifiable policy that will lead to further death and suffering for those fleeing harm. This move is the result of a last-minute request by states led by Republican governors who are motivated by anti-immigrant fervor.
Read the press release »

November 4, 2022 – More than 130 immigration, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations released a letter today urging the Biden administration to include immigrants in the pardon process. The letter is a response to President Biden's recent marijuana convictions pardon announcement, which explicitly excludes many immigrants and omits affirmative measures to ensure that all immigrants get meaningful relief from the immigration consequences that can follow marijuana convictions.
Read the press release »

October 6, 2022 – Today President Biden pardoned thousands of people who were convicted on federal charges of simple possession of marijuana from 1992 to 2021. While these pardons are long overdue and necessary, they regrettably fail to protect many immigrants from negative implications of marijuana-related activities on their immigration status.
Read the press release »

September 28, 2022 – You are helping us double down. Together we are fighting to end a profoundly inhumane immigration system, one that disproportionately harms Black immigrants and immigrants of color.
Read more »

August 16, 2022 – Today, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta), the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed an appeal on behalf of Kelvin Silva, a 45-year-old father and North Carolina resident who was deported on Feb. 15 to the Dominican Republic after growing up and living in the U.S. since he was 11 years old.
Read the press release »

August 9, 2022 – More than 40 social justice organizations sent a letter today to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) demanding an investigation into DHS' operations related to the University of Farmington and redress for the students who were targeted. In conjunction with the letter, attorneys representing the students also filed a civil rights complaint with the agency.
Read the press release »

July 26, 2022 – Today, Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, filed its appeal brief at the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana v. CDC, a case brought in the Western District of Louisiana by Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states seeking to stop the Biden Administration's termination of the Title 42 order, which has effectively shut down access to asylum at the southern border.
Read the press release »

July 22, 2022 – In light of the Supreme Court's rights-stripping decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, today, 156 immigration, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging the agency to immediately issue clear guidance to prevent the Dobbs decision from adding another layer of danger for noncitizens who exercise control over their bodies and their reproductive futures and people who help them seek the same freedom.
Read the press release »

July 6, 2022 – Today, a settlement agreement on claims for injunctive relief was reached in Santos Garcia et al. v. Wolf et al., a case filed by the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP on behalf of fifteen immigrants detained at the ICA-Farmville Detention Center during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.
Read the press release »

June 30, 2022 – Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Biden v. Texas that the Biden administration acted within its legal authority when it terminated the Trump-era so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or Remain in Mexico policy. The case, brought by the states of Texas and Missouri, challenged the Biden administration's formal termination of the callous policy last summer.
Read the press release »

June 15, 2022 – Each year, NIPNLG honors one of its members doing outstanding work for immigrant rights. This year, we are thrilled to honor Laila L. Hlass! A nationally recognized immigrant rights advocate, practitioner, and legal scholar, Laila has brought a tenacious fighting spirit to the immigrant rights movement for more than 15 years. As a professor of practice at Tulane Law School, Laila garnered seed funding to launch the Tulane Immigrant Rights Clinic in 2019, where she serves as Co-Director.
Download the commemorative program book »

June 6, 2022 – Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, has filed a motion to stay the nationwide scope of the injunction issued in Arizona v. CDC, a case brought in the Western District of Louisiana by Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states seeking to stop the Biden administration's termination of the Title 42 order.
Read the press release »

May 20, 2022 – A federal judge in Louisiana issued a ruling today that halts the CDC and Biden administration's move to end Title 42 on Monday, May 23. In Arizona, et al. v. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, et al. (Arizona v. CDC), Arizona, Texas, and a group of states - most of which have no international border - sought and were granted a nationwide injunction to prevent the termination of the border policy that has barred migrants from seeking asylum for more than two years.
Read the press release »

May 10, 2022 – A family seeking asylum at the California-Mexico border and Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, filed a Motion to Intervene in Arizona v. CDC. Arizona v. CDC is a case brought in the Western District of Louisiana by Arizona, Texas, and 20 non-border states seeking to stop the Biden Administration's termination of the Title 42 order which, for over two years, has effectively closed the border to people seeking asylum.
Read the press release »

April 27, 2022 – Today, 10 organizations filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) calling for an investigation of the Houston Asylum Office's handling of Credible Fear Interviews (CFIs) for asylum seekers.
Read the press release »

April 15, 2022 – Today, the Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Cameroon, which will allow an estimated 40,000 Cameroonians currently residing in the United States opportunities to provide for themselves and their families and live without fear of deportation.
Read the press release »

April 4, 2022 – Last Friday, following guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Biden administration announced the termination of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that has blocked tens of thousands of people from accessing the U.S. immigration and asylum system since March 2020. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the termination will take effect on May 23, 2022.
Read the press release »

April 1, 2022 – Today, the House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act by a bipartisan 220-204 majority. The MORE Act is the first bill to completely deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act and begin to address the deep harms that prohibition has caused communities.
Read the press release »

March 25, 2022 – Today, the National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Project, and Detention Watch Network welcomed the announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer use the Etowah County Jail (Etowah) in Alabama. This announcement is a credit to more than a decade of community organizing by Alabama immigrant rights activists and brave advocacy from people detained in the facility.
Read the press release »

March 21, 2022 – Government documents and stories of migrants who faced mistreatment, family separation, and even death as a result of migration-related criminal prosecutions reveal the extent to which the U.S. government, even under the Biden administration, continues to rely on a nearly century-old law with white supremacist origins to block migrants at the southern U.S. border.
Read the press release »

January 21, 2022 – U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas yesterday betrayed the Biden administration's commitments to disentangle local policing from the federal detention and deportation system and called on local law enforcement agencies to assist DHS in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law. His remarks oppose demands from communities around the country who have passed sanctuary laws and protections to avoid exactly such entanglement.
Read the press release »

December 15, 2021 – Thanks to you, the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG) is working to dismantle systems that criminalize our communities, is creating dozens of resources that assist immigration and criminal law practitioners, and is training up a corps of fierce attorneys and advocates all over the country.
Read more »

November 30, 2021 – We are pleased to release our 2021 Year In Review, detailing some of the work we accomplished this year with your support. Read Litigation Spotlights, Client Stories, Our Work At a Glance, 2020 Finances, and our Donors and Sponsors, to whom we are enormously grateful.
Read the Year in Review »

November 17, 2021 – Nearly two months after leaders of 43 prominent human and civil rights organizations delivered a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration to take immediate action to end the violent expulsions of Haitian and other Black asylum seekers at the U.S-Mexico border and to restore asylum access, the signatories are once again calling on the White House to immediately end Title 42 expulsions and related anti-asylum practices and policies, which have continued unabated.
Read the press release »

November 9, 2021 – Last Friday, November 5th, a group of immigrant rights advocates and organizations delivered a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding access to legal services for Haitian migrants detained at Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico.
Read the press release »

October 18, 2021 – Thank you for enabling NIP to reach its milestone 50th anniversary year! YOU helped win freedom for more than 40 women at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, where they experienced medical abuse, including non consensual gynecological surgeries. Together we also helped force the permanent closure of the detention center.
Read more »

October 5, 2021 – Today, the National Immigration Project delivered a demand letter to officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on behalf No More Deaths (NMD), a humanitarian aid organization based in southern Arizona, in response to Border Patrol's pattern of surveillance and harassment of NMD camps and volunteers.
Read the press release »

September 30, 2021 – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new memo outlining the agencys immigration "enforcement priorities." The memo continues an enforcement-first approach, targeting three broad categories of people for arrest, detention, and deportation, rather than prioritizing people for protection.
Read the press release »

September 22, 2021 – Leaders of 39 human and civil rights organizations delivered the following letter to the White House on Tuesday evening to oppose the Biden administration's violent expulsions of Haitian asylum seekers at the U.S-Mexico border and its recent move to appeal a federal court ruling that would have brought an end to additional expulsions of asylum-seeking families.
Read the press release »

September 16, 2021 – As Congress begins to return from summer recess and the Biden administration enters the final quarter of its first year in office, the National Immigration Project released a new policy brief, Transforming the Immigration System: The National Immigration Project's Priorities for Executive and Legislative Action.
Read the press release »

August 16, 2021 – Immigration advocates filed an amended complaint in a class action lawsuit challenging the continuing effects of the "Remain in Mexico" policy on asylum-seeking individuals who remain stranded outside the United States and legal service providers seeking to represent them.
Read the press release »

August 4, 2021 – On August 4, 2021, the Until We Are Free table, led by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), sent an open letter to President Joseph Biden and his administration...
Read the press release »

July 16, 2021 – Following yesterday's Senate confirmation hearing for Ed Gonzalez, the Biden administration's nominee to become the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the National Immigration Project issued the following statement...
Read the press release »

July 15, 2021 – On Thursday, July 15, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the confirmation of Ed Gonzalez as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a key leadership position within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Gonzalez, the Sheriff of Harris County (which includes Houston) in Texas, was nominated by President Biden in April. The We Are Home campaign, a nationwide campaign to fight for immigrant communities, has made immediately cutting detention and deportation and overhauling the interior system priorities for the campaign. The following are statements by key leaders within the We Are Home campaign in advance of the Thursday hearing.
Read the press release »

July 1, 2021 – On Thursday, July 1st the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) will host a press conference announcing the launch of Until We're Free. The table, convened by BAJI, includes a diverse group of racial justice and immigrant rights leaders: Advancement Project | National Office, Alianza Americas, Black Immigrant Collective, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, Center for Constitutional Rights, Immigrant Justice Corps, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, and VERA Institute. The table will offer humane and inclusive immigration policies that are grounded in anti-racism ensuring that all immigrants are protected.
Read the press release »

June 30, 2021 – This practice advisory written by the National Immigration Project, the American Immigration Council, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network provides an overview of a recent Supreme Court decision, Niz-Chavez v. Garland, and its impact on eligibility for cancellation of removal. It discusses the potential effects of the decision on post-conclusion voluntary departure and addresses broader applications of the decision challenging the legitimacy of removal proceedings initiated by defective Notices to Appear and in absentia removal orders issued in cases with defective Notices to Appear. Finally, it covers vehicle, timing, and geographical considerations when raising Niz-Chavez v. Garland-based arguments.
Download the Practice Advisory »

June 30, 2021 – Today, the National Immigration Project, the national ACLU, and the ACLU of New Jersey launched a federal class-action lawsuit that seeks to immediately block the long-distance transfer of ICE detainees from the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, N.J.
Read the press release »

June 28, 2021 – On Monday, June 28th, a letter signed by 156 organizations was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas urging DHS and all its components, including ICE and CBP, to change course on enforcement to protect families and communities and keep them whole.
Read more »

June 15, 2021 – On the nine-year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the National Immigration Project released the following statement: Today, we join our communities and fellow advocates in celebrating and honoring the tremendous grassroots efforts that led to the creation of the DACA program and in calling on the Biden administration to deliver permanent protections to all immigrant community members - without exclusions.
Read the press release »

June 11, 2021 – Each year, NIPNLG honors one of its members doing outstanding work for immigrant rights. This year, we are thrilled to honor Elora Mukherjee! Elora is a globally recognized advocate, practitioner, and voice for immigrant rights. As founding director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and Jerome L. Greene Clinical Professor of Law, her eyewitness accounts of the inhumane treatment of children along the Mexico-U.S. border in 2019 sparked national and international outrage. She was invited to testify before Congress, where she detailed the harm children were suffering.
Download the commemorative program book »

June 3, 2021 – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to properly monitor informed consent protocols used by a doctor accused of performing non-consensual gynecological procedures on women detained at Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, according to a new report published today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the National Immigration Project and Project South.
Read the press release »

June 2, 2021 – Nearly 200 immigration, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations released a letter today urging the Biden administration to include immigrants in the pardon process, following news that the Biden administration is planning a process that focuses on racial equity. The letter highlights that immigration is a racial justice issue and calls for consideration of immigration consequences from the get-go.
Read the press release »

May 28, 2021 – The Defund Hate campaign and immigrant rights groups who monitor technology surveillance programs expressed frustration after President Biden released a Fiscal Year 2022 budget request of $8.4 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $16.3 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The president's budget contradicts his commitments to help communities rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic and pursue government policies that end racial inequities, and instead continues to direct billions of taxpayer dollars toward agencies and private prison corporations which have a nearly 20-year pattern of fiscal mismanagement, separating families, and violating people's civil and human rights.
Read the press release »

May 26, 2021 – Recently released data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows that the Biden Administration has increased by 50% the number of people in immigration detention since coming into office. The We Are Home campaign and partners are expressing growing alarm in response to the dramatic increase in detention.
Read the press release »

May 25, 2021 – Criminal convictions often carry immigration consequences, including mandatory detention and deportation. A conviction is when a criminal court or jury decides that a person is guilty of a crime or a person pleads guilty to having committed a crime. A conviction is not final until a person has had the opportunity to appeal. Each state has its own criminal laws and its own court system.
Download the Practice Advisory »

May 20, 2021 – The Biden administration announced this morning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will sever its ties with the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC), a private prison operated by LaSalle Corrections in Ocilla, Georgia, after over 40 immigrant women came forward with their experiences of medical and gynecological abuse at the facility, as well as retaliation for speaking out about it. Survivors who experienced and witnessed such abuse at ICDC are pleased with this development but say the administration must do more to protect immigrants from severe harm.
Read the press release »

May 17, 2021 – GA catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak at the Adams County Detention Center (ACDC) in Natchez, Miss., is recklessly endangering the lives of hundreds of people, says a new Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) complaint filed today by immigrant rights organizations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Read the press release »

May 6, 2021 – Globally Recognized Advocate and Practitioner, Elora Mukherjee, Selected as Inaugural Honoree. The National Immigration Project is pleased to announce the launch of the Annual Elisabeth S. “Lisa” Brodyaga Award to honor one of its members for their outstanding work for immigrant rights.
Read the press release »

April 27, 2021 – A new report by the National Immigration Project, Complaints Ignored, Abuses Excused: Why the Department of Homeland Security’s Internal Accountability Mechanisms Must Be Reformed, sheds light on the lack of oversight and accountability across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agencies, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Through summaries of often long-pending complaints detailing medical neglect, retaliation, inhumane use of solitary or quarantine confinement, and much more, the report reveals the agencies’ unchecked abuse and misconduct.
Read the press release »
Download the report »

April 21, 2021 – Almost one year ago, people from every corner of the country took to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd after witnessing his murder by a Minneapolis police officer. Today, as former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty, we acknowledge that while accountability is critical, it is only a small step in the long fight for justice.
Read the statement »

April 21, 2021 – During the failed “tough on crime” policies of the 1990s, and as part of the misguided and racist War on Drugs, Congress labeled a long list of crimes, many of which are not even felonies under state law, “aggravated felonies” for immigration purposes. People convicted of these crimes are subject to the harshest immigration consequences, including mandatory detention, exclusion from most forms of immigration relief, and deportation without a hearing in some cases.
Download the Practice Advisory »

April 14, 2021 – Each year, NIPNLG honors one of its members doing outstanding work for immigrant rights. This year, we are thrilled to honor Elora Mukherjee! Elora is a globally recognized advocate, practitioner, and voice for immigrant rights. As founding director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and Jerome L. Greene Clinical Professor of Law, her eyewitness accounts of the inhumane treatment of children along the Mexico-U.S. border in 2019 sparked national and international outrage. She was invited to testify before Congress, where she detailed the harm children were suffering.

Please join us for a FREE online Happy Hour in Elora’s honor on June 11, 2021 at 6:00pm ET (during the 2021 AILA Virtual Annual Conference on Immigration Law). All are welcome! Honor Elora with a personal message, and celebrate her – and all our – work fighting to advance immigrant rights and racial justice. Fun, festivities, camaraderie, and some special surprises.
Read more »
Honor Elora Mukherjee by placing an ad in the Commemorative Program Book »
Register for the FREE online Happy Hour »

March 31, 2021 – Immigrant advocates introduced a report today containing brand new, state-by-state data on people living in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Nearly a year after advocates from the Temporary Protected Status Advocacy Working Group filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, followed by litigation from the National Immigration Project at the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), Alianza Americas, the Catholic Immigration Network (CLINIC) and members of the National TPS Alliance, the government finally released records about to the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for hundreds of thousands of individuals.
Read the press release »
Download the report »

March 29, 2021 – Today, 160 immigrant rights and legal services organizations called on the Biden administration to implement an effective case review process to consider the release of nearly 14,000 people who remain in immigration detention, at grave risk of contracting COVID-19, more than a year into the pandemic.
Read the press release »
Download the letter »

March 24, 2021 – DHS enforcement priorities have changed under the Biden administration, opening new opportunities to defend your clients from arrest, detention, and deportation. Two new practice advisories from the NIPNLG, ILRC, and IDP provide immigration and criminal defense practitioners with an explanation of the new policies, and what they can do to use DHS’s guidance in defending their clients.
Download the Practice Advisory for Immigration Advocates »
Download the Practice Advisory for Criminal Defense Attorneys »

March 10, 2021 – The Supreme Court issued Pereida v. Wilkinson, an opinion damaging to noncitizens with past criminal convictions who intend or need to seek relief in removal proceedings. The decision creates a national rule concerning the impact of inconclusive criminal court plea and conviction documents for noncitizens applying for relief from removal in immigration proceedings, specifically in cases where the modified categorical approach applies. requirement.
Download the practice alert »

March 9, 2021 – H.R. 6 would create a pathway to citizenship for people who came to the United States before January 1, 2021, who were 18 or under when they arrived, who have stayed in the United States since they arrived, and who meet an additional education, work, or military service requirement.
Read the full document »

March 3, 2021 – “Instead of bold and courageous leadership on legalization, legislators have chosen to turn their backs on those who are most harmed by the immigration system. And they did so behind closed doors, without any transparency or accountability to the people they represent.”
Read the full statement »

February 19, 2021 – The National Immigration Project has put together two brief primers on provisions of the US Citizenship Act of 2021 (the Biden immigration bill) related to crimes, waivers, and due process in immigration court.
Download the Criminal Enforcement Primer: English · Español
Download the Due Process Provisions Primer: English · Español

February 19, 2021 – The new memo creates additional “priorities” for removal; allows ICE officers to arrest and deport people who fall into these “priorities” without prior approval; and undoes the “pause” on removals from the January 20 memo. However, the memo is clear that it is only an interim memo and that the DHS Secretary will publish new rules for ICE officers, likely within 90 days. There is still a window to push for better rules.
Read the Fact Sheet in English »
FAQ para la comunidad sobre el memorando de control de ICE del 18 de febrero »

February 11, 2021 – Virginia-based migrants rights organization, La ColectiVA and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild released a fact sheet this week outlining the ways in which Arlington County police agencies collaborate with ICE.
Read the press release »
Download the fact sheet

February 8, 2021 – Today 279 organizations delivered a letter to Congresswoman Roybal-Allard and Congresswoman Lofgren asking for a clean Dream & Promise Act that does not leave members of our communities behind.
Read the letter »

February 1, 2021 – As deportations in recent days have raised concerns about the Biden administration’s plan to implement policy changes amid ongoing ICE-led deportations, immigrant rights organizations sent the following open letter today to the administration.
Read the letter »

January 28, 2021 – The Communications Manager is a new position that will work under the supervision of the Executive Director and with other staff to ensure sophisticated and impactful strategic communications to advance NIPNLG’s mission.
Read the job description and apply »

January 27, 2021 – On January 26, a judge in Texas issued a TRO against the 100-Day Moratorium on Deportations and Enforcement Priorities. Here are the key things to know about what the TRO does and does not do.
Download the fact sheet in English »
Efectos de la Orden Tribunal Que Bloquea Moratoria de Deportación »

January 26, 2021 – Backed by over 300 Organizations including NIPNLG, Bill Offers Blueprint for Policy Rooted in Compassion, Fairness; Would Root Out Systemic Racism from Immigration Laws. Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Pramila Jayapal, (WA-07), and Karen Bass (CA-37) reintroduced the New Way Forward Act, a crucial piece of legislation that seeks to write entrenched racism out of U.S. immigration laws.
Read the press release »

January 22, 2021 – Georgia immigrant rights groups and coalitions along with legal support have released a statement concerning the last survivor of Dr. Amin’s patients released from ICE custody the afternoon of 1.22.2021.
Read the press release »

January 17, 2021 – After Trump supporters and far-right insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Mayor Bowser of Washington DC declared a state of public emergency, which included a curfew extending from 6pm on January 6, 2021 to 6am on January 7, 2021 for all persons in the District. The Mayor has extended the public emergency through January 21, 2021, which would allow her to again impose a curfew at any time during that period.
Download the document in English »
Download the document in Spanish » (Translation by Sunrise Movement DC)

January 12, 2021 – Given that the Trump administration is coming to a close and the fact that this Memo will have no legal effect absent further action by the Secretary of State, we do not expect the Memo to have any immediate effect on immigration law. Nevertheless, we created this short FAQ to clarify the potential implications were the Secretary of State to take action.
Download the Q & A »

January 9, 2021 – NIPNLG is currently compiling both formal and informal complaints from immigration advocates and attorneys. In order to support efforts to submit administrative complaints, NIPNLG will be hosting a panel on January 15, 2021 at noon ET with experts who can answer questions about how to put together such complaints and what types of issues might qualify. We will circulate an invitation by email soon.
Read more »

On December 28, 2020, NIPNLG submitted a public comment opposing new Proposed Rules on Motions to Reopen and Reconsider; Effect of Departure; and Stay of Removal. The comment urges the Department of Justice to withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety. The rule strips important due process rights from noncitizens appearing before the immigration court and the Board of Immigration Appeals and will have devastating effects on the ability of noncitizens to seek reopening and reconsideration of their cases.
Download the comment »

December 21, 2020 – NIPNLG and its partners filed litigation on behalf of fourteen women who suffered medical abuse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. More than 40 women filed sworn testimony in court revealing a relentless pattern of unnecessary and non-consensual medical surgeries, including a pattern of unwanted gynecological procedures.
Read the press release »
Visit the case page »

December 2, 2020 – NIPNLG is pleased to release its 2020 Year In Review, detailing some of the challenges faced and work accomplished with your support. Read Litigation Spotlights, Client Stories, the NIPNLG 2020 At a Glance, 2019 Finances, and our Donors and Sponsors, to whom we are enormously grateful.
Visit the 2020 Year in Review »

November 19, 2020 – Just One Day Before They Were Slated to Go Into Effect, Federal Judge Enjoins Broad Rules that Would Have Vastly Expanded Categorical Bars to Asylum. On Thursday, a federal judge in the Northern District of California issued a nationwide injunction against the Trump Administration's new rule that would have dramatically restricted asylum eligibility for asylum seekers convicted of low-level offenses and even people who are not convicted of a crime. The changes were scheduled to go into effect on Friday.
Read the press release »
Visit the case page »

November 12, 2020 – On Wed. Dec. 2nd at 6pm ET, NIPNLG will host a one-hour discussion of the 20-min. film, The Undocumented Lawyer in partnership with Optimist Films. When you buy a $12 ticket, you will be able to stream the film at your leisure between Nov. 26th-Dec 2nd. Then join a Live zoom Q&A on Wed. Dec. 2nd at 6pm ET with the filmmaker and Lizbeth Mateo, the attorney profiled in the film, moderated by DACAmented attorney and NIPNLG board member, Luis Cortes Romero. Plus, 50% of ticket sales supports NIPNLG (and 100% of your tax-deductible donation supports us as always). We hope to see you at this exciting event!
Learn more »
Purchase tickets »

November 12, 2020 – In August, the Eleventh Circuit issued Patel v. U.S. Attorney Gen., a decision that included two holdings adverse to immigrants. The court’s first holding expanded the reach of the jurisdiction-stripping provision at section 242(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the “INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i), which covers “judgments” relating to certain forms of immigration relief. This Practice Alert addresses Patel’s second holding: that false claims to U.S. citizenship render noncitizens removable even if the claim had no possible impact on the decision or application at issue – that is, even if the false citizenship claim is immaterial.
Download the practice alert »

November 2, 2020 – The Trump Administration’s new criminal bars to asylum will dramatically reduce the availability of asylum to people fleeing persecution and further their criminalization. The unprecedented expansion of these categorical bars rely on racially biased policing practices and prosecutions, are vague and sweeping, and contradict the INA’s plain language and the United States’ international commitments.
Read the press release »
Download the complaint »
Visit the case page »

October 29, 2020 – CREW, NIPNLG and Project South are suing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to turn over records of non-consensual medical procedures performed on individuals in ICE custody, including gynecological procedures that could result in sterilization or diminished fertility. The public needs a full accounting of any violations of the bodily autonomy and reproductive rights of people in ICE detention. CREW, NIPNLG and Project South previously commenced separate FOIA investigations requesting records about these issues. ICE has failed to respond to either request.
Read the press release »
Visit the case page »

October 28, 2020 – NIPNLG, in conjuction with other immigration advocates, filed a new lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which has forced over 60,000 asylum seekers into precarious, life-threatening situations in Mexico and deprived them of access to legal assistance and other tools needed to meaningfully present their asylum claims. The lawsuit, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, et al. v. Wolf, seeks to block the continued implementation of the policy while hearings are suspended, facilitate the return of individual asylum-seeking plaintiffs so they can pursue their claims from inside the United States
Read the press release »
Download the complaint »
Visit the case page »

October 9, 2020 – 13 medically-vulnerable people held in immigration detention in Louisiana filed an urgent request for release due to their high risk of life-threatening COVID-19 infection. Numerous courts around the country have recognized the heightened risk of COVID-19 posed by large detained populations and ordered the release of many of those at heightened risk of severe illness. The filing seeks release from the Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center (PPIPC) in Pine Prairie, Louisiana and the LaSalle Ice Processing Center (LIPC) in Jena, Louisiana.
Visit the case page »
Read the press release »

October 8, 2020 – Even several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration detention facilities remain breeding grounds for the disease. Immigration detention for vulnerable individuals has become a potential death sentence. This litigation on behalf of four medically vulnerable immigrants detained in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Mississippi seeks their immediate release from civil immigration detention.
Visit the case page »
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Download the TRO

October 1, 2020 – Otay Mesa. Etowah. Farmville. Berks. Aurora. Howard. Pine Prairie. These are just some of the jails where men, women, and children are detained, sometimes for years, while going through their immigration proceedings. ICE continues to detain members of our community en masse and for petty reasons. The harsh and inhumane laws targeting people of color are in full effect along the border leaving families devastated, communities broken, and employers without employees.
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September 25, 2020 – NIPNLG with IJN submits Public Comment Opposing Proposed Rules on Appellate Procedures and Decisional Finality in Immigration Proceedings; Administrative Closure. We urge the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) to withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety, as it strips important due process rights from noncitizens appearing before the immigration court and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board).
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September 22, 2020 – Project South and NIPNLG Seek Records on Non-Consensual Hysterectomies and Other Invasive Medical Procedures. “The deeply upsetting reports of these involuntary procedures are representative of the ongoing harm to immigrants in detention nationwide,” said Sr. Staff Attorney, Cristina Velez.
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August 28, 2020 – NIPNLG will honor Michael J. Wishnie with the 2020 Carol Weiss King Award and UndocuBlack Network with the 2020 Daniel Levy Award.
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August 27, 2020 – The U.S. Attorney General recently published Matter of Reyes, which seeks to establish a new theory of removability that departs from the Supreme Court’s mandated strict categorical approach. This practice alert provides a summary of the decision and lists key practice tips for immigration practitioners and criminal defense attorneys representing noncitizens in criminal and immigration cases. These tips focus on challenging the correctness of the AG’s new theory of removability.
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August 11, 2020 — Judge Brinkema ordered ICE to stop all transfers into Farmville, and ordered the facility to allow plaintiffs and their expert to get access to the results of a CDC inspection the facility is currently undergoing. There will be a follow-up hearing to determine next steps on Monday.
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August 7, 2020 — Despite being high-risk of death from COVID-19 due to his age, James Hill had been detained at ICA-Farmville between April and July of this year, as the global pandemic spread like wildfire in ICE facilities across the country. He was supposed to return home to Canada on July 9th, but fell ill and was hospitalized days before his flight. On Wednesday night, he lost his fight against COVID and became the 17th person to die in ICE custody this fiscal year.
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July 28, 2020 — This brief provides context clarifying why the use of prior removal orders as an element of a criminal offense is especially troubling by highlighting the severe lack of procedural protections in removal proceedings.
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July 28, 2020 — On July 15, 2020, NIPNLG and its partners in the Immigrant Justice Network submitted comments strenuously opposing the Trump administration's proposal to amend the regulations pertaining to procedures and standards for adjudicating credible fear screenings in expedited removal proceedings and applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
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July 22, 2020 — Linus is an immigration attorney and advocate who has spent years defending detained immigrants in removal proceedings. Most recently, he was instrumental to the inclusion of immigration in the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a criminal bail and immigration bond fund.
Download the Commemorative Program Book honoring Linus

July 22, 2020 — COVID-19 is running rampant across ICA-Farmville, a private detention facility in Farmville, VA, with over 80% of the detained population testing positive. This suit is filed on behalf of four people who are detained by ICE in ICA-Farmville, who are being denied their right to safety, medical care, and adequate food while detained. NIPNLG filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia along with Gibson, Dunn Crutcher LLP and the Legal Aid Justice Center.
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July 13, 2020 —bvImmigrant rights advocates filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on Friday, July 10, 2020 to compel the release of records related to the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of individuals.
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July 9, 2020 — In this practice alert, we summarize the proposed changes to the particularly serious crime (PSC) definition and identify the potential impact of the expanded PSC bar on applicants for asylum and employment authorization. Appendix A highlights the intersection of each of the rules with the PSC bar.
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