WHAT: Congressional Briefing: Immigrant Rights Activists Targeted by DHS Call for Relief and Accountability on the Eve of Biden Inauguration 

WHEN: Jan 13, 2021 2 – 3 PM ET 

WHERE: Virtual (Zoom). Please RSVP here

DETAILS: Targeted immigrant rights leaders will speak at a virtual congressional briefing to address how agencies within the Department of Homeland Security retaliate against immigrants for exercising their protected First Amendment rights. Scheduled to speak are: Enrique “Kike” Balcazar, Alejandra Pablos, Ravi Ragbir, Jahsiah Montrevil, Rev. Kaji Spellman Douša. 

This briefing will highlight how immigrant rights activists have faced arrest, deportation, detention, retaliation inside detention centers, and surveillance for standing up to injustices in their community. The Immigrant Rights Clinic at NYU Law School has documented over 1,000 publicly-reported cases of retaliation and surveillance. The breadth of these abuses are evidence of how federal agencies are undermining core tenets of an open, free society.  

The briefing will focus attention on the urgent need for Congress and the incoming Biden Administration to provide immediate forms of immigration relief to targeted activists and to pursue accountability measures that can reign in the unchecked authority of these agencies. Members of Congress will discuss what elected officials can do to redress these wrongs.

Additional information about the campaign to end First Amendment retaliation is available at: immigrantrightsvoices.org 

SPONSORS

• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) 
• Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY-9) 
• Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY-7)
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) 
• New Sanctuary Coalition 
• Immigrant Rights Clinic at NYU Law School
• Migrant Justice 
• Immigrant Justice Network 

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