Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

Since the Biden administration implemented its newest asylum ban rule, people seeking safety at the U.S.-Mexico border have experienced egregious legal and human rights violations along with inconsistent and confusing application of the new legal requirements. Along with the National Immigrant Justice Center, Human Rights First, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Refugees International, Kino Border Initiative, Hope Border Institute, Women's Refugee Commission, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and National Immigration Law Center, we have released a new report documenting the human rights and due process violations at the border in the first six weeks of the Biden administration’s Executive Order issued in June which severely limits the right to seek asylum. The report includes stories of more than 30 people who have sought asylum since this rule went into effect.    Combined with the Biden administration’s May 2023 asylum ban, the newest rule flouts the U.S. government’s legal obligations by summarily deporting refugees to danger, stranding asylum seekers in Mexico where they are vulnerable to severe harm, and in some instances compelling family separation.  🔗 https://lnkd.in/gHJYcYzA 

Last month, ICE terminated a program that allowed people in detention a limited number of free phone calls each month. A Pakistani man detained in New Mexico told @capitalandmainnews he had found comfort speaking to his family through the program. Calling his mother especially helped. He feels isolated in ICE detention as the only Urdu speaker. But calls from detention can be very expensive now, and losing the ability to communicate with his family has left this man and others in severe emotional distress. “I am going through mental torture here,” he said. We joined 220 organizations to advocate for the reinstatement of this program, informing ICE that their decision exacerbates mental health struggles for people who are already often experiencing prison-like conditions for the first time while grappling with limited resources and support. The letter also outlines urgent concerns we have regarding the deteriorating conditions of ICE facilities.     “We continue to call on the Biden administration to reverse course and move towards policies that allow people to go through their immigration cases in community and with the support of loved ones and access to legal support,” the letter states. “In the meantime, we request that ICE immediately halt all expansion efforts, restore free phone access, and protect the basic rights of the people it detains.” https://lnkd.in/ewT25593

The United States cannot call itself the land of the free and the home of the brave when elected officials continue to establish policies that incarcerate people, that are cowardly, and which fall short of our duties under the law. Border Action Team Managing Attorney Chelsea Sachau recently spoke at a press conference regarding President Biden’s decision to further restrict access to asylum at the border. Under the new policy, most people who cross the border to urgently seek safety between ports of entry are immediately deported to Mexico.  CBP now requires people to seek asylum through their app, CBP One, which only has appointments available for months out, if you're lucky enough to see any appointments available at all.  The Arizona border is a mountainous desert, and the port of entry in Nogales is the only location for 800 miles where someone can access an asylum appointment. Some have waited up to one year to secure an appointment. Meanwhile, they are vulnerable to violence like kidnapping, extortion, and assault. “And who are the people we are keeping out of the country? Families and individuals like you and me,” Chelsea said. “They were never planning to leave their home. They wish they didn't have to. They were doctors and nurses, lawyers, and teachers. They were political activists and community organizers. They were farmers, ranchers, homemakers, and entrepreneurs until someone decided to threaten their life, but unlike you and me, they are from a place where their government offers them no protection.” Please join us in advocating for a process that protects the right of people to seek safety. Contact your elected leaders and urge them to prioritize fairness and dignity at the border.

Congratulations to our client Khadash* on her release from a government-run children’s shelter!  We met Khadash at a shelter in Mesa, Arizona, where she was detained as an unaccompanied minor. Our Children’s Program began providing her with legal support, including looking for a sponsor or program where she could live after she turned 18. When minors “age out” of children’s shelters, they are at risk of being sent by ICE to adult detention while their case continues. Our team does everything possible to prevent this. “In the shelter, [Khadash] continued to show strength and perseverance, always having a positive outlook no matter how difficult the circumstances,” shared Sofia Kalogirou, Florence Project Accredited Representative. However, a month before Khadash’s 18th birthday, our legal team was told there were no openings available locally in any housing programs for vulnerable migrant youth, putting her again at risk of being sent to adult detention. Our social services team jumped in to help, and we were able to find a place for Khadash to live in a house for immigrant women in Chicago.     Before her big move, our legal team celebrated Khadash’s birthday and release! She was so grateful, she gave Sofia the kind letter featured below. “It was my first birthday cake in my life!” shared Khadash. “That day was the first day I blew candles on a cake. I had only seen it on television before. I was so happy.” Khadash’s legal case is still ongoing, but she is already looking towards the future. "I want to become a great businesswoman,” she says. “I would like to have a restaurant in different states in America serving Ghanaian food.”  Thank you to all our supporters for making these moments possible! *Pseudonym 

Last month, President Biden issued an executive order further restricting access to asylum at the border and “the part of the executive order that’s supposed to protect people that are fleeing or are afraid, we haven't really seen that in effect.” Angela Barraza, Legal Administrative Assistant on our Border Action Team, told KJZZ 91.5 FM Phoenix.     The new restrictions mandate closing the border when the number of border-crossing encounters exceeds a daily threshold. Currently, most migrants who are turned back at the border are quickly sent back to Mexico without any kind of information or document about a potential legal case or their status in the U.S.     “None of the dozens of migrants consulted in Nogales since June have paperwork describing what happened legally. That can have big consequences for future cases.” explained Angela Barraza.    “We don’t know if once they enter with CBP One, if they’re going to face a higher risk of detention, if they’re going to have credible issues with the judge. We just don’t know the ripple effects, it can be really devastating for people’s cases.”    President Biden’s Executive Order is not only causing confusion but also endangering people by forcing them to wait in border cities, where migrants frequently become victims of crimes and struggle with access to education, housing, and food. It is also in violation of U.S. law that states no matter how someone arrives to the U.S., they are allowed to seek asylum.     We continue to call on the Biden administration and all our elected leaders to stand firm in our values and with the majority of Americans who support a robust, functional asylum system and choose policies that center the humanity of migrants and welcome people seeking asylum with dignity. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eRkCY4AJ

🌟 Staff spotlight: Meet Miguel Garruna, our dedicated Office Coordinator in Phoenix!     Miguel has been with our organization for four years, but his connection to our mission dates back even further. He is an immigrant himself and was inspired to volunteer for organizations that support migrants beginning in 2004, assisting Pro Bono attorneys with Spanish interpretation and visiting detained people who were HIV+ or LGBTQ, to support the community.     Miguel joined the Florence Project in 2020. He manages office supplies, coordinates meeting spaces, troubleshoots printer issues and liaises with vendors.    “If you provide the tools to the teams, then they’re well equipped to serve the clients” Miguel says.  “What I really like [about working in the office] is when I see the smile of a client because the case was a success for them, and they're going to stay here. That's the best payment that I get,” Miguel shares. We often celebrate our clients in our offices on their birthdays or when they finally receive their green cards.  “We have had cupcakes because a client has gotten a green card. One client was just like, he didn't know what to say or what to do. He was like in shock.” Miguel remembers thinking: “It's real. It's yours. enjoy it.” Thank you, Miguel, and all our dedicated administrative staff who keep our organization running efficiently so our legal and social services staff can best serve our clients.  

“Flight: How girls of color flee from violence to violence” examines the sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline in an illustrated graphic novel-style report by the Abolition Project created to educate and address criminal justice issues affecting Black, Indigenous, and other women of color.     “Flight,” which is available online, includes the story of Ana, who with her daughter fled Honduras to escape gang violence, but they were then separated at the U.S.- Mexico border.     A report we did in collaboration with MADRE, HRGJ Clinic at City University of New York School of Law, and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), “Eroded U.S. Asylum Protections for Gender Based Violence Survivors” is cited in the graphic essay, referencing one of our organization’s clients who was stuck in a similar abuse cycle.     This project is packed with graphic arts, videos, and an interactive systems maps that illustrate modern-day slavery in the U.S. and potential solutions. It is part of the Abolition Project, a think-and-do tank that produces projects that combat human trafficking, incarceration, and immigrant detention.     🔗

TPS for Haiti extension and redesignation! 📢👏    Temporary Protected Status offers temporary relief from removal and access to work permits for eligible foreign nationals who are unable to return safely to their home countries due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.    “IMPORTANT: If you have TPS for Haiti, you must re-register during the re-registration period and not wait until your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) expires. First-time applicants can register starting July 1, 2024 until February 3, 2026. To qualify as a first-time applicant, you must have continuous residence in the United States since June 3, 2024 and have been continuously physically present since then. To see full list of requirements, visit: uscis.gov/tps” shared Informed Immigrant, along with the graphic above.    For legal help, visit https://lnkd.in/gMQwV2T6     Thank you HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE, FWD.us, Family Action Network Movement, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), UndocuBlack, and others, for your advocacy!    #TPSforHaiti 

It's fairly uncommon for a white Canadian woman to be arrested and detained by ICE. That's what happened to Connie*, a Toronto resident who overstayed her visa in Arizona, and her 295-day experience in detention during the Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy was eye-opening.   “First of all, you can't access anything when you are in Eloy [Detention Center] in my experience, even if you did have money for the phone system and the stamp system, it's so slow and so laborious,” Connie shares. “And for those folks [non-English speakers] there's just no way that they could ever be held to the standard that we're trying to hold them to when it comes to pleading their cases for their lives.”     She observed serious discrimination toward non-English speaking immigrants, particularly against Indigenous women, who were set up for failure in an asylum system fraught with inequities. She tried to help by translating their forms and encouraged them not to sign documents they did not understand after some were misled to sign voluntary departure orders, triggering their deportations,     Visit https://lnkd.in/gfJczE_5 to listen to Connie tell her story.    “DETAINED” is an oral history project by the Florence Project, faculty members from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and Salvavision. It strives to make the human impact of this system accountable and available to diverse audiences through an online open-source archive.    By centering and amplifying the voices of people who have experienced immigration detention, this project seeks to ensure that the stark realities of immigration detention are recorded and will be remembered.    *Pseudonym 

Congratulations to our client EG who has been released from detention after six months! He fled Guatemala seeking protection in the U.S. but was detained by ICE and placed in removal proceedings. The Florence Project connected him with pro bono counsel to take his case with our mentorship. Thank you to Heather Robles and Anita Rocha from Papetti Samuels Weiss McKirgan LLP for your hard work to ensure our client’s release on bond and for sharing this wonderful photo!     “We were thrilled to see such a deserving client obtain this much needed relief. PSWM is proud to support the mission and extraordinary work of the Florence Project,” they wrote on LinkedIn. “Anita met with EG after he was released, knowing how scared he had been for so many months in detention, so that he would see a friendly face once he was free. She made sure he had clean clothes to change into and supplies for his journey, and also ensured he was able to fly safely to another state, where he will live with relatives while he awaits his merits hearing.”    The Florence Project Pro Bono Team is always looking for attorneys interested in volunteering their skills to assist our clients. We provide mentorship and legal support to our volunteers. Visit our website or contact probono@firrp.org if you’d like to learn more!