- 🔊 Listen to our new podcast about whistleblowers & truthtellers called Primary Sources hosted by Chip Gibbons, here.
Immigrant, Refugee, and Migrant Rights
“We’re Dying In Here” – A Recap of Our Incarceration & Coronavirus Town Hall
On May 5, Defending Rights &
Defending Rights & Dissent Urges Support For Federal Immigrant Release for Safety and Security Together Act
Last week, during the Defending Rights & Dissent/The Nation’s town hall on Civil Liberties and COVID-19, our board member and Project Souths’ Legal & Advocacy Director Azadeh Shahshahani gave a harrowing account of conditions inside ICE detention in Georgia. She also talked about the inspiring organizing activists were doing to end them. When I asked her during the town hall what can those watching at home could do, she urged everyone to contact Congress about the FIRST Act.
Defending Rights & Dissent Condemns Border Detentions of Iranian-Americans, Urges Congress to Assert Their Constitutional War Powers
Days after Donald Trump ordered the assassination of an Iranian general, sparking concern of a US war with Iran, over 60 individuals of Iranian descent, including US citizens and permanent residents, were detained, had their passports confiscated, and were interrogated about their political beliefs at the US-Canadian border.ending Rights & Dissent strongly condemns these detententions. It is flagrantly unconstitutional to subject someone to detention because of their national origin or ethnicity.
Defending Rights & Dissent Condemns Felony Prosecution of No More Deaths Activist
Dr. Warren Scott is facing felony charges carrying up to 20 years in prison. His crime? Providing humanitarian assistance, such as food, water, and shelter, to migrants who might have otherwise died.
CBP Admits to Targeting Journalists, Activists, After Civil Society Groups, Including Defending Rights & Dissent, Demanded Answers
After revelations that Customs and Border Patrol (CBB) had monitored journalists, human rights lawyers, and activists, Defending Rights & Dissent joined with a 100 civil society demanding answers. In a May 9, 2019 response letter, CBP admits for the first time to having engaged in this monitoring, though it defended its actions.
Two New DHS Domestic Spying Scandals Revealed
Both Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) are engaged in monitoring and tracking First Amendment protected activity.Monitoring of political speech is inherently chilling. It is also outside the jurisdiction of both ICE and CBP.
Defending Rights & Dissent Condemns Use of Tear Gas Against Refugees
Defending Rights & Dissent joins people around the world in expressing our outrage, disgust, and horror that US border agents attacked refugees, including children, with tear gas. The images of children, already refugees from violence and poverty, fleeing from tear gas is gut wrenching.
The 14th Amendment is Working Hard to Protect Your Rights
Much like Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey or oatmeal raisin cookies, the constitution’s 14th Amendment is remarkably underrated.
An Executive Order Cannot Override the 14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is one of the cornerstones of modern protections for civil liberties. It was passed during Reconstruction in order to rectify the horrifying decision of the Supreme Court that held African-Americans could never be citizens of the United States. It was meant both to grant citizenship rights to the newly emancipated slaves and to stop the former slave states of the Confederacy from violating their civil liberties.
Signed Letter Requesting Congressional Oversight of the Muslim Ban
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/fi
Supplemental State Department visa applicant procedures
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/fi
Letter opposing enablement of cross-border surveillance by foreign governments
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/fi
350 Sign-on Opposition to H.R. 3697 (Criminal Alien Gang Removal Act)
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/fi
Wall of Resistance Resolution
 Direct link: https://drive.google.com/
Talking points for the Local Civil Liberties Protection Act
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/fi