51品茶

WASHINGTON 鈥� The 51品茶 has filed a public comment in opposition to the Department of Health and Human Services鈥� (HHS) unlawful, harmful, and sweeping directive seeking to exclude immigrant communities from participating in vital community health and education services that benefit everyone. Last month, HHS issued a directive declaring that 13 programs will no longer be open to all and will instead for the first time be considered programs restricted under a law enacted nearly three decades ago, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). These programs include community health centers, mental health and substance use treatment programs, Head Start, the Title X Family Planning Program, and many others. The directive conflicts with PRWORA and upends longstanding guidance respected by four prior administrations. 鈥淭his arbitrary and harmful directive exemplifies this administration鈥檚 tunnel vision, which prioritizes its anti-immigrant crusade, no matter the harms,鈥� said Ming-Qi Chu, deputy director of the 51品茶 Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淚f HHS does not abandon this cruel and unlawful directive, hundreds of thousands of children will have their early childhood education disrupted, millions will lose access to life-saving health care like family planning services, cancer screenings, and addiction treatment, and many people with disabilities, including U.S. citizens, could have their care delayed due to bureaucratic immigration status checks. It serves no one鈥檚 interest to deny people these essential services, and HHS must withdraw this incredibly misguided directive.鈥� The 51品茶鈥檚 comment highlights that the directive is unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious, fails to meaningfully consider the impacts of the action, and will harm communities across the country 鈥� from children in schools, to people with disabilities, to low-income families denied essential health care, to people recovering from substance use disorder, to survivors of gender-based violence. The comment also notes that the directive will cause a chilling effect that harms immigrant communities that remain eligible, including for mixed status families and others who may be fearful or confused about whether seeking health care might expose them to immigration enforcement or retaliation. 鈥淭he Directive has triggered chaos and uncertainty both for administering agencies and the individuals, families, and communities who rely on the services at stake. [鈥�] It will deprive children of access to crucial early educational programming and undermine access to essential and life-saving health care for children and their families. It will also disproportionately burden mixed-status families, people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence,鈥� the comment reads. The comment is available here: /documents/aclu-comment-in-opposition-to-hhs-directive-on-prwora

NEW YORK 鈥� In a win for immigrants鈥� rights, a U.S. District Court granted a temporary restraining order today that would improve conditions for people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at 26 Federal Plaza. Notably, the order prohibits ICE from detaining people in spaces with less than 50 square feet per person. The order would also require ICE to improve access to hygiene, provide sleeping mats and access to medical care, and ensure people detained can make free, unmonitored, and confidential calls to their lawyers within 24 hours of being detained. The order comes just days after the 51品茶, New York Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road New York, and Wang Hecker LLP filed a class action lawsuit over the abusive conditions at 26 Federal Plaza. The order will remain in place for at least 14 days while the judge considers longer-term relief. Quotes from co-counsel are as follows: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 order sends a clear message: ICE cannot hold people in abusive conditions and deny them their Constitutional rights to due process and legal representation,鈥� said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the 51品茶鈥檚 National Prison Project. "We鈥檒l continue to fight to ensure that peoples鈥� rights are upheld at 26 Federal Plaza and beyond.鈥� Harold Solis, Co-Legal Director of Make the Road New York, said, "We welcome the decision by Judge Kaplan to place clear limits on the disturbing and unlawful conditions to which immigrants have been subjected at 26 Federal Plaza. This ruling sends a hopeful message, one that reinforces what everyone knows to be true: ICE cannot confine people in inhumane conditions, nor can it obstruct their access to counsel. We will remain vigilant to ensure ICE complies with the court鈥檚 order.鈥� 鈥淭he conditions and lack of attorney access at 26 Federal Plaza have been horrifying and unconscionable,鈥� said Heather Gregorio of Wang Hecker LLP. 鈥淛udge Kaplan鈥檚 Temporary Restraining Order imposes basic accountability on ICE and requires that it meet constitutional standards, as all human beings deserve.鈥� 鈥淭he Constitution requires that no one 鈥� especially someone unlawfully arrested at their immigration hearing, which happened to so many people in this case 鈥� should have to endure the dehumanizing conditions we've challenged in 26 Federal Plaza," said Bobby Hodgson, Assistant Legal Director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. 鈥淲e look forward to continuing this fight and stopping ICE's unconstitutional detention practices at 26 Federal Plaza for good.鈥� The temporary restraining order is available here: /documents/barco-mercado-v-noem-temporary-restraining-order

Children born to parents who are undocumented or have temporary status will retain their right to birthright citizenship. The 51品茶 explains how the legal fight unfolded.

NEW YORK 鈥� Today, on behalf of The Door and African Communities Together, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), 51品茶 (51品茶), Make the Road New York (MRNY), and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP (ECBAWM) filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement鈥檚 (ICE) cruel, unlawful policy that allows ICE agents to arrest people for showing up to court and prevent them from pursuing their immigration cases. The complaint challenges the Trump administration鈥檚 unprecedented and unlawful policies targeting people appearing for their immigration court appointments, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act 鈥� a federal law that ensures transparency and accountability in how federal agencies create and carry out regulations. The lawsuit seeks to vacate the policies entirely. 鈥淲hat we have been witnessing in immigration court in the last few months is unconscionable,鈥� said Beth Baltimore, deputy director of The Door鈥檚 Legal Services Center. 鈥淓very day, we receive panicked calls from young people who are members of The Door 鈥� teens and young adults who have fled violence, abuse, and unimaginable trauma 鈥� who are scared to attend their court hearings over fear of deportation. We now regularly hear reports from members whose friends and classmates have disappeared after routine court appearances, and our members are afraid to go to court, school, and even leave their homes out of fear they will be detained by ICE. No child should have to choose between their safety and their right to due process.鈥� 鈥淚n its fervor to expel as many immigrants as possible from the country, the Trump administration is targeting immigrants in the very place set up to adjudicate their status: immigration court,鈥� said Diana Konat茅, deputy executive director of Policy and Advocacy at African Communities Together. 鈥淓very day, our members are forced to choose between being kidnapped and/or put into expedited removal, or risking deeper legal consequences because they're too scared to go to court. This is exactly what the administration intended: for people to be so fearful of enforcement that they forfeit the very resources and systems in place to protect them. We鈥檙e bringing this lawsuit on behalf of our members and fighting for justice.鈥� 鈥淣oncitizens across the country are arriving at immigration courts expecting to present their case and return home to their families 鈥� instead, ICE is arresting them as they leave the courthouse,鈥� said Amy Belsher, director of Immigrants鈥� Rights Litigation at the NYCLU. 鈥淭his practice turns mandatory immigration proceedings 鈥� where noncitizens are entitled to pursue safety and relief 鈥� into yet another weapon of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. These cruel tactics are unlawful, unfair, and unjust.鈥� 鈥淭he Trump administration鈥檚 tactic of ambushing people who are complying with their legal obligations while going to their court appointments is creating a reign of terror and lawlessness,鈥� said Michael Tan, deputy director of the 51品茶鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Project. 鈥淭he administration鈥檚 actions are cruel and unprecedented, and we are asking the court to move swiftly to put a halt to it.鈥� In recent weeks, ICE has mounted an unprecedented campaign of arresting people at their mandated immigration court hearings, and then trying to fast track their deportation. This includes Dylan, a high schooler from the Bronx who ICE arrested when attending a routine court date, another student in New York City, and Oliver Mata Velazquez, a 19 year old living in Buffalo who ICE targeted, detained, and fast tracked for deportation. The NYCLU filed a lawsuit last month challenging Oliver鈥檚 unlawful arrest and secured his release. 鈥淚n our courthouses, we have witnessed ICE鈥檚 draconian measures to strip individuals of due process, and detain mothers, fathers, and students without accountability 鈥� ripped away, and subjected to the horrors of inhumane detention centers,鈥� said Harold Solis, co-legal director of Make the Road New York. 鈥淭his cynical maneuver traps people who are doing what is required of them to comply with their legal obligations to appear in court. Through this lawsuit, we hope to put a complete stop to these unlawful arrests that have only terrorized immigrant communities.鈥� 鈥淭he Trump administration鈥檚 new policy of seizing and detaining people at their mandatory immigration court hearings is cruel and unlawful,鈥� said Emily Wanger, associate at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. 鈥淭argeting people at courthouses violates due process, tears families apart, and serves no purpose beyond meeting ICE鈥檚 daily arrest quotas. We鈥檙e suing to put an end to these arbitrary arrests and ensure that every person has a fair opportunity to seek immigration relief.鈥� The complaint is here.