Human Rights
How Is COVID-19 Impacting the Immigration System?
As immigration courts and detention centers fear the spread of coronavirus, migrants in the camps along the U.S. border say they are more afraid of staying in Mexico than COVID-19.
Ten immigration courts across the country have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday night, and all hearings for immi...Read More
10 Ways to Help Your Fellow Texans Endure the Coronavirus Pandemic
Give to your local food bank, donate blood, or support an emergency housing fund.
As Texans hunker down, learn to keep our 6 feet of “social distance,” and gradually get used to life in quarantine to reduce the spread of COVID-19, many of...Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Trump Administration on ‘Remain in Mexico’
Following weeks of back-and-forth in the courts, SCOTUS has reversed the decision of an appeals court and allowed Remain in Mexico to continue.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, can continue while legal challenges play...Read More
Following a Protest, ICE Moves Asylum-Seekers For the Second Time in Two Weeks
ICE moved 47 women to Laredo following a protest for better medical care. Last week, more than 100 detainees were sent to Louisiana, where courts are harsher.
More than 100 asylum-seekers were transferred last week from the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, to Louisiana, where judges deny asylum at muc...Read More
Confusion Reigns in Matamoros Migrant Camp Over ‘Remain in Mexico’
Amid a chaotic back-and-forth caused by a court ruling, asylum-seekers in Matamoros are still waiting.
On a cloudy day in Brownsville, the pops of color just across the Rio Grande are barely visible among dense greenery. But as I cross the bridge to Matamoros, th...Read More
Following a Protest, ICE Transfers Dozens of Asylum Seekers to an Isolated Laredo Facility
Transferring detainees can negatively impact their already tenuous access to counsel.
In retaliation for protesting poor medical treatment, dozens of women detained at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, which houses asylum seekers, we...Read More
In the Trump Era, Practicing Immigration Law is Like ‘Swimming in Molasses’
Veteran attorney Elise Harriger is learning how to lose, but she vows to keep on fighting.
Elise Harriger is fighting a cold and fatigue as she sits across from me at a Salvadoran restaurant in East Austin. “I’m too old for this,” Harriger says,...Read More
ICE Quietly Lowers (Already Low) Standards at Some Immigrant Detention Facilities
The changes—which affect 18 facilities in Texas—include giving guards more leeway to put migrants in solitary confinement, as well as no longer requiring outdoor recreation areas.
On December 19, during the news lull just before the holidays, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made public changes to its National Detention Standards...Read More
A Solitary Condition
Texas has banished hundreds of prisoners to more than a decade of solitary confinement. Many of these prisoners aren’t sure how—or, in some cases, if—they will ever get out.
The Prison Inside Prison Texas has banished hundreds of prisoners to more than a decade of solitary confinement, an extreme form of a controversial punishment l...Read More
