Human Rights
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
‘Life is a Fight’: Scenes from a Migrant Tent Camp in Juárez
While waiting for a chance to seek asylum, people found ways to carry on with daily life while hoping their luck would change.
‘Life is a Fight’: Scenes from a Migrant Tent Camp in Juárez While waiting for a chance to seek asylum, people found ways to carry on with daily life while...Read More
A Radical Proposal Calls for a Moratorium on Deportations
The Migrant Justice Platform also offers a simple solution to address the tension between native-born and foreign workers: Protect immigrants’ right to organize.
Immigrant advocates are accustomed to losing. From the failure of comprehensive immigration reform to the construction of hundreds of miles of border wall, the ...Read More
Governor Abbott’s Campaign Against the Homeless Isn’t Just Cruel—It’s Dangerous
There’s a thin line between spreading hate, as the governor continues to do, and inciting violence.
I’m stopped at a red light next to I-35 in central Austin, waiting to cross under the highway on my drive home from work, when I see a young woman sitting on ...Read More
‘Baby Jails’ Chronicles America’s ‘Shameful’ Treatment of Migrant Kids
In his new book Baby Jails, author Philip Schrag reflects on the past and future of a threatened ruling that limits the detention of migrant children.
Philip G. Schrag has written more than a dozen books over his years as a lawyer and director of the asylum law clinic at Georgetown University. But his latest, ...Read More
Report: Sexual Assault is Common in Immigrant Prisons, but Survivors Aren’t Getting Help
Only three of 23 rape crisis centers serving areas where ICE detention centers are located reported providing therapy or other services to detainees.
We’ve known for a while that sexual assault is likely widespread in immigrant lockups. Adult detainees filed 1,224 sexual abuse complaints with the Department...Read More
Greg Abbott’s ‘Indefinite,’ Imperfect Homeless Camp
Scenes from Abbottville.
Just off Highway 183 in southeast Austin, twin rows of weathered, garage-like structures line a mostly vacant 7-acre paved lot. The property, a former maintenan...Read More
A Top Cop Accused of Racism Forces Austin to Confront Bias in Law Enforcement
Austin isn’t the only Texas city where trust between police and communities of color has frayed this year.
In late October, Assistant Chief Justin Newsom abruptly resigned from the Austin Police Department after 23 years on the force. Newsom, who oversaw the departme...Read More