Immigration and Justice
Vera's Center on Immigration and Justice (CIJ) works with government, nonprofit partners, and communities to improve government systems that affect immigrants’ lives. CIJ focuses on two objectives: increasing immigrants’ access to legal services, and improving relationships between immigrant communities and law enforcement. The center administers legal services programs, develops and implements pilot programs, provides technical assistance, and conducts evaluation and empirical research.
Featured
COVID-19
Criminal Justice Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic
America has become a global epicenter in the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the country’s most vulnerable people are in jails, prisons, and detention centers—places where they are at extreme risk of infection and have no ability to protect themselves. This moment highlights the vital need to shift away from punitive practices that funnel people int ...
Series: Covid-19
Detention May Become Death Sentence for Vulnerable Detainees
Immediate action is needed to prevent the spread of this disease among other people in detention who cannot protect themselves. Even under normal circumstances, imprisoning immigrants who are in deportation proceedings is cruel. People—including those who may have legal standing to remain in the United States—languish for weeks, months, or years. ...
Blog Post
-
Erica Bryant
Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network
Local Leaders Keeping Immigrant Families Together and Communities Safe
In the face of stepped-up immigration enforcement, millions of non-citizens—many of them taxpaying lawful permanent residents—are at risk of extended detention and permanent separation from their families and communities. Expanding legal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation has thus become a crucial last line of defense fo ...
Project
-
Annie Chen
Related Work
Federal Immigration Enforcement Agencies Are a Threat to Our Civil Liberties
As outrage over police violence and extrajudicial killings of Black Americans have led to widespread protests across the nation in recent weeks, our country has borne witness to the consequences of police militarization and what a lack of police accountability means for whole swaths of American communities. But there also exists a vast army of fede ...
Blog Post
Kica Matos
Shaina Aber
Express Injustice
Expedited Immigration Hearings Pose Danger to Detained Children’s Right to a Fair Process
Series: Covid-19
Without an attorney, I might still be confined in a detention facility with COVID-19
It could have been very bad for me when people started to get sick with coronavirus, but I had good lawyers to fight for me. When they told me I would get out, I was very nervous. I was shaking because I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was excited, but my body was shaking. Sometimes I can’t even believe that I am out, after 21 months. It fee ...
The Hidden Curve
Estimating the Spread of COVID-19 among People in ICE Detention
DACAmented are Still Vulnerable—and the Fight Must Continue
The ruling on DACA was set against nationwide mass demonstrations against police brutality and anti-Black racism and in support of divesting from the police and redirecting resources toward the creation of healthy, vibrant communities. On the day of the ruling and the days immediately following, some of us working on issues of justice have express ...
Blog Post
Kica Matos
Series: Covid-19
Vera’s New Prevalence Model Suggests COVID-19 is Spreading through ICE Detention at Much Higher Rates than Publicized
As of May 31, 2020, ICE reported testing 2,781 people in its custody; 1,461 positive cases were disclosed at just 61 of the more than 200 facilities it uses to detain people. ICE has not clarified whether the remaining tests are confirmed negative or still pending, meaning a minimum of 52 percent of people tested have received positive test results ...
Blog Post
Nina Siulc
Webinar: COVID-19’s Impact on Detained Immigrants
Vera’s SAFE (Safety and Fairness for Everyone) Network is a network of 18 jurisdictions committed to universal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation. In this webinar, the SAFE Network’s Annie Chen leads a discussion with Dr. Homer Venters – a nationally recognized expert on health in correctional settings – about the height ...
How Local Leaders Can Ensure Immigrant Justice During COVID-19 Guidance Brief
Our immigration system is on the threshold of a new crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. People in detention face high risks of infection from the close quarters of facilities, shelters, and courtrooms, and they lack adequate sanitation, health care, and protective measures. The frequent transfer of people throughout the immigration detent ...
Immigrant Justice and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Webinar: Critical Initiatives By Local Governments to Support Immigrant Communities During the COVID-19 Crisis
While local governments across the country are facing precarious economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and harsh federal immigration policies continue, local leaders are providing bold leadership to stand up for immigrants in our communities. This webinar highlights how government leaders partnering with Vera are supporting their immigrant co ...
Criminal Justice and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Support Universal Representation: SAFE Network 101
The SAFE Network is a growing movement of communities convened by the Vera Institute of Justice that are dedicated to publicly funded, universal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation. Universal representation advances a public defender system for people facing deportation, one in which every person facing deportation is rep ...