The Tahirih Justice Center welcomes the introduction of the Refugee Protection Act (RPA). This bill not only ensures our doors remain open to refugees and asylum seekers but also reasserts long-held legal precedent.  

Rachel Sheridan, Tahirih’s Litigation Counsel spoke with City Limits reporter Daniel Parra and El Diario NY report Jesus Garcia about two recent SCOTUS decisions that will negatively impact immigrants seeking legal status in the U.S.

 Tahirih’s Senior Litigation Counsel, Richard Caldarone, spoke to La Opinion reporter Jesus Garcia, about two recent SCOTUS decisions that could devastatingly impact the clients we serve. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that unlawfully seeks to arrest people seeking asylum, and other people without status in the United States, and return them to the border at a port of entry. The order is flatly illegal. It seeks to enforce purported violations of federal immigration law, something the Supreme Court has expressly held states cannot do. The order itself also violates federal immigration law, which makes clear that people have a legal right to seek asylum in the United States even if they enter the country without authorization. And if it is implemented, the order will force survivors of gender-based violence, and other vulnerable people pursuing that right to seek protection, out of their communities and into danger.

Today, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court agreed that the Biden administration can terminate the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. Under this cruel policy, which Tahirih is challenging in a separate lawsuit, the United States has placed tens of thousands of vulnerable people fleeing violence, including many survivors of gender-based violence, into dangerous situations in northern Mexico. ‘Remain in Mexico’ is part of xenophobic policies that have all but eliminated the human right to seek asylum.

Tahirih’s policy work is rooted in our core values and in our specific theory of change. Inspired by the Bahá’í faith and grounded in our belief in the oneness of humanity, we reach for a society that embraces our diversity and guarantees everyone’s human rights. Our mission is to advance policies and laws that enable immigrant survivors of gender-based violence to pursue legal immigration status, live in safety, and forge their own paths. Everything we do is in service of that goal.

The immigration system is shattered. Survivors are denied access to safety because of policies and practices that could be fixed. The Tahirih Justice Center is prioritizing the following policy goals to immediately improve protections for immigrant survivors while simultaneously seeking long-term, systemic change.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the impact of the administration’s executive order to suspend some immigration on immigrant survivors. The article quotes Morgan Weibel, Executive Director of Tahirih SF […]