The Migrant Crisis: Yes, You Can Help →

Editorial featured in the Boston Globe: "Through aggressive legal action, Lawyers for Civil Rights has repeatedly challenged the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration. For instance, the Boston-based organization has sued the federal government to get compensation for local families affected by the federal government’s child-separation policy last year. The...

Immigration Raids / Redadas →

Immigration raid tips: 1) Your home is your castle. You do not have to open the door unless ICE officers have a judicial warrant. To be clear, an administrative or immigration warrant is not sufficient. 2) You have the right to see the judicial warrant. Ask the ICE officers to...

HUD Will Render Immigrants Homeless →

HUD's Proposed Rule Would Render Immigrants Homeless Lawyers for Civil Rights submitted comments in strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) proposed rule on Verification of Eligible Status. If adopted, this proposed rule would cause undocumented members of mixed status families to lose access to...

Census Citizenship Question Gets Blocked →

For Now, Census Citizenship Question Gets Blocked Handing civil rights and immigrants’ rights groups a victory, the U.S. Supreme Court this morning ruled that the Trump Administration’s rationale for including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census “seems to have been contrived,” and sent the matter back to the Commerce...

Federal Judge Blocks ICE Courthouse Arrests →

In a case brought by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and our allies, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani today issued a Preliminary Injunction stopping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "from civilly arresting parties, witnesses, and others attending Massachusetts courthouses on official business while they are going to, attending,...

Weaponizing The Census Would Hurt Massachusetts →

Weaponizing The Census Would Hurt Massachusetts This op-ed by was published by WBUR's Cognoscenti. It’s tempting, in the wake of the Mueller report and the onslaught of news stories about rogue aides and Russian corruption, to focus on scandalous elements of the Trump administration. But none of these scandals have...

Federal Lawsuit to Block Immigration Arrests in Courthouses →

Prosecutors, Public Defenders, and Community Groups File Federal Lawsuit to Block Immigration Arrests in Courthouses Today, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, and the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), and the Chelsea Collaborative filed a groundbreaking lawsuit demanding an end to federal immigration...

Keep The Citizenship Question Off The Census →

Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. (Mintz) filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus curiae) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of national organizations and Boston-based groups in New York v. U.S. Department of Commerce, the case that will determine whether a citizenship question may...

Victory for Liberians. Trump Backs Down! →

We just secured a major victory for our Liberian clients. Following our groundbreaking lawsuit, the Trump Administration is reversing course and extending humanitarian relief and protection for thousands of Liberian immigrants who faced imminent detention and deportation on March 31. This high-stakes case has garnered the support of ten Attorneys General from...

10 Attorneys General File Brief Supporting Our Liberian Clients →

In African Communities Together v. Trump, our latest lawsuit against the Trump Administration on behalf of the Liberian immigrant community, ten attorneys general from across the country, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and California, have filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in support of our clients focusing on the irreparable harm...

Launching Multilingual Census 2020 Hotline →

In light of the critical role that the 2020 Census will play in determining how billions of dollars of federal funding will be allocated, Lawyers for Civil Rights launched a multi-pronged effort to ensure that all Massachusetts residents are counted. The campaign will include a multilingual Census Hotline and extensive...

Black Immigrants Sue Trump →

First, they came for the DACA recipients brought to this country as children. Then, they came for immigrants of color protected under TPS. Now, they come for Liberians. We will not allow the Trump Administration to trample on our dignity and constitutional rights. Today, we opened up a new front against the...

Census Flaws: Language Inaccessibility & Limited Community Outreach →

Census Flaws: Language Inaccessibility and Insufficient Community Outreach Conditions Ripe for Undercount Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) calls on the U.S. Census Bureau to revise its operational plan for Massachusetts to increase outreach to historically undercounted populations who are at risk of underrepresentation in 2020. Given the history of inaccurate...

El Salvador’s New President Must Defend TPS →

This op-ed was authored by our Executive Director Iván Espinoza-Madrigal and published in Spanish by El Faro, the first digital newspaper in Latin America. El Salvador's New President Must Defend TPS There are approximately 263,282 Salvadoran people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who are living, working, and raising children in the United States....

Condemning Trump Administration’s Assault On Anti-Discrimination Protections →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Condemns Trump Administration’s Assault On Anti-Discrimination Protections  As part of its ongoing rollback of civil rights protections, the Trump Administration is directing Justice Department officials to look for ways to eliminate one of the most potent tools of civil rights advocacy: the disparate impact doctrine. Lawyers for Civil...

Tools to Fight Hate: Know-Your-Rights PalmCards →

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Community-Based Health Center & Immigrants Rights Groups Condemn “Public Charge” Rule →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) submitted comments opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed rule improperly expanding the definition of “public charge” to deny immigration protection to those seeking legal permanent residence and other relief. The comments were joined by: MGH—Chelsea HealthCare Center Brazilian Worker Center; Chelsea Collaborative; East Boston Ecumenical Community...

Civil Rights Groups File Amicus Brief to Challenge Bias Against Non-English Speakers in Criminal Proceedings →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) filed a brief as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) along with immigrants’ rights organizations Centro Presente and the Brazilian Worker Center in the case Commonwealth v. Espinal (No. SJC-12597). The case concerns what questions judges must ask potential jurors...