Barnstable County Sheriff’s Immigration Entanglement is Illegal →

Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights sent a demand letter to the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office to terminate the controversial and illegal agreement with federal immigration officials. The letter is available here:

Victory! Sheriff Ends Entanglement With Federal Immigration Officials →

Following Landmark Ruling in Taxpayer Lawsuit, Massachusetts Sheriff Announces He Will Terminate Entanglement With Federal Immigration Officials  Following an adverse ruling in a high-profile legal challenge to the ability of Massachusetts sheriffs to enforce federal immigration law, Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald announced today that he is terminating his office’s “287(g) agreement”...

Body Cavity Searches Trigger Lawsuit Against Federal Officials →

The Boston College Civil Rights Clinic and Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) jointly filed a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of Neisa Ortega and her 14-year-old daughter after Ms. Ortega was subjected to repeated invasive body searches and sexual violations over the course of one year at the hands of...

Taxpayer Challenge To Sheriff’s Entanglement With Federal Immigration Officials Can Proceed →

Judge Rules That Taxpayer Challenge To Massachusetts Sheriff’s Entanglement With Federal Immigration Officials Can Proceed In a high-profile legal challenge to the ability of sheriffs in Massachusetts to enforce federal immigration law, a Superior Court judge has denied Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald’s attempt to dismiss the case, ruling that the...

Summer Justice →

Injustice doesn't take a break during the summer. That's why our legal warriors have been busy fighting for equality and justice.   On the policing front, we're suing the Needham Police Department on behalf of Marvin Henry, a Black man who was arrested and falsely accused of shoplifting. We're also publicly calling for greater police transparency and fairness.In...

COVID-19 and Immigration Consequences →

Lawyers for Civil Rights has been providing legal support to medical and statistical research surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on immigrants. Important findings based on data gathered during the pandemic in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Phoenix has been published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study involved 336 Latinx immigrants...

Complaint Against the MA Department of Children & Families →

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT FAMILIES FILE DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT AGAINST THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES   Today, Haitian-Americans United, the Greater Boston Latino Network, and Jane Doe, a mother and immigrant with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), filed a civil rights complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF)...

Applauding the Closure of the Bristol County Immigration Detention Facility →

STATEMENT OF SAVINO COUNSEL ON CLOSURE OF BRISTOL COUNTY IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITY As immigrant rights and civil rights groups that have long raised humanitarian concerns about Bristol County’s ICE detention facility, we applaud today’s decision by the Biden/Harris Administration to shutter the facility and end the agreement that deputized Bristol County officers...

Settlement Reached In COVID-19 Class Action Against Bristol County →

Please scroll below for the settlement agreement in Savino v Souza, the landmark class action lawsuit challenging unsafe conditions at the Bristol County House of Correction (BCHOC) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Settlement Reached In Landmark COVID-19 Class Action Case Against Bristol County House of Correction The parties in Savino v...

Volunteer for Vaccine Equity →

JOIN US IN THE TRENCHES: VOLUNTEER TO SUPPORT VACCINE EQUITY   Click here to volunteer. We're excited to announce that we reduced the number of people held in Bristol County's immigration detention facility from 148 to 7. This will help keep people safe during COVID-19. On the heels of this accomplishment, we...

Welcome Letter to Mayor Janey with Racial Justice Blueprint →

AFTER DECADES OF INSUFFICIENT MUNICIPAL ACTION, LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS GIVES MAYOR JANEY BLUEPRINT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND IMMIGRATION REFORMLawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) congratulates and applauds Mayor Kim Janey for her historic leadership as Boston's first Black woman Mayor. For many years, LCR has tirelessly advocated for the City...

Key Immigration Updates | Actualizaciones clave de inmigración →

Español abajo The Biden-Harris Administration has proposed and implemented several changes in federal immigration policy. Below are key updates as of March 12, 2021. Check back here for further information. El gobierno de Biden-Harris ha propuesto e implementado varios cambios en la política federal de inmigración. A continuación se muestran...

Immigrants Improperly Excluded from Unemployment Benefits →

Lawyers for Civil Rights has identified repeated instances of immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who are being improperly denied unemployment benefits by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). The immigrants, including TPS recipients from Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador, are all legally permitted to receive unemployment benefits, particularly...

Sheriffs’ Entanglement With Immigration Officials Illegal, Taxpayer Lawsuit Says →

Sheriffs’ Entanglement With Federal Immigration Officials Illegal, Taxpayer Lawsuit Says  28 Taxpayers Ask Massachusetts’ Highest Court To Declare 287(g) Agreements Unlawful Taxpayers filed a petition directly in Massachusetts’ highest court seeking to invalidate entanglement agreements between county sheriffs and federal immigration officials. The case, Cofield v. McDonald, was filed by Lawyers...

Statement on Attorney General Investigation Against Bristol County →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) applauds the investigation by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, which led to today's finding that Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson's "institutional failures and poor decisions . . . culminated in a calculated—that is, planned and deliberate—use of force against . . . detainees that was...

2020 Annual Report →

We are excited to share our 2020 annual report. The report is available here. Please click here to download the report.

Immigrants to Census Bureau: We’re Here and We Count →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus curiae) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of national organizations and Boston-based immigrants' rights and faith-based groups in Trump v. New York, the case that will determine whether undocumented immigrants may be considered in the apportionment...

Open Letter to Biden/Harris Transition Team →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) sent an open letter to the Biden-Harris Transition team identifying urgent legal and policy issues that are currently affecting people of color and immigrants across the country. The letter identifies seven critical areas for immediate executive action, and urges the new Administration to prioritize the...