Criminalization

A black man wearing a blue jersey is violently handcuffed and arrested by two white police officers.
Shani Saxon  Dec 4, 2019 10:34AM EST

Attorney General Says 'Communities' That Don't 'Respect' Cops Could Lose Access to Law Enforcement

William Barr, while speaking to an audience filled with police officers, also said cops deserve to be cheered in the streets.
Randy Gardner is removed by police while wearing his executed brother's prison jumpsuit during an anti death penalty protest at the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on January 17, 2017.
Shani Saxon  Dec 3, 2019 11:34AM EST

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Federal Executions After 16-Year Break

The DOJ made the request hours after an appeals court denied the agency’s attempt to schedule four executions.
A silhouette of an army soldier can be seen against the shadow of a border fence.
Shani Saxon  Nov 27, 2019 1:42PM EST

Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Immigrant Insurance Rule

The government won’t be allowed to deny certain visas to people attempting to enter the United States without proof of insurance coverage.
Three Black people, two women and one man, smile and cry tears of joy as they embrace.
Shani Saxon  Nov 26, 2019 4:52PM EST

Three Black Men Exonerated After Spending 36 Years in Prison

Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were exonerated in the murder of a 14-year-old Baltimore boy named DeWitt Duckett.
View of metal prison bars inside a prison
Shani Saxon  Nov 25, 2019 5:12PM EST

Advocates Convince Prosecutors to Visit Prisons Nationwide

Fair and Just Prosecution urges those at the “front door” of the justice system to witness the decay and overcrowding plaguing the nation’s correctional facilities.
Three doctors wearing white doctor coats, stand together and hold protest signs. One reads "stop racist legislation."
Shani Saxon  Nov 20, 2019 5:12PM EST

Doctors Offer Flu Shots to Detained Migrants, Feds Say No

Medical professionals warn the Trump administration that a “devastating” epidemic could be on the horizon.
Children are gathered around a large black and white sign that reads, "I Am a Child."
Shani Saxon  Nov 19, 2019 5:23PM EST

U.S. Has World's Highest Child Incarceration Rates

Human rights attorney presents study to United Nations about United States’ “inhumane treatment” of young people.
Ayanna Pressley. Black woman in a green, blue and tan striped dress as she stands behind a podium and gives a speech.
Shani Saxon  Nov 15, 2019 2:37PM EST

Ayanna Pressley Seeks to Remake Criminal Justice System

The Representative from Massachusetts introduces legislation that calls for a “decarceration-focused” system that is “smaller, safer, less punitive and more humane.”
Latinx person with dark hair and blue lipstick wears black raincoat and holds a white megaphone and sign that reads "Abolish ICE."
Azadeh Shahshahani  Nov 13, 2019 2:17PM EST

Silence Will Not Protect Us: Immigrants Speak Boldly Despite Threats of Violence [Op-Ed]

Project South’s Azadeh Shahshahani on how the state and White supremacists have united to target immigrant activists—and why it won’t work.
Protester in front of the U.S. Supreme Court holds a sign that reads, "Defend DACA."
Shani Saxon  Nov 12, 2019 2:33PM EST

Supreme Court Appears Divided Over Fate of DACA

The Trump administration wants to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects roughly 700,000 young people from deportation. Will SCOTUS let it?
A red and white "vote" sign is in the foreground, with a voter walking to the polls in the distance.
Shani Saxon  Nov 6, 2019 5:32PM EST

Tucson Voters Say 'No' to Becoming Arizona's Only Sanctuary City

Proposition 205 also sought to add restrictions around police questioning residents about their immigration status.
Small children and their mothers stand in front of an officer who has a gun in his holster
Shani Saxon  Nov 4, 2019 5:46PM EST

Judge Blocks Rule Requiring Immigrants to Have Health Insurance to Secure Visas

“The ban would separate families and cut two-thirds of green-card-based immigration.”
Young Latinx girl with dark hair and a pink bow in her hairs hold both hands of the woman next to her.
Shani Saxon  Oct 29, 2019 4:55PM EDT

Feds Give Salvadorans More Time to Exit United States

Ken Cuccinelli of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: “Work permits for Salvadorans will be extended for one year past resolution of litigation for an orderly wind down period.”
Patricia Okoumou. Black woman wearing a green dress that reads, "I really care, why won't u?"
Shani Saxon  Oct 28, 2019 5:36PM EDT

Federal Gov't Took 1,556 More Migrant Children From Parents Than Previously Reported

This reportedly brings the total number of family separations since 2017 close to 5,500.
Three young girls with dark hair sit on a curb holding a sign that reads, "Defund hate, invest in love."
Shani Saxon  Oct 22, 2019 5:34PM EDT

Nation's Largest Pension Fund Divests From Firms That Run ICE Detention Centers

California state workers’ pension fund pulls money out of private prison companies GEO Group and CoreCivic.
Razor wire is strung along the U.S. and Mexico sides of a port of entry in El Paso, Texas, along with a sign that reads "Danger, do not enter."
Shani Saxon  Oct 21, 2019 5:10PM EDT

Trump Administration to Collect DNA Samples from Asylum-Seekers

The information will be added to an FBI database used to track down criminals.
Pramila Jayapal. South Asian American woman wears a pink blazer as she speaks before a crowd and stands behind a podium that has a red and white sign attached that reads: IMPEACH.
 Oct 16, 2019 5:04PM EDT

Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Deb Haaland Introduce Bill to Give Immigrants Access to Health Care

More than 120 organizations endorsed the Health Equity and Access Under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families (HEAL) Act.
Large white and orange Amazon logo beside a building
Shani Saxon  Oct 8, 2019 4:33PM EDT

Activists Urge Lawmakers to End Amazon Ring Partnerships With Police

More than 30 organizations published a joint letter that details how the app threatens civil liberties and puts people of color at disproportionate risk.
White writing on black chalkboard reads "vote"
Shani Saxon  Oct 7, 2019 5:23PM EDT

ACLU Fights to Secure Voting Rights for Formerly Incarcerated in Florida

The civil rights group seeks to remove wealth-based hurdles to voting.
A father at the Southern Border hold his young son in his arms.
Shani Saxon  Oct 4, 2019 4:37PM EDT

U.S. to Forcibly Collect DNA From Detained Immigrants for FBI Database

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants in federal detention facilities and at legal ports of entry will be affected, including children. Advocates fear this type of mass collection will unduly criminalize an already vulnerable group.