In response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement of a policy to tighten restrictions on people seeking asylum from domestic battery and gang violence, our immigration attorney Luis Mancheno notes that the reach of this unilateral and unchecked decision cannot be understated. “In his decision today, the Attorney General has singularly precluded victims of horrific forms of violence…
“Seeking asylum is not a privilege, it’s a right. Every single human being in the world has that right. People think it’s a gift. It’s not. It’s an obligation.” In a powerful documentary by CBS News, our immigration attorney Luis Mancheno sheds light on the arduous process he and other asylum seekers have faced in…
Organizations that successfully challenged stop and frisk request reforms based on three years of community input CONTACT Anna Kim, The Bronx Defenders, 646-504-2977, annakim@bronxdefenders.org Jen Nessel, CCR, 212-614-6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org David Jacobs, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 212-965-2255, djacobs@naacpldf.org Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society, 929-441-2384, rhaskins@legal-aid.org Naomi Dann, New York Civil Liberties Union, 212-607-3372, ndann@nyclu.org June…
There has been a 1,200% increase of ICE enforcement in our courthouses from 2016 to 2017, having a chilling effect on the ability of people to seek justice in our courts. In order to ensure that all New Yorkers have the right to seek justice and enjoy the protections of our judicial system, advocates gathered…
A carveout under NYC’s administration excludes immigrants with certain criminal convictions from receiving city-funded immigrant legal services, including representation in deportation proceedings. As a public defender office and provider of universal defense for immigrants in removal proceedings, we are guided by a fundamental belief in due process and liberty not for some, but for all….
“If we do what we’ve always done — over criminalizing, over incarcerating, carving people into those who are worthy of our compassion and those who are not, those who are worthy of treatment and those who are not — we are going to repeat the mistakes of the past. What is clear is that we…
In order to truly protect immigrant New Yorkers from ICE and keep our families and communities whole, we must recognize how deeply intertwined all of the various justice systems are. Justine Olderman, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders along with Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Practice at The Legal Aid Society and Lisa Schreibersdorf,…
“Termination of parental rights is a mechanism by which families are turned into strangers, all contact and personal identity is erased, and families are destroyed forever.” In states across the country, including Arizona and Kentucky, legislation is being passed that would make it easier to terminate the rights of mothers who use controlled substances while…
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Wednesday, May 16, 2018 CONTACT: NAACP Legal Defense Fund: David Jacobs, DJacobs@naacpldf.org, 212-965-2255 Bronx Defenders: Anna Kim, annakim@bronxdefenders.org, 718-838-7890 Center for Constitutional Rights: Jen Nessel, jnessel@ccrjustice.org, 212-614-6449 Legal Aid Society: Redmond Haskins, rhaskins@legal-aid.org, 929-441-2384 WASHINGTON – Today, a court-appointed facilitator, Ariel Belen, issued a report on community-generated reforms to New York City…
“The NYPD initially denied a 2014 public records request from the Bronx Defenders for detailed records on seized assets. The group sued the department in 2016 under the New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). As part of the lawsuit settlement filed in state court Monday, the NYPD is agreeing to give records for one…
No matter what reforms have been implemented or heralded, the racial disparities in marijuana arrests have persisted. Though black and white people use marijuana at roughly the same rate, black people were arrested on low-level marijuana charges at eight times the rate of white people across New York City over the past three years. Hispanic…
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** MAY 14, 2018 CONTACT: media@bronxdefenders.org; 718-838-7890 The Bronx Defenders and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP secured a settlement today that requires the NYPD to turn over detailed information — for the first time — about the millions of dollars of property it seizes during arrests. The NYPD has never provided a…
Lauren Migliaccio, attorney in our Immigration Practice, sits down with Telemundo to shed light on ICE’s use of call-in letters as a way to trap immigrants and how this practice has devastating repercussions for our clients and their families. Watch the interview here.
“You find examples like this in every corner of the criminal justice system. Nothing ever works quite the right way.” Scott Levy, Special Counsel to the Criminal Defense Practice, speaks with The New York Times about the lack of accessible ATMs in the Bronx courthouses. Read the piece here.
Sarah Deri Oshiro, Managing Director of the Immigration Practice, and immigration attorney Lauren Migliaccio speak with The Intercept on ICE’s recent adoption of call-in letters as a way to trap immigrants. We have witnessed firsthand how ICE is further exploiting the deep fear felt in immigrant communities by sending letters to people after they have…
The Bronx Defenders filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the NYPD for illegally using and sharing information from sealed arrest records in defiance of long-standing privacy laws. The class action was announced in a press release and covered by the publications: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New…
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** CONTACT media@bronxdefenders.org; 718-838-7890 BRONX, N.Y. — Three New Yorkers represented by The Bronx Defenders and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP filed a class action today against the City of New York and the NYPD for illegally using and sharing information from sealed arrest records in defiance of long-standing privacy laws. The…
If you think you might be a member of the class, click here On April 24, 2018, The Bronx Defenders filed a class action against the City of New York and the NYPD for illegally using and sharing information from sealed arrest records in defiance of long-standing privacy laws that protect privacy and the…
“The reality is that when a problem has a white face, the government and law enforcement agencies are more likely to react sensibly to that problem. As white people make money from marijuana, black people languish in jail for smoking it.” The Bronx has one of the country’s highest rates of marijuana arrests. Every day,…
“There was no psychological divider between the communities the organization was serving and the people who worked for the institution. And everything I discovered about The Bronx Defenders was consistent with that messaging to clients—we are here for you and with you.” Justine Olderman, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders speaks with her Alma Mater,…
“I’ve seen too many black mothers separated from their babies at birth. What’s even more concerning is that these calls largely revolve around issues of economic insecurity, such as lack of food and stable housing, rather than abuse.” Mandated reporting by health providers can disrupt the health and well being of black families, ultimately causing…
“Most people think we won the stop-and-frisk case in 2013, when a federal court ruled the New York City Police Department’s use of the practice was unconstitutional. But ultimate victory depends on whether we reform the police practices that drove unlawful stops and arrests.” Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, Deputy Director of our Impact Litigation Practice, along…
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** APRIL 9, 2018 (BRONX, N.Y.) – The Bronx Defenders and The Legal Aid Society issued the following joint statement this afternoon after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested and detained a client of The Legal Aid Society once his criminal case was dismissed, prompting a walkout and protest by public defenders of…
NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Bronx Defenders Civil Action Practice filed an amicus brief on behalf of itself and six amici curiae including the Community Service Society of New York, Legal Action Center, Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, Youth Represent, Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project, and Brooklyn Defender Services in the 2nd Circuit Court…
“The time for meaningful reform has come. Impacted communities and the greater public – your constituents – now recognize the profound injustices that Albany has permitted to exist for decades, while other states have taken action to fix the problems. We need genuine change, and we need it this year.” The Bronx Defenders joined with…