fbpx

Blog Topic

Immigration & Asylum

Our Voices blog

Blog

We Call on the Senate to Reject Extreme Anti-Immigration Measures

Washington D.C. - As federal funding debates continue, a small group of senators are demanding changes to asylum and immigration policy in exchange for funding to aid Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. These changes are being disguised as “border security measures,” however, they would eliminate essential protections for people seeking asylum—protections that have been in place for decades– and cause harmful confusion and disruption at the U.S.- Mexico Border.  The proposed changes would implement a so-called “safe third country rule” that would bar asylum applications from individuals who traveled through more than one country before reaching the […]

More

Blog

Uplifting Transgender Voices – Our Client’s Story

After a lifetime of hardship, Sammie, an NCLR Immigration Project client, has finally found a new sense of community and belonging with the SF-based organization El/La Para TransLatinas. Sammie has agreed to share her story of resiliency with us so that we might all learn and be moved by her words.

More

Blog

URGENT ACTION: Submit comments opposing the Proposed Rule on Asylum

SUMMARY OF ISSUE In early June, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) proposed a new rule that would effectively destroy the asylum process in the United States. This rule would make it almost impossible for survivors of gender-based violence – including women, and LGBTQ+ people, especially those […]

More

Blog

Rise Up!

“Perseverance in almost any plan is better than fickleness and fluctuation”—Alexander Hamilton When we adopted our NCLR tag line—”The audacity to fight for justice, the perseverance to win”—it was before President Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” and years before the cultural phenomenon that is “Hamilton” ushered in a refreshed examination of Alexander Hamilton’s writings. […]

More

Blog

It’s a #SummerOfAction! Are you in?

We know that having one-on-one conversations about equality is one of the best ways to change hearts and minds. Our work around marriage showed us that when we reach out, listen, and share our stories we can create monumental change towards a more just community. Now we have an amazing new opportunity to create that […]

More

Blog

Harnessing Our Outrage

“…Later that night I held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere” —Warsan Shire   Two days after a sniper killed five Dallas police officers, this poem, by expat Somali poet Warsan Shire, who came to world’s attention when […]

More

Blog

First they came for the refugees …

Over the past holiday weekend, as many of us relaxed with our families and celebrated the beginning of a new year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the homes of Central American refugees in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina and arrested 121 people, many of them mothers with young children. Sadly, there is nothing […]

More

Blog

I Dared to Dream

As a kid, I never dared to dream I’d be where I’m at today—starting my first day of law school at the University of San Francisco and looking forward to a future as an attorney helping immigrants whose stories are similar to my own. It was just three years ago that I lived my life […]

More

Blog

Nationwide Survey of DACA Recipients Shows Program’s Major Benefits

A nationwide survey released this week on recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows eligible unauthorized immigrants who entered the country as children to apply for work permits and relief from deportation, illustrates the program’s impact on national employment, wages and education. The survey shows the broad economic and societal […]

More

Blog

BIA Rules Domestic Violence is Grounds for Asylum

Though domestic violence is a serious problem in countries all over the world, not all governments offer help and assistance to survivors of domestic violence. And even in countries where survivors can seek help, LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence may not be able to come forward due to fear of persecution and discrimination by governments […]

More

Blog

NCLR supports “Sanctuary Cities”

Over the past few days, cities across the country have come to the support of the unaccompanied minors who have fled Central America to immigrate into the United States. Today, the City and County of San Francisco joins these cities. In a unanimous decision, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution sponsored by […]

More

Blog

Hungry For Immigration Reform

And Sam Ames, Esq. NCLR Staff Attorney For the past 5 days, we have eaten nothing. We continue to work, drinking only water. We continue to prepare food for our families, and we watch our colleagues eat at lunch. Sometimes it’s hard, but we are committed to fasting because we are committed to Fast for […]

More

Blog

President Obama Addresses Immigration Reform

Yesterday, President Obama brought together a coalition of immigration reform advocates—including NCLR—and gave his first address on immigration reform since Congress finally ended the government shutdownand cleared the way to reengage with the rest of its legislative agenda. His message to Congress on this crucial issue was simple and clear: “It’s time,” he declared to […]

More

Blog

Forthcoming Regulations Will Mean Increased Protections for Transgender Detainees

As Congress considers overhauling and repairing our broken immigration system, NCLR has been committed to identifying areas where LGBTQ immigrants are especially vulnerable and working to ensure those issues are addressed. Detention facilities and standards for transgender detainees is one such area of heightened vulnerability. Immigrants in the U.S. are detained in detention facilities for […]

More

Blog

Tragedy … and Possibility

I, like all of you, have felt the heaviness borne of mindless violence and tragedy in the wake of the bombings in Boston. My birthday was April 15, and now that date will be remembered for yet another national horror. In the days since the attack, I can’t help but think about the very different […]

More