Sarah Sherman-Stokes

In awe of our client, Leqaa, and the incredible legal team of which I'm a small part, @muslimadvocates.bsky.social, @txcivilrights.bsky.social, CUNY-CLEAR. Thanks to @theintercept.com for covering the government's cruel, racist and unrelenting targeting of Leqaa. #FreeLeqaa

Incredible advocacy by @veenadubal.bsky.social & others. What victory. Not only has this case exposed the monstrous, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic & unconstitutional work of this Admin, but the decision couldn't be more clear: noncitizens have the same free speech rights as everyone else 🔥🙌

Even in these truly bonkers times, law still matters. And Trop v. Dulles is still good law.

TL;DR: you cannot denaturalize someone as punishment for a crime.

This "agreement" between #Trump and #Bukele flies in the face of US Constitutional Law & Int'l Law.

www.oyez.org/cases/1956/70

Everyone - regardless of #immigration status or criminal history - deserves dignity and human rights. I hope that US elected officials will stand up to this outrageous, and unprecedented, "agreement" that will undoubtedly result in torture and death. 5/

Conditions in the jails have been reported as "hellish" - characterized by a lack of medical care, lack of food & water, and cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment frequently meted out, including torture. More than 300 people have died in custody since 2022. 4/

The president of El Salvador, #Bukele, is a self-declared "world's coolest dictator" who has rounded up more than 80,000 Salvadorans since taking office and declaring a state of emergency. He acknowledged in November that at least 8000 of those people were innocent. 3/

El Salvador: A thousand days into the state of emergency. "Security" at the expense of human rights. One thousand days of the state of exception in El Salvador have left a legacy of repression, arbitrary detentions, torture, and deaths in custody.

Nearly 2% of El Salvador's population is behind bars. For those incarcerated, there is virtually no due process - mass trials, judges whose identity is withheld, no presumption of innocence and no right to a fair trial. amnesty.org/en/latest/ne... 2/

I'm an #asylum lawyer - part of my job includes protecting my clients from being sent back to El Salvador bc of the torture, inhumane conditions & violent repression they face there under Bukele. Jails in El Salvador are notorious for torture & human rights abuses. A thread 🧵 1/

The weaponization of language is real; discursive strategies used by authoritarians are dangerous and intentional. This memo - short, pithy and matter of fact - should scare those of us who care about noncitizens. 7/

Instead, the memo focuses on the testimony (?) of two judges, themselves immigrants, who preach the privilege and "treasure" that is US Citizenship. They say, essentially, that they are unbothered by this word, so we should be too. 6/

Notably absent from the memo are the myriad ways in which this word has been used as a weapon - to dehumanize, exclude and even to incite violence. 5/

Al*en connotes strangeness, inferiority and outsider status; of course, that matters - legally, socially and politically. The author knows this. The term helps reinforce nativist sentiment, emphasizing those who belong, and those who don't. 4/

The memo - without a hint of irony - further states that "words matter." Which I suppose is why they insist on using a term that is as inaccurate/imprecise as it is dehumanizing. 3/

PM 25-07 recommends against using the word noncitizen, & suggests using "al*en" instead. The memo says that there is "no need to be offended" by this word & it's "not an insult." 2/
www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...

The number of #immigration related announcements, EOs & memos is dizzying. One thing that has gotten less attn are the policy memos being released by DOJ/EOIR (i.e. the immigration court). Here's a thread on one that encourages the use of the word "Al*en", & why it matters. 1/

If your senator voted yes to discussion, please call them now & urge them to vote NO. It's just 8 horrible pages & can be found below (rumor is that many have not even read the text).

☎️ Please call your Senators now, 202-224-3121, and urge them to vote NO. 7/
www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

The following senators voted NO to even discussing this horrific bill - Booker, Hirono, Kim, Markey, Merkley, Sanders, Schatz, Smith & Warren.

Please take the time to call these senators and thank them. 6/

Sadly, the foundation for Trump's mass deportation agenda was laid a long time ago. But this bill adds dangerous new tools to Trump's toolbox. It will sow fear and terror in immigrant communities and enable even more racial profiling. 5/

This bill is a gift to abusive partners & employers. You want to punish your spouse? Accuse her of a theft crime. You want to get off the hook for paying your employee? Accuse him of a theft crime. B/c no conviction is required, allegations alone are enough to get someone locked up indefinitely. 4/

The bill will give the power to states - and anti-immigrant Attorney Generals like Ken Paxton - to sue the federal gov't for a breathtaking number of immigration related decisions. Even where the state has no legitimate interest in doing so. This will create fear and chaos. 3/

This bill requires ICE to detain any noncitizen who is *arrested or charged* for a theft offense. This means that a mom who shoplifts milk for her baby or a kid with DACA who shoplifts candy from CVS - or anyone *accused of doing these things* - will be detained w/ no opp for release on bond. 2/

Yesterday the Senate voted to begin debate on the Laken-Riley Act. This bill will criminalize, indefinitely detain & deport even more noncitizens. It also further lays the groundwork for Trump's mass deportation agenda. Please call your senators now and urge them to vote NO on this. Here's why 🧵 1/

this piece is stunning for its inaccuracy, its cruelty and the authors' lack of self-reflection. leaning hard right on #immigration has destroyed families, traumatized entire communities, & undoubtedly cost people their lives. it hasn't won dems any recent elections, either.

Powerful and devastating piece by my impressive colleague, @azizaahmed.bsky.social.

How Massachusetts can limit ICE enforcement - The Boston Globe Four recommendations that will help protect migrants.

@mayorwu.boston.gov @govhealey.bsky.social My wonderful colleague Leah Hastings and I put together 4 concrete ways you can protect MA residents from ICE enforcement. Thanks @bostonglobe.com for publishing 👇
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/02/o...

For more on the 25 years of violations at Plymouth, you can read our report with Prisoners Legal Services of MA here: www.bu.edu/law/files/20...

Some sheriffs scoffed at immigration enforcement. Plymouth extended its agreement with ICE. - The Boston Globe The new contract will run through September 2029, according to a copy of the agreement between Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald and ICE, which pays the sheriff’s office to hold people in a portion of ...

Thanks @bostonglobe.com for your reporting & glad to be quoted alongside the inimitable Heather Yountz. Plymouth Jail continues to be rewarded for it's flagrant violations of bare minimum detention standards.
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/20/m...

ICE Can Already Sidestep Sanctuary City Laws Through Data-Sharing Fusion Centers Built to combat terrorism, fusion centers give US Immigration and Customs Enforcement a way to gain access to data that’s meant to be protected under city laws limiting local police cooperation with I...

ICE Can Already Sidestep Sanctuary City Laws Through Data-Sharing Fusion Centers.

www.wired.com/story/ice-sa...

Errol Morris’ SEPARATED is both a roadmap to what the incoming Trump administration might do, but also how people may push back against, as @adamserwer.bsky.social coined, cruelty being the point. The film is in theaters now. MSNBC December 7.

As Private Prison Stocks Soar, Activists Fight Trump’s Deportation Plans Incoming President Trump’s vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants when he starts his term has sent private prison stocks soaring. Immigrant rights advocates, including our guest, the…

As Private Prison Stocks Soar, Immigrant Rights Activists Vow to Fight Trump's Mass Deportation Plans