Immigrants Stand Up for Their First Amendment Rights As Federal Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Ragbir v. Homan

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New York, NY - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will hear oral arguments in Ragbir v. Homan, a First Amendment lawsuit filed against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for its use of deportation and enforcement measures to “disappear” or silence its critics, namely directly-affected immigrant leaders who speak out against the agency’s policies and the deportation machine. The lawsuit was filed by nationally recognized immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir, along with immigrant rights organizations New Sanctuary Coalition, CASA, Detention Watch Network, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and the New York Immigration Coalition (the "plaintiffs").

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Ragbir v. Homan challenges the unlawful targeting of immigrant rights activists who have spoken out against the federal government’s immigration policies. As part of that lawsuit, plaintiffs sought a "stay of removal" for Ravi Ragbir, Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition , who was abruptly targeted for deportation in January 2018 a decade after he was given an order of supervision to live and work in the U.S.  Mr. Ragbir is one of many outspoken immigrant rights leaders who has been similarly targeted nationwide. A district court denied the plaintiffs the initial protections they sought, including a stay for Mr. Ragbir, concluding that it did not have the power to review the government’s actions. The plaintiffs appealed and now seek a motion for a stay of Mr. Ragbir’s removal from the appellate court.

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Community members were invited to listen and observe the plaintiffs’ co-counsel, Arnold & Porter, argue before the Second Circuit why the Court should grant Mr. Ragbir a stay of deportation until ICE can prove that its attempt to deport Mr. Ragbir was not in retaliation for his free speech. 

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Following the hearing, immigrant rights leaders, activists, and prominent First Amendment lawyers held a press Conference and Rally at Foley Square, denouncing the federal government’s attempts to deny immigrants access to federal courts and their first amendment protections. Speakers included Ravi Ragbir, immigrant and reproductive rights activist Alejandra Pablos, the National Lawyers’ Guild National Immigration Project, the New York Immigration Coalition, and more. Under the U.S. Constitution, everyone in the United States--regardless of immigration status--is entitled to First Amendment rights. 

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