Thread by @Das_Alina

BREAKING: We’ve sued ICE to stop the unconstitutional detention & deportation of activist #ClaudioRojas following the debut of “The Infiltrators” @sundancefest, which depicts Claudio’s immigrant rights organizing.
Press release: dreamactivist.org/campaigns/fede…
THREAD

You’ve probably heard about Claudio’s courageous activism. In 2012, Claudio, a father of two, was detained in Broward Transitional Center. He organized with activists from the inside, as described in @ThisAmerLife & @thenation:
thisamericanlife.org/498/the-one-th… &
thenation.com/article/dreame…

Immigrant rights activists then successfully advocated for Claudio’s release. He returned to his wife and sons, with the permission of ICE, who in 2012 granted him an order of supervision that authorized him to live and work in the U.S.

For seven years Claudio regularly reported to ICE. He worked hard to support his family. When an employer began exploiting him and other workers, Claudio spoke out again, filing a complaint with the DOL & an application with DHS under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

In a “normal” case, DHS would review a trafficking claim, give the investigating agency a chance to investigate, and then decide whether to provide a special visa (called a “T visa” for trafficking victims or a “U visa” for victims of certain crimes).

But this was not a “normal” case to ICE. Over the course of the last several months, the film “The Infiltrators” started making buzz. It depicted #ClaudioRojas fighting the inhumanity of the U.S. immigration detention policy, & made the @sundancefest list.
sundance.org/blogs/news/201…

In January 2019, "The Infiltrators" premiered at @sundancefest, where it won the NEXT Audience Award and NEXT Innovator Award. It was slated to be featured at the Miami Film Festival in March 2019, where #ClaudioRojas was going to speak.

Days before the Miami Film Festival, at Claudio's regularly scheduled check-in, ICE detained him.
miamiherald.com/news/local/imm…

Claudio was afraid something like this would happen. Since President Trump had been elected to office, immigrant activists have been targeted for deportation.
npr.org/2018/03/16/591…

When Claudio was detained, my client #RaviRagbir asked @jessicarofe & me if we could help Claudio. #RaviRagbir is an activist & plaintiff in a lawsuit that my clinic @NYULaw and Arnold & Porter filed last year to stand up for immigrants’ #FirstAmendment rights. We said yes.

Together, @UMImmClinic, @nscdefense, the Immigrant Rights Clinic @nyulaw, and Claudio’s immigration lawyers filed a lawsuit seeking Claudio’s release and a stay of deportation.
Lawsuit: law.nyu.edu/sites/default/…

The basic argument of the lawsuit is that #ICEisNotAbovetheLaw. Let me explain.

The First Amendment says that the government can’t retaliate or discriminate against someone because of their activism. So it's not lawful for ICE to revoke Claudio's order of supervision, detain him, and try to speed up his deportation because they don't like his activism.

The Fourth & Fifth Amendments say that the government can’t arrest someone without a showing of probable cause & can’t deprive someone of liberty without justification and due process of law. ICE illegally arrested & detained Claudio w/ no cause, hearing, or lawful justification.

The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment also means that the government can’t arbitrarily prevent someone from seeking a statutory form of relief under the law (here the TVPA). ICE is illegally racing to deport Claudio even though agencies are required to consider his claim.

ICE claims it's enforcing the law, but the law includes the Constitution. ICE can't violate the Constitution, not to mention the host of other statutory and regulatory requirements at stake here. #ICEisNotAbovetheLaw

We hope that the federal court will, as other courts have done, step in to prevent these unlawful acts. But litigation is an uphill battle. Justice for #ClaudioRojas relies on the movement that he has long been a part of--please join him in the struggle. #YouCantDeportAMovement.

Join @DreamAct in advocating for #ClaudioRojas.

Sign the petition to stop Claudio's deportation: act.dreamactivist.org/petitions/MjE

Sign the petition urging the Florida Congressional Delegation to visit Claudio:
act.dreamactivist.org/petitions/MjI

And, like Claudio, keep speaking out.