by CREEC | Aug 28, 2019 | Accessibility, Case news, Civil rights, CREEC news, Discrimination, Immigration detention, News
A refugee from Sudan, Hamida Ali has a mental disability and a history of suicide attempts. Despite this, Ms. Ali was left in a dorm by herself with no other detained individuals or guards for nine months, exacerbating her symptoms. Edilberto Garcia Guerrero experiences chronic headaches and pain in his neck, shoulder, ear, and eye. He also has diminished vision and hearing. These all stem from an assault he suffered in ICE custody and have not been addressed by medical staff. Mr. Guerrero previously had reconstructive ankle surgery after falling off a roof. He fell in ICE custody while in ankle cuffs, causing the breakage or dislocation of screws from his previous surgery. Mr. Guerrero is still waiting for surgery. These are just two people among the 15 individual plaintiffs and two organizational plaintiffs, Al Otro Lado and Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, named in a nationwide federal class action lawsuit filed on August 19, 2019 by CREEC, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe, LLP. And our plaintiffs are not alone in suffering at the hands of ICE and their contractors. On any given day, about 55,000 people are being held in ICE custody. Last year, ICE detained a total of almost 400,000 immigrants. The Trump administration has funneled record numbers of immigrants into ICE prisons across America, subjecting thousands of men and women to in horrific, inhumane conditions in repurposed prisons and jails. These men and women are asylum seekers, longtime American residents, military veterans, teenagers, and refugees, among others. “In two years of investigating conditions for people...
by CREEC | Jul 16, 2019 | CREEC news
Yashna Eswaran is a paralegal in our Colorado office. Yashna graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, with a B.A. in International Relations and Global Studies with Special Honors as well as Health and Society. Her degrees focused on the socio-demographic, cultural, political, and ethical contexts that underlie societal inequities. Yashna has previously worked at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment working on youth and health equity initiatives. Additionally, while in Texas, Yashna has worked at the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health, focusing on empowering young people who have been impacted by systems such as foster care, juvenile justice, and mental health. Most recently, Yashna was a Legal Assistant for an Attorney Ad-Litem, working extensively with Child Protective Services cases. Yashna’s academic and professional careers have motivated her to combat the systems that perpetuate injustices and inequities. In her free time, Yashna can be found traveling, eating, and watching Law and Order...
by CREEC | Jun 24, 2019 | CREEC news
CREEC is pleased to announce the appointment of our first Development Director, Julie Yates. Julie will be building a comprehensive fundraising program for CREEC and will be working to deepen relationships and enhance communication between CREEC and you, our supporters! An experienced fundraising professional and educator with a passion for making the world a better place, Julie has more than two decades of demonstrated success in the areas of philanthropy, relationship building, strategic thinking, and problem solving. Julie comes to CREEC from The White Mountain School where she served as Development Director, growing their fundraising program, building a strategic communications plan, and leading the School’s largest-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign. A long-time educator, Julie has deep personal interest in human rights and social justice and is looking forward to using her professional skills in service of CREEC’s mission and vision. Julie graduated magna cum laude from Smith College with a BA in Biology and later earned her MS in Science Education from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Julie has taught biology and chemistry at Blair Academy, NJ, St. Paul’s School, NH, and The White Mountain School, NH where she was also appointed to multiple administrative positions during her 18 years of service. Julie says about her new position at CREEC, “I am so excited to share with others information about the incredible work CREEC does to challenge discrimination and to help raise necessary funds so my colleagues at CREEC can continue their vital work. Our world needs more organizations like CREEC with the will, heart, and intellectual power to lead much needed social change. I’m truly honored to play...
by CREEC | Jun 13, 2019 | Americans with Disabilities Act, Civil rights, CREEC in the news, CREEC news, Disability rights, Discrimination, Education, Immigration detention, News
“I have a strong interest in immigration law and policy and heard about the vital work CREEC’s Immigration Detention Accountability Project is doing. Knowing that the attorneys at CREEC have a reputation for doing smart, high-stakes work that improves people’s lives, I applied for a CREEC externship as a way to challenge myself to grow in new areas while doing work I believe in.” – Allison Crennen-Dunlap, J.D. Candidate, Class of 2019, University of Denver – Sturm College of Law. CREEC Extern Spring 2019 Since 2015, CREEC has offered first-hand experience in civil rights litigation, research and advocacy to area law students through its extern program. Co-Executive Director, Amy Robertson says, “it is always exciting to work with the next generation of civil rights lawyers and leaders, especially in collaboration with Denver Law given its robust commitment to experiential learning.” To date, CREEC has offered experience in civil rights law to 8 externs. This summer is no different, as CREEC welcomes externs Jordan Staley and Kiley Oblisk. Jordan is a rising third year law student, who will be working with CREEC’s Accessibility Projects including communications access for Deaf and hard of hearing prisoners and hospital patients. During his 2L year, Jordan worked in Denver Law’s Civil Rights Clinic, where he represented a federal prisoner in a religious discrimination case. He’s excited to continue working in civil rights this summer and looks forward to the opportunity to learn more about disability law. Kiley is a rising second year law student joining CREEC’s Immigration Detention Accountability Project. Prior to law school, she worked for the Colorado Public Defender in Durango, working especially...
by CREEC | May 23, 2019 | Civil rights, CREEC in the news, CREEC news, Immigration detention
CREEC is tired of ICE lying to us. Today, we asked a judge to make them stop. Today, because ICE has obscured documents from the public and misled us and a federal judge, CREEC asked that ICE be sanctioned. Fifteen months ago, CREEC took ICE to court for failing to respond to information requests regarding conditions at ICE’s immigration prisons – including whether there was adequate medical care, mental health care, and appropriate accommodations for people with disabilities in ICE custody. For months, CREEC has repeatedly requested that ICE hand over two Detainee Death Reviews – documentation required by law to be created whenever someone dies in ICE custody. CREEC thought the Detainee Death Reviews would shed light on what happened to Vicente Caceres Maradiaga, who died at Adelanto Detention Center in California in May 2017, and Kamyar Samimi, who died at Aurora Detention Center in Colorado in December 2017, about whose deaths little was publicly known. CREEC has also requested certain ICE policies governing health care. Until very recently, ICE pretended like these documents did not exist. This week, CREEC learned that, not only does Mr. Samimi’s death review document exist, it is damning. Mr. Samimi died after experiencing callously neglectful medical practices. We can see why ICE was attempting to hide it. We suspect ICE is doing the same thing with Mr. Caceres Maradiaga’s death review. That’s illegal. Because ICE has obscured these documents from the public and misled us and the judge hearing our case, not to mention wasted our time for months, we asked the judge today to sanction their conduct, award us fees, and order these documents be immediately produced. Click...
