by Julie Yates | Oct 11, 2019 | News
CREEC signed on as a partner in the Equity for All of Me. All the Time. campaign earlier this fall. A national public education campaign Equity for All of Me. All the Time. was launched by the National LGBTQ Task Force and the National Black Justice Coalition on April 4th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights legacy. The campaign seeks to educate federal policymakers about the need for non-discrimination protections to ensure the whole person is protected at all times no matter where they are. Victoria Kim (pronouns: she, her, hers), field organizer at the National LGBTQ Task Force, explains why this is personal for her by saying, “As a femme identifying woman of color, my womanness and my Asianness are protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from discrimination based on race and sex, but because I’m queer, I, as a whole person, am not currently protected under federal law and am still at risk for discrimination in multiple ways. As we know, this leaves room for people to use that as a loophole to discriminate against folks in housing, employment, public accommodations, and more.” Interested? Want to Learn More? All of Me. All the Time. Campaign Op Ed: “Finding an Apartment or House Is Often Scary When You’re LGBTQ” by Victoria Kim Op Ed: “The Civil Rights Act Needs To Include All Black People” by Victoria Kirby...
by Julie Yates | Oct 8, 2019 | Civil rights, CREEC news, Discrimination, Immigration detention
Grant Will Support Work of CREEC’s Immigration Detention Accountability Project (IDAP) Borealis Philanthropy’s Immigration Litigation Fund has awarded CREEC a $75,000 grant to support IDAP’s work to advance systemic change litigation on behalf of immigrants in detention. In August, 2019, CREEC and others filed a nationwide class action against ICE for failure to monitor detention centers, resulting in unlawful conditions of confinement – inadequate medical/mental health care, improper use of segregation and disability discrimination. Our clients have experienced horrific conditions of confinement resulting in disastrous medical consequences for them, risk of harm, and discrimination on the basis of their disability. Elizabeth Jordan, Director of the Immigration Detention Accountability Project, states, “The Fraihat v ICE case is going to take a lot of time and resources to bring to a just and humane conclusion. The Borealis grant will help us ensure that our brave clients have their day in court in a way that advances their rights and ensures systemic change to help incarcerated immigrants. We are grateful to Borealis for their support of CREEC and others who are working to make sure that the civil and human rights of all people are met.” Borealis Philanthropy works with funders to direct resources to people building powerful and thriving communities. Borealis’ Immigration Litigation Fund is a national funder collaborative whose goal is to ensure that the nation’s immigration enforcement system is fair, humane, and prioritizes the civil and human rights of those vulnerable to deportation. This is the second year that IDAP has applied for and received grant funding through the Immigration Litigation...
by Julie Yates | Sep 30, 2019 | CREEC news
Success! CREEC’s Annual Event, held on September 19, 2019, was met with resounding success. A beautiful evening greeted all 121 attendees at the History Colorado Center, many of whom enjoyed the spectacular city view from the balcony before heading inside to listen to remarks from Co-Executive Directors, Amy and Tim, and this year’s Challenging Discrimination Award recipient, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández. This year’s event attracted teachers, lawyers, nonprofit professionals, volunteers, business people, graduate/law students, activists, parents, kids, and more. Amid the fun of the selfie photo booth with ‘Challenge Discrimination’ and ‘Badass Seeker of Justice’ signs, the ‘I Challenge Discrimination by…’ message board, and the overflowing information table with contributions from more than a dozen area non-profits, conversation flowed, and connections were made. The pervasive feeling seemed to be that together, we would continue to make positive change in our world. Our event was made possible by the generous support of our 29 sponsors (who collectively gave more than $42,000), our event ticket holders, and CREEC’s numerous clients, ambassadors and advocates. Thank you one and all! Whether or not you were able to attend CREEC’s event this year, you may enjoy checking out these resources: César’s inspiring remarks Photos from the evening Event slideshow showing highlights from CREEC’s year in review (alt text provided) Haven’t supported CREEC yet this year, but want to? Given to CREEC already, but want to give again? Text-to-Donate: Text “SupportCREEC” to 44321 Give Online Mail your check to 104 Broadway, Ste 400 | Denver, CO 80203 Contact director of development, Julie Yates at jyates@creeclaw.org or...
by Julie Yates | Aug 19, 2019 | Accessibility, Case news, Civil rights, CREEC news, Discrimination, Immigration detention, News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 19, 2019 Civil Rights Groups Charge that ICE Disregards Immigrants’ Medical, Mental Health Needs and Ignores Discrimination Against Immigrants with Disabilities New Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Highlights Abusive Isolation, Horrific Medical and Mental Health Care, and Denial of Accommodations to and Discrimination Against Detained Immigrants with Disabilities Los Angeles —A nationwide class action lawsuit was filed today against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and others acting in their official capacities. The lawsuit challenges the federal government’s failure to ensure detained immigrants receive appropriate medical and mental health care, its punitive use of segregation in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and its failure to ensure that detained immigrants with disabilities are provided accommodations and do not face discrimination as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The lawsuit was filed by Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center (CREEC), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in the U.S District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 15 individuals detained at eight different facilities in six states, representing a class of approximately 55,000 immigrants imprisoned by ICE on any given day, and two nonprofit organizations, Al Otro Lado and the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ). The lawsuit challenges ICE’s systemic failures to enforce constitutional and statutory requirements at the approximately 158 facilities across the country where people in immigrant detention are held, resulting in the delay and outright denial of medical care, the punitive use...
by Julie Yates | Aug 15, 2019 | Case news, Civil rights, CREEC news, Disability rights, Discrimination, Effective Communication, Immigration detention, News
“I was so sad. So afraid I’d never see my son again. I had no idea that they [US Customs and Border Patrol] would separate us, especially in the case of my son who is deaf and who can’t communicate easily,” says an asylum-seeking mom from Guatemala who prefers to remain anonymous for safety reasons. She goes on to say that CREEC’s Liz Jordan “helped me communicate with my son, and closely followed what was happening to me. Without CREEC’s help I would not have been able to figure out what was happening with my son and I would not have been able to fight my case.” Separated from his mother soon after crossing the border in April 2018, a 17-yr old deaf asylum seeker was transported alone hundreds of miles away to an Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter in Arizona – without interpretation services or accommodations of any kind. His only means of communication? Drawing pictures. Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was sent to the ICE detention center in Aurora, Colorado where she asked for a video call with her son. Her requests were ignored. She says, “I felt so alone when I first got to Aurora. I didn’t know what I had to do. I met with a pro bono attorney and explained everything that had happened with me and my son and that he was deaf. They referred my case to CREEC. I remember my first visit from CREEC. I felt so much more supported. I felt myself come back to life a bit.” “It was a long fight involving multiple requests for a video call, consistent...
