Communities Fight Back as Threat of Ice Raids Terrorize Immigrant Families

A globally recognized advocate, practitioner, and voice for immigrants, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied migrant children, Elora Mukherjee is the director of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. Since founding the clinic in 2014, she and her students have traveled to both sides of the Mexico-United States border. In 2015, they were the first pro bono counsel representing individual asylum seekers—all mothers and children—at a newly opened detention center in Dilley, Texas, which she described as a "deportation mill."

For more than a decade, Mukherjee has worked on issues related to enforcing the Flores Settlement Agreement, which sets a limit on the length of time children can be detained in federal immigration custody, requires that they be held in the least restrictive area possible, and guarantees access to basic hygiene and adequate nutrition.

In 2019, Mukherjee's firsthand reports of the inhumane conditions of confinement for children in a U.S. border detention station sparked national and international outrage as she gave extensive media interviews on what she had witnessed. She was invited to testify before Congress, where she detailed for the House Committee on Oversight and Reform how children in border detention centers were sick, dirty, frightened, separated from family members, and held as victims of federal policies that she argued were unconstitutional, unlawful, ineffective, and un-American.

Mukherjee began her career as a clerk for Judge Jan E. DuBois of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and then won a fellowship with the ACLU Racial Justice Program. From 2007 to 2010, she worked at a law firm, specializing in police misconduct, prisoners' rights, housing, and employment discrimination, and then rejoined the ACLU as a staff attorney until 2013.

Mukherjee regularly collaborates with other immigrants' rights advocates on strategic litigation, legislative reform, grassroots activism, public education, and coalition building. She serves on the boards of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Project Amplify, and the Refugee Reunification Project.

Publications

Jun. 25, 2020 Slate

America Is Closed

A dizzying number of new rules make it almost impossible to immigrate to the U.S, writes Professor Elora Mukherjee in Slate.

• "America is Closed," Slate, June 25, 2020
• "Op-Ed: Here's what happens to the asylum seekers we turn away," Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2020
• "The Supreme Court made the African ban possible," Slate, February 3, 2020
• "Let the Doctors In," Slate, June 30, 2019
• "Health Care for All Must Include Everyone," JAMA Pediatrics, published online November 18, 2019
• "Let Immigration Judges Speak," Slate, October 24, 2019
• "Abolishing the Time Tax on Voting," 89 Notre Dame Law Review 101, 2009
• "American Civil Liberties Union—New York Civil Liberties Union," Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools, 2007
• Human Rights First, "The United States and International Human Rights," (with co-authors), Assessing the New Normal: Liberty and Security for the Post-September 11 United States, 2003
• Book Review, "Ethnic Conflict & Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India," by Ashutosh Varshney, in Yale Journal of International Law, 2003

Honors and Awards

National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Brodyaga Award

2021

Clinical Legal Education Association Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Project

2021

Champion of the Children Award from Children of Bellevue

2021

Influencer by Congressional Quarterly 2020

2020

New York State Bar Association Root Stimson Award

2020

Champion of Justice Award from the Muslim Bar Association of New York

2020

South Asian Council for Social Services Award for Longstanding Dedication to Safeguarding the Legal Rights of Vulnerable Refugees

2019

Rutgers 250 Fellow

Honorable Mention for Presidential Awards for Outstanding Teaching by Faculty at Columbia University

2016

Remarks and Testimony

Elora Mukherjee describes horrific conditions at the border, C-SPAN, July 12, 2019

Activities and Affiliations

• Director, Project Amplify
• Founder and Director, Refugee Reunification Project
• Director, Asylum Seekers Advocacy Project
• Director, Warm Heart
• Past Director, Fair Housing Justice Center

News and Press

• "Biden's Immigration Actions (Audio)," WNYC (February 4, 2021)
• "ICE frees potential witnesses in Georgia medical abuse case," Associated Press (January 22, 2021)
• "3 Immigration Policies To Watch In 2021," Law360 (January 3, 2021)
• "More immigrant women say they were abused by Ice gynecologist," The Guardian (December 22, 2020)
• "Top Immigration Cases Of 2020: Year In Review," Law360 (December 21, 2020)
• "Top 5 Immigration Policy Changes Of 2020: Year In Review," Law360 (December 18, 2020)
• "Bearing witness to a war against detained children," Capital & Main (December 7, 2020)
• "Vital win as Trump admin agrees to not deport gynecologist's immigrant victims amid investigation," Daily Kos (December 2, 2020)
• "Suspenden las deportaciones de las mujeres inmigrantes, testigos claves en irregularidades médicas en la cárcel de ICE (Spanish),""Univision (December 1, 2020
• "US agrees for now to stop deporting women who alleged abuse," AP News (November 24, 2020)
• "Migrant women say they underwent unnecessary medical procedures at ICE detention center," CBS News (November 20, 2020
• "US deports migrant women who alleged abuse by Georgia doctor," AP News (November 11, 2020)
• "9th Circ. Loss For Migrants In Crisis Hurts Families, Biz," Law360 (September 15, 2020
• "ICE threatens international students with removal proceedings in an effort to reopen campuses," Columbia Daily Spectator (July 9, 2020)
• "International Students in the U.S. Could Face 'Devastating Upheaval' in Wake of ICE Guidance for Foreign Students to Leave if Schools Are Online-Only," Time (July 7, 2020)
• "Top 6 Immigration Cases To Watch In 2020: Midyear Report," Law360 (July 6, 2020)
• "Midyear Report: Top 5 Immigration Rulings Of 2020," Law360 (July 6, 2020)
• "A Government Watchdog Group Will No Longer Conduct Onsite Inspections Of Immigration Facilities Because Of The Coronavirus," Buzzfeed News (July 2, 2020)
• "High Court Won't Expand Court Review For Asylum-Seekers," Law360 (June 25, 2020)
• "Asylum Seekers Caught In Expedited Deportation Cannot Appeal In Federal Court, Supreme Court Rules," Gothamist (June 25, 2020)
• "Appeals Court Orders Judge to Dismiss Flynn Case (Podcast)," Bloomberg Law (June 25, 2020)
• "El Supremo de EE.UU. protege de la deportación a "soñadores" en un revés a Trump (Spanish)," Agencia EFE (June 18, 2020)
• "The Supreme Court rejected Trump's attempt to end DACA. Now what," The Los Angeles Times (June 18, 2020)
• "Despite High Court Ruling, DACA Faces Uncertain Future," Law 360 (June 18, 2020)
• "Can Trump End Immigration? Wording Matters, Scholars Say," Law360 (April 22, 2020)
• "The Power of Transcripts: Waterwell and Immigration," HowIRound (April 22, 2020)
• "Immigrants With Foreign Medical Training Untapped in Virus Fight," Bloomberg Law News ( April 13, 2020)
• "Don't Let Trump Make Immigrants Victims of COVID-19," The Progressive (March 27, 2020)
• "Here's What Happens to the Asylum Seekers We Turn Away," L.A. Times (February 11, 2020).
• "The Supreme Court Made the African Ban Possible," Slate (February 3, 2020)
• "Three Medical Centers Cancel CBP, ICE Contracts," Medscape (December 26, 2019)
• Assisting Asylum Seekers at the U.S.-Mexico Border
• "Immigrants don't flock to states that expand health benefits," Reuters (November 18, 2019)
• "Let the Doctors In," Slate (June 30, 2019)
• "Why Detention Centers Remind Us of One of the Worst Periods in History," The New York Times(June 29, 2019)
• "Children Were Dirty, They Were Scared, and They Were Hungry," The Atlantic(June 25, 2019)
• "'There Is a Stench': Soiled Clothes and No Baths for Migrant Children at a Texas Center," The New York Times(June 21, 2019)
• "The Risks of Denying the Flu Vaccine to Migrant Children," The Takeaway (August 22, 2019)
• "Trump Policy Would Allow Indefinite Detention of Migrant Families, Children," NPR (August 22, 2019)
• "Body Cavity Searches, Indefinite Detention and No Visistations Allowed," Newsweek (August 21, 2019)
• "Some Undocumented Immigrants Are Now Subject to 'Expedited Removal.' Here's What to Know," Time (July 23, 2019)
• "Asylum: 90% of claims fall at first hurdle after US process change, lawsuit alleges," The Guardian (November 13, 2019)
• "Ending DACA Could Leave College Students Scrambling for a Way to Continue Their Educations," Newsweek (November 13, 2019)
• "Is Canada Violating Its Constitution by Sending Refugees Back to the United States?" Foreign Policy (December 15, 2019)
• "Pick Your Role Models Wisely; Mine Is Elora Mukherjee," Mind the Gap Blog by Mrutyuanjai Mishra (July 12, 2019)
• "What Is Happening to Migrant Children at US border facilities?" (Podcast) The Guardian (July 10, 2019)
• "Migrant Children Held in Texas Facility Needs Access to Doctors, Say Attorney," The Guardian (July, 8, 2019)
• "Almost 300 migrant children removed from Texas facility described as 'appalling,'" NBC News (June 24, 2019)
• "Immigrant Children Moved From Texas Detention Center Because of Unsanitary Conditions," NPR (June 24, 2019)
• "'I Have Never Seen Conditions as Degrading and Inhumane': Scenes From the Border Camps," Jezebel(June 23, 2019)

Videos

• "Why are immigrant women in the US having unnecessary medical procedures,"The Stream, Al Jazeera, May 26, 2021

• "Migrant women say they underwent unnecessary medical procedures at ICE detention center," CBS News, November 20, 2020
• "Targeting El Paso," Frontline, PBS, January 7, 2020
• "Trump Campaign to Democrats on Flores Agreement Change: This is What You Wanted," Newsweek, August 21, 2019
• "Migrant Children Are Entitled to Toothbrushes and Soap, Federal Court Rules," The New York Times, August 15, 2019
• "The Whole Child Separation Travesty Is Pointless," CNN, August 7, 2019
• "Americans Aren't Allowed to Donate to and Volunteer at Migrant Detention Centers. There's No Good Reason for that Policy," Time, July 16, 2019
• "Trump's New Restriction on Asylum Seeker Violate U.S. and International Law, Experts Say," Time, July 15, 2019
• "President Trump's misleading spin on the border crisis," Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2019
• "Cruelty Is the Point: Communities Fight Back as Treat of ICE Raids Terrorize Immigrants Families," Democracy Now, July 15, 2019
• "Trump plans ICE raids starting Sunday," AM Joy, July 14, 2019
• "CNN Anderson Cooper 360," (Twitter Feed Video), AC360, July 12, 2019
• "CNN Brian Stelter," (Twitter Feed Video), CNN Brian Stelter, July 7, 2019
• "MSNBC AM Joy," (Video 1:50), MSNBC Joy Reid, July 6, 2019
• "Attorneys seek federal court order to allow public health experts inside migrant facilities (Video)," CNN | Anderson Cooper 360, June 26, 2019
• "US migrant children 'hungry, dirty, sick and scared' (Video)," BBC News, June 26, 2019
• "NY1 Online: Immigration Under Trump," The Time Warner Cable News NY1, November 16, 2016
• "Columbia Law School Rights Clinic Helps Immigrants Overcome Legal Hurdles," METROFOCUS WLIW21, March 21, 2016

Communities Fight Back as Threat of Ice Raids Terrorize Immigrant Families

Source: https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/elora-mukherjee

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