Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law

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Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
AbbreviationCHRCL
Formation1983;40 years ago (1983) [1]
Founder Peter Schey
Founded atLos Angeles, California
Type Nonprofit organization
95-3700335 [lower-alpha 1]
Purposeactivism, litigation, workshops
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, United States
Region
California, Arizona, Texas
ServicesFurthering and protecting Human rights
Executive Director
Peter Schey
Peter Schey, Carlos Holguin, Gary Manulkin, William Tan, Chanchanit (Chancee) Martorell, Dr. Reynaldo Macias, Jim Tom Haynes, Marc L. Van Der Hout
Website www.centerforhumanrights.org

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL) is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1983 by lawyer Peter Schey with the mission of protecting and furthering the human and civil rights of immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized communities through nationwide class action litigation and activism. [2]

Contents

Overview

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law was founded in 1983 by Peter Schey, a lawyer with a passion for social justice. [3] The initial focus was on providing legal services to Central American refugees who were fleeing civil wars and political persecution in their home countries. As CHRCL's work expanded, CHRCL began to take on a broader range of issues related to human rights and constitutional law.

Today, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law is a leading advocacy organization that works to protect and further the rights of immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized communities. Their work includes litigation, policy advocacy, and community education, with a focus on issues such as immigration reform, the rights of detained immigrants, and the protection of children's rights. CHCRL is the only non-governmental organization in the country permitted to inspect every detention site where children are detained for the purposes of interviewing and assess the quality of treatment of all detained children. [4]

Major Litigation

In 1997, CHRCL lead three major nationwide cases.

Flores v. Reno set the minimum standard of living for detained immigrant children in the United States, set CHRCL as the only nongovernmental organization allowed to hold detention centers accountable for these minimum standards, and required the prompt release of detained children to relatives residing in the United States. [4]

League of United Latin American Citizens v. Wilson prevented proposition 187, which sought to deny healthcare, social services, and education to individuals suspected to be undocumented immigrants. [5]

The Haitian Centre for Human Rights et al. v. United States, a human rights petition addressed to the inter'American commission on human rights of the Organization of American States resulting in a decision that the U.S. Haitian interdiction program violated the "right to life" pursuant to the American Declaration Of The Rights and Duties of Man. [6]

In 1998, CHRCL served as lead counsel in the nationwide class action, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, et al., v. Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith, et al. This case terminated the ability for entities to spy on Palestinian political activists. [2]

In 1999, CHRCL served as lead counsel in the nationwide class action, Lopez v. INS, which lead to the protection of rights to obtain counsel by immigrants when detained by the federal government. [2]

In 2000, among other organizations, CHRCL wrote The Life Act, which extended the ability to apply for legal residency to over 200,000 immigrants who had previously been denied due to brief travel outside of the United States. [7]

In 2002, CHRCL served as lead counsel in Reno v. Catholic Social Services, which granted over 250,000 immigrants legal status under the 1986 amnesty law. [8]

In 2012, CHRCL served as lead counsel in LULAC v. Arizona, which blocked Arizona's state and local government from enforcing federal immigration laws on the federal government's behalf. [9]

In 2017, CHRCL won the Flores v Sessions case, which prevented DHS and ICE from separating children from parents in detention centers and limited the timeframe for detention centers to hold immigrant minors. [10]

In 2022, CHRCL served as lead counsel on two cases. Lucas R. v. Azar, set the standard, that if an immigrant minor was held in a detention center for more than 30 days, a hearing would need to be held. [11] Flores v. Garland set new minimum standards for detention centers quality of life and requiring a multilayered medical system. [12]

Programs and Activities

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law has a number of ongoing programs and activities that support its mission. These include:

Immigrant children detention centers

By December 31, 2018, CHRCL oversaw the court-ordered agreement on how "migrant children" could be housed. [19] The CHRCL is the only NGO with the authority to do the inspections and assessments of all facilities holding immigrant children. [19]

Schey notified the Department of Justice Civil Division's Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) of violations of the Flores Settlement Agreement. [lower-alpha 2] According to a 2019 CBS News article, over "250 lawyers, doctors and paralegals" from CHRCL visited detention centers and "interviewed hundreds of detained children". [19] They found that the "whole program" managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) agency—which is mandated to oversee all the shelters for these unaccompanied children—was "in total violation". [19]

Flores Settlement Agreement

Detailed regulations on how facilities that care for immigrant children are defined under the 1997 Flores Settlement, which also establishes standards for licensing these. [19] The settlement's standards include the requirement that "licensed programs shall comply with all applicable state child welfare laws and regulations and all state and local building, fire, health and safety codes." [19]

Drugs administered to children

According to an April 2018 lawsuit filed by the center, a "range of psychotropic drugs" were "routinely and forcibly" administered to traumatized children in youth shelters that funded by the U.S. government. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Tax ID: 95-3700335
  2. ↑ Flores Settlement Agreement is a

Citations

  1. ↑ Devex n.d.
  2. 1 2 3 "CHRCL's Mission, History, & Annual Report". CHRCL. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993)". Justia Law. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  5. ↑ "League of United Latin American Citizens v. Wilson, 908 F. Supp. 755 (C.D. Cal. 1995)". Justia Law. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | The Haitian Centre for Human Rights et al. v. United States, Case 10.675". Refworld. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  7. ↑ "LIFE Act". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc., 509 U.S. 43 (1993)". Justia Law. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ "LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS V. ARIZONA | Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse". clearinghouse.net. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Flores v. Sessions, No. 17-55208 (9th Cir. 2017)". Justia Law. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  11. ↑ "L.R. (LUCAS R.) V. AZAR | Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse". clearinghouse.net. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Alvarez-Flores v. Garland, No. 22-60021 (5th Cir. 2022)". Justia Law. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Immigrant & Newcomer Youth Center | CHAYNGE | Los Angeles". CHAYNGE. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Resources | Center For Human Rights And Constitutional Law". CHRCL. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Center For Human Rights And Constitutional Law". Project Reunify. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Writer, Guest (April 18, 2017). "A 'Generous' Pathway to Citizenship, Foster Care". The Imprint. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Who We Are | CHAYNGE | Los Angeles". CHAYNGE. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Volunteer To Help Homeless | Tents For Homeless | Los Angeles". Tents for Homeless. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kates 2019.
  20. ↑ Reuters staff 2018.

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References

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