Protecting Voices of Claudio Rojas and the Immigrant Movement

Lawyers for Claudio Rojas say he was deported (to Argentina) by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in retaliation for speaking out against conditions in a Florida detention center while he himself was in detention. Rojas’ first person account of his activism is described here and was featured in the Infiltrator documentary that gave him some notoriety. A lawsuit challenging the deportation raises First Amendment issues that clash with AADC v. Reno, a case granting considerable discretion to ICE in enforcement matters, and is being heard in the Eleventh Circuit. (The opinion is here.)

The story is covered in this public radio, which also features Alina Das from NYU Law School and Michael Kagan from UNLV Law School.  Das also published a piece on the topic in a New York Law School symposium about protecting immigrant protestors. Downloadable here.

MHC