An immigrant rights and sanctuary movement leader targeted more than four years ago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for his activism has settled his First Amendment lawsuit against the federal government, winning three years of protection from deportation.
New Sanctuary Coalition cofounder Ravi Ragbir was initially swept up during what was supposed to be a routine check-in with immigration officials, sparking protests in his home of New York City. Ragbir later said that he was so shocked that he was being detained “that he briefly lost consciousness,” the Associated Press reported.
That report said that when U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest ordered his release in Jan. 2018, the courtroom burst into applause. “After oral arguments, Forrest read aloud her written ruling, saying she ‘notes with grave concern’ the argument that Ragbir was targeted because of his speech and advocacy for immigrants’ rights and social justice.”
Ragbir, who is originally from Trinidad and had a green card until it was revoked following a non-violent conviction more than two decades ago, has been far from the only person targeted by ICE. In fact, he’s not even the only person with New Sanctuary Coalition to be targeted. ICE also set its sights on his co-founder Jean Montrevil, similarly targeting him over a decades-old conviction. But unlike Ragbir, Montrevil was deported by the previous administration in 2018.
But in a major victory late year, Montrevil returned to the U.S. from Haiti, winning three-year protection from deportation under his First Amendment lawsuit. “Trump targeted immigrant right activists like myself who were speaking out against ICE, which is a terrible, terrible, terrible institution,” Montrevil told Democracy Now following his return to the U.S. “They didn’t care about family unity. They didn’t care about what you was standing for.”
Court filings and internal government records obtained by the University of Washington School of Law Immigration Clinic, Just Futures Law, and Mijente last year in fact showed “a sustained campaign of ICE surveillance and repression against advocacy groups and activists,” including prominent immigrant activist Maru Mora-Villalpando.
“Various ICE records—such as those obtained through FOIA, produced through active litigation and even forms entered into her immigration file—demonstrate that ICE’s decision to place Maru in removal proceedings was an act of retaliation against her role in organizing against [Washington state’s notorious Northwest Detention Center],” their report said.
The report further revealed immigration officials' extensive surveillance of activists on social media, including a possible attempt to hack into the Facebook account of a person belonging to a Vermont immigrant rights organization. ICE has in fact paid tens of millions of dollars to third parties to help it track people. Read the full report here.
Both Ragbir and Montrevil have continued their advocacy, with Ragbir condemning ICE’s shooting of an unarmed man in earl 2020. Two years later, that family is still waiting for justice, Documented reported. And while both Ragbir and Montrevil won their three-year reprieve from deportation, a massive victory no doubt, permanent relief is not yet assured. Both have said they’ll continue their fight to stay here in the U.S.
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