The war on drugs is a war on immigrants. According to the Immigrant Defense Project, one in four deportations is caused by a crime…involving people whose most serious offense was a conviction for drug-related offenses. Read more »
“All the presidential candidates should recommit the US government to the core values of justice, dignity, and “second chances” by ending the mass criminalization and deportation policies that fall most heavily on populations of color, tearing families and communities apart,” [said] Alisa Wellek, Executive Director of the Immigrant Defense Project. Read more »
“In New York, when you plead guilty to a marijuana offense in summons court, it is kind of like a factory line, where you are told it’s a non-criminal violation and you pay a fine and that’s it,” says Alisa Wellek, executive director of the New York-based Immigrant Defense Project. “But a lot of people are not being given the … Read more »
In this January 10, 2016 column, college professor Kirk Anthony James describes his experience fighting deportation, with IDP’s assistance, for an old drug offense. My waiver hearing would occur in January of 2002. The New York State Immigrant Defense Project handled my case pro bono. They would conduct numerous interviews with family and friends in an effort to show the … Read more »
IDP executive director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this December 17, 2015 article on the website Task & Purpose about an upcoming documentary film, “Exiled: America’s Deported Veterans.” Alisa Wellek is the executive director for the Immigrant Defense Project where she has worked for eight years helping those facing deportation by ensuring they have access to proper legal representation. Wellek has … Read more »
IDP staff attorney Genia Blaser is quoted in this January 15, 2016 article about immigration raids targeting Central American asylum seekers for deportation. “Since the beginning of this year, what we’ve seen is that ICE is conducting enforcement in the same manner that they’ve been doing it since November 2014, targeting communities that fall under their new priority enforcement program,” … Read more »
IDP is cited in this January 11, 2016 article on demonstrations in New York City protesting ICE raids on the homes of Central American asylum seekers. One day prior, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito spoke against the deportations at a press event in Corona accusing the federal government of “ripping families apart, separating families, and putting them back in very … Read more »
IDP executive director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this March 29, 2016 article about the human toll of laws that impose harsh immigration consequences on non-citizens with criminal convictions. “For the most part most people (coming out of prison) are going to be deportable,” the Immigrant Defense Project’s Alisa Wellek said. While the criminal justice system sees some nuance in terms … Read more »
IDP staff attorney Dawn Siebert is quoted in this November 8, 2015 article about a Virginia Supreme Court directive advising trial judges to warn non-citizen defendants of the possible immigration consequences of a guilty plea. Maryland’s public defenders have a full-time immigration lawyer, Johnson said. And in New York state, regional centers have been set up with immigration lawyers to serve as advisers … Read more »
IDP Executive Director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this November 5, 2015 article on the deportation of inmates being released from U.S. prisons as part of an effort to roll back harsh drug sentences. Advocates acknowledge that non-citizen convicts are unlikely to garner much public or official sympathy. Still, said Alisa Wellek, director of the New York-based Immigrant Defense Project, “these people … Read more »
IDP’s executive director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this October 30, 2015 article on a New York federal appeals court decision curbing indefinite detention without bail for certain immigrants awaiting deportation hearings. Alisa Wellek, the executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, a legal advocacy group in New York, said that the two federal appeals courts had “sent a clear message” to the government not to let immigrants … Read more »
IDP deputy director Mizue Azeki is quoted in this December 9, 2015 article reporting that across New York City, courthouse arrests of immigrants — often focusing on individuals with felony convictions from decades ago — have become a regular occurrence. “ICE is trying to create an environment where it becomes incredibly difficult for cities to pass laws that lower their levels … Read more »
IDP has been working for years to convince localities to pass legislation protecting the human rights of immigrants, including ending collaboration with the federal government’s mass detention and deportation machine. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and others have used a senseless killing in San Francisco to demonize so-called “sanctuary cities” and roll back our hard-won gains. Watch Alisa’s appearance on Nightline below, her comments … Read more »
IDP’s Alisa Wellek will appear on Melissa Harris-Perry’s show on MSNBC this Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Topics will include deported veterans, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, states’ resistance to the federal deportation enforcement priorities and the injunction against the executive action(DAPA). Alisa will discuss IDP’s work to bring deported veteran, Howard Bailey, back home. Be sure to tune in! … Read more »