National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

Defending Political Rights

The National Immigration Project opposes immigration enforcement that limits the democratic participation of noncitizens in civil society. We work to ensure that noncitizens have the right to free political expression and participation in the free marketplace of ideas. We help create tools for noncitizens to express their views and work with advocates to create response plans for noncitizens who engage in civil disobedience direct actions for important social causes.

From at least the beginning of the last century and through the current era, immigrants have been targeted in this country for their political views and activities. Examples of this include the Palmer raids, in which immigrant union organizers were the main targets of the union-busting tactics of the government and were the most vulnerable due to the potential for deportation; the McCarthy era when immigrant communists and other immigrant political activists became the most vulnerable victims of the "Red scare" hysteria; and from the early 1980s to the present when Palestinian activists and other political and religious activists, Sikh political activists, and other immigrants have been targeted by the government based on what groups they support. The Project works to combat these unjust government actions through coalition building, providing legal analysis and strategies, organizing politically, and providing legislative analysis of harmful legislative provisions.

Resources

For resources relating to defense of political rights, click here.

Immigration March

New York City May 20, 2006