NEW Litigation Resource: Beyond Roldan and Pickering
In response to a disconcerting push by the BIA to deny immigrants the benefits of post-conviction relief, IDP has released Beyond Roldan and Pickering, a comprehensive resource with sample briefing. 

Written by Seiko Shastri, Nabilah Siddiquee, and Andrew Wachtenheim for seamless placement into briefs submitted to immigration agencies and federal courts, this resource argues that the BIA’s post-conviction relief standards are wrong and unauthorized interpretations of the INA’s definition of “conviction,” and that Congress actually wrote the INA to recognize all post-conviction relief. 

• Downloadable sample brief
• FAQ and Introduction providing tips for how and when to use these arguments
• Appendix with additional resources, sample briefs, and legislative history

Holding Amazon Accountable
On July 12, IDP’s Surveillance, Tech & Immigration Policing Project participated in an action at the Amazon Web Services Summit, to hold Amazon accountable for enabling DHS’s deportation machine and for profiting off the targeting and surveillance of immigrants, workers, and communities of color. Outside, members of the Athena Coalition and others spoke to AWS attendees and held teach-ins, while inside we shut down the keynote to demand: No tech for ICE and state violence. Check out VICE’s coverage of the action and watch a video recap here. 

At the action, IDP highlighted a recent report we released with Just Futures Law and Mijente on DHS’ new HART database, showing how the $6+ billion-dollar biometric database—hosted by Amazon—will vastly expand DHS’ surveillance capabilities and supercharge the deportation system. See a quick explainer on HART here.

Lifting Up the Voices of LGBTQ immigrants
As part of its technical assistance work, Comm/Unity, a national communications collective anchored by IDP, worked with The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to uplift the story of Salesh Prasad in The Guardian and to publish an Op-Ed in The Bay Area Reporter, the U.S.’s longest continuously-published LGBTQ newspaper.
Sal, who has been in the US for more than 40 years, is currently detained and is at risk of deportation to Fiji, a country where would face violence for being a queer person.
To support Sal’s fight for freedom, you can sign his petition for a pardon from California’s governor.