Please join us on Saturday, October 29, 2022 for Tahirih Houston’s annual in-person gala!

The state of Massachusetts will now protect children from being forced or coerced into a legally binding contract that strips away any protection and rights they have as single minors.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that unlawfully seeks to arrest people seeking asylum, and other people without status in the United States, and return them to the border at a port of entry. The order is flatly illegal. It seeks to enforce purported violations of federal immigration law, something the Supreme Court has expressly held states cannot do. The order itself also violates federal immigration law, which makes clear that people have a legal right to seek asylum in the United States even if they enter the country without authorization. And if it is implemented, the order will force survivors of gender-based violence, and other vulnerable people pursuing that right to seek protection, out of their communities and into danger.

Today, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court agreed that the Biden administration can terminate the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. Under this cruel policy, which Tahirih is challenging in a separate lawsuit, the United States has placed tens of thousands of vulnerable people fleeing violence, including many survivors of gender-based violence, into dangerous situations in northern Mexico. ‘Remain in Mexico’ is part of xenophobic policies that have all but eliminated the human right to seek asylum.

Today, in a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturns the Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, paving the way for abortion to be criminalized in 22 states and severely limiting access to it in many more. 

These disappointing decisions continue a troubling pattern of foreclosing important protections for immigrant survivors.

In this article for Bahaiteachings.org, Tahirih’s volunteer legal counsel Paul Glist—in consultation with Managing Attorney Anusce Sanai and Donor Relations Associate, Ron Lapitan—wrote about how their Baha’i faith is honored at the Tahirih Justice Center and what it means to work for a Baha’i-inspired nonprofit.