Everyone deserves to live a life free from violence. That’s why at Tahirih, we believe that people seeking safety in the U.S. should be met with an asylum system that understands the trauma they have endured, instead of exposing them to more harm.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for survivors of gender-based violence who arrive at the southern border seeking protection here in the United States.

A new report by the Tahirih Justice Center and Oxfam America reveals how common it is for people seeking asylum to experience gender-based violence in Mexico while waiting to access the asylum process in the U.S.

Los Angeles Times immigration reporter, Andrea Castillo, spoke with Daniella Prieshoff, supervising attorney at the Tahirih Justice Center, about how visa backlogs are impacting her clients that have been waiting for an answer for several years. 

Tahirih’s policy work is rooted in our core values and in our specific theory of change. Inspired by the Bahá’í faith and grounded in our belief in the oneness of humanity, we reach for a society that embraces our diversity and guarantees everyone’s human rights. Our mission is to advance policies and laws that enable immigrant survivors of gender-based violence to pursue legal immigration status, live in safety, and forge their own paths. Everything we do is in service of that goal.

The immigration system is shattered. Survivors are denied access to safety because of policies and practices that could be fixed. The Tahirih Justice Center is prioritizing the following policy goals to immediately improve protections for immigrant survivors while simultaneously seeking long-term, systemic change.

The Washington Post’s columnist Petula Dvorak interviewed Tahirih’s Public Policy Director, Casey Swegman Carter, on the importance of passing a legislation that would end child marriage in Maryland. This is the seventh year a bill has been introduced that seeks to ban child marriage in the state.

Tahirih’s Senior Public Policy Associate, Alex Goyette, wrote an opinion piece for the Baltimore Sun. The commentary elevates the importance of passing legislation to end child marriage in Maryland. 

Tahirih’s Director of Public Policy, Casey Swegman, was interviewed by ABC Baltimore about the importance of banning child marriage and fixing state laws that perpetuate the issue. Tahirih hopes that Maryland’s legislative session will move forward with a bill that heads in the right direction to ending child marriage. 

For International Migrants Day 2021, Tahirih condemns the unjust detention of migrants and survivors who are seeking asylum.

In the United States, November marks Native American Heritage Month, a time dedicated to celebrating the contributions, lives, and cultures of Indigenous people across the Americas. As an organization that […]

Trans Day of Resilience is an occasion for us to uplift and celebrate the trans community and the future we can build by breaking the chains of oppression. Tahirih and its supporters dream of and work to build a world that values and liberates those who have been oppressed by systems and institutions committed to maintaining a binary status quo.