Immigration has been in the headlines a lot so far in 2023 and it’s been a bumpy journey for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. Policies have changed quickly while the […]

Asylum is a universal right. Every person should have the chance to seek safety from persecution.   Each year, on July 28, we celebrate the anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, […]

I came to the U.S. in the winter of 2006. Life back home in Mexico was tough for me and my family. I dreamt of going to college and graduating but with my family’s economic status, that dream was too costly and impossible. 
At least I was able to graduate high school and that is something I am proud of since I was also working at the time to help my family. I was always looking for an opportunity to have a better life as a young woman.  

A Statement from Tahirih’s Queer & Trans Caucus: Pride Month is celebrated during June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, when queer folk in New York City pushed […]

The Texas Bar Foundation has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Tahirih Justice Center. These funds will help give access to justice for immigrant women and girls in underserved rural regions outside of Houston. The year-long grant from the Texas Bar Foundation will help Tahirih expand a successful, collaborative project with the Fort Bend County Women’s Center to deliver free, holistic, trauma-informed legal services to immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, child abuse and other crimes in Fort Bend County, Texas.  

For three years, Title 42 has restricted access to asylum for migrants seeking protection in the U.S. and as it comes to a long-overdue end, the administration has decided to pass a rule that doubles down on illegal and inhumane policies that prioritize deterrence and violate due process. And they are doing so despite outcry from advocates across the country, thousands of comments submitted in opposition to the proposed rule, nearly 80 lawmakers, and condemnation by the asylum officers union.

Under the new asylum ban, migrants most vulnerable to violence and exploitation, including women and girls and other survivors of gender-based violence, will have little hope of finding safety and will languish at our southern border where they are at increased risk of violence, sexual assault, and trafficking.

Several bills that would create an exceptionally harsh system of deterrence and punishment for immigrants and asylum seekers in need of protection are being considered by the Texas state legislature. If passed, these bills would lead to criminalization, imprisonment, or expulsion back to dangerous conditions that survivors of violence originally fled when coming the U.S. seeking safety.