Marielena Hincapié

Just one day after some members of the House of Representatives voted to prevent the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from doing its job by prohibiting funding for its lawsuits challenging state anti-immigrant laws like Arizona's SB 1070, the DOJ sent a strong message that it is still...

I woke up at 3:30 yesterday morning to catch a flight to Birmingham, Alabama. Although I had gotten about 4 hours of sleep, I was full of energy as I prepared to travel with the We Belong Together Women's Human Rights Delegation to Alabama. I have decided to...

On September 28, a federal court in Alabama shut the door on equality, educational opportunities, and fundamental fairness. In denying an emergency stay request in Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, et al., v. Bentley, et al., which we at the National Immigration Law Center and a broad civil...

It must be beach season in Washington, because elected officials seem to have taken flip-flopping to a whole new level.

Case in point: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith's recently-introduced HALT (Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation) Act, a bill designed to effectively tie the Obama administration's hands regarding...

Earlier this week, Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, unveiled a sweeping plan to save the rich from paying taxes and kicking the rest of us in the gut by decimating vital programs and services. The richest few would enjoy a tax cut at the...

National politicians are engaged in a contentious debate on the future of America. The national debt is mushrooming, unemployment persists, and inflation looms. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and his majority party propose to slash federal spending "for the sake" of our children and future generations. In his...

Today, a group of state legislators launched an attack on the fundamental American values in the U.S. Constitution by announcing their intent to target babies born in the United States. This attempt to deny American babies citizenship, and the documentation to prove it, is a shameful, if unsurprising, new low.

Tomorrow, the Senate will have the same opportunity as the House did last week to fulfill thousands of American dreams, including their own.

The American people elected each senator with the faith that they would live up to the ideals of our forefathers, and make smart decisions to lead...

Senator Sessions (R-AL) has hit a new low this week by releasing a misleading advocacy piece on the DREAM Act. Rather than engage in honest debate about the this legislation designed to provide young people who have been here since childhood with a path to citizenship if they...

Barbara Boxer returns to Washington in great part because of the support of the Latino community. Last week, nearly 1 in 4 California voters were Latino. We played an instrumental role in electing Democrats and rejecting anti-immigrant candidates. Among the many Latinos and immigrants who worked tirelessly to get out...

By filing its lawsuit against Arizona, the Department of Justice carried out its duty of defending the rights of everyone in this country. It reminded the rogue state of Arizona -- and any others that might want to follow suit -- that immigration is a federal issue...

Today, my organization, along with several other civil rights organizations, declared a collective "Basta!" in response to Arizona's notorious racial profiling law. This morning we filed a class action lawsuit to prevent this law from disrupting the lives of countless people of color.

Arizona's legislature...

"Exploitation anywhere is a threat to organized labor everywhere." Those were the words of Rev. Jesse Jackson at the introduction of the Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation (POWER) Act. The POWER Act, introduced by Senator Menendez (D-NJ), and co-sponsored by Sens. Gillibrand (D-NY), and Murray (D-WA) on April...

Today at 2 pm, the House of Representatives will take up the historic vote to revamp our health care system. At the same moment, more than 100,000 Americans and future Americans will march on the National Mall to demand that President Obama and Congress fix our broken immigration system now....

Today, workers, along with immigrant and civil rights advocates, exposed evidence of a disturbing and dangerous attack on workers' rights by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Testimony in the case David et al. v. Signal et al. has revealed that high level executives of defense contractor Signal...

Although calls for revamping our immigration system strengthen daily, the changes we need remain months away at best. Until then, communities across the country will continue to suffer the consequences of immigration enforcement programs gone awry.

Our nation's commitment to equal rights and due process is currently being threatened,...

The health care debate is at a fever pitch as political voices are drowning out the common-sense principles that should be guiding the debate: fairness, dignity, and sound public health policy. Basic fairness dictates that if you pay your fair share, you should be able to receive what you pay...