Close X
Saturday, January 11, 2025
ADVT 
International

US Judge Orders Release Of Indian-American Immigration Activist Ravi Ragbir

IANS, 30 Jan, 2018 01:17 PM

    A US judge has ordered immediate release of prominent Indian-descent immigration activist Ravi Ragbir and granted him a temporary reprieve from deportation to his native Trinidad and Tobago, saying his detention was unnecessarily cruel.

     

    Ragbir, 43, was arrested on January 12 during a routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ordered immediate deportation, irking local community in New York.

     

    In a seven-page decision, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Katherine Forrest on Monday said the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated Ragbir’s rights by denying him due process and “the freedom to say goodbye”.

     

    Forrest said Ragbir’s sudden and “unnecessary detention” after living in the US “without incident, reporting as required to immigration authorities and building a home, a family, and a community was wrong”.

     

    Forrest said Ragbir should have been given time to organise his affairs before being taken in custody.

     

    “There is, and ought to be in this country, the freedom to say goodbye. That is, freedom to hug one’s spouse and children, the freedom to organise the myriad of human affairs that collect over time.”

     

    “It ought not to be–and it has never before been–that those who have lived without incident in this country for years are subjected to treatment we associated with regimes we revile as unjust, regimes where those who have long lived in a country may be taken away without notice from streets, home, and work. And sent away,” Forrest said amidst cheers from the supporters of Ragbir who had gathered at the courthouse.

     

    Ragbir arrived in the US from Trinidad and Tobago in 1991 on a visitor’s visa. He became a lawful permanent resident in 1994.

     

    According to New York Immigration Coalition, Ragbir, a Brooklyn resident and executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York, has been under the threat of deportation for nearly a decade following a conviction for wire fraud in 2001.

     

    He was placed into removal proceedings in 2006 and spent 22 months in immigration detention before being released in February 2008.

     

    During immigration detention and since his release, Ragbir has devoted his life to the lives of immigrants, working tirelessly to end the use of immigration detention, stop deportations and secure relief for countless individuals.

     

    Known as a fixture in the immigrant rights movement, Ragbir was awarded the 2017 Immigrant Excellence Award by the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, given to those who show “deep commitment to the enhancement of their community”.

     

    The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency called Ragbir “an aggravated felon” in reference to his wire fraud conviction and said it was “actively exploring” an appeal against the ruling.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Trump Nominating Indian-American Judge Amul Thapar For Elevation To Appeals Court

    Describing him as "the son of Indian-American immigrants", and the first federal district judge of South Asian descent, the White House said that if confirmed by the Senate, Thapar will join the bench of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals,

    Trump Nominating Indian-American Judge Amul Thapar For Elevation To Appeals Court

    Sushma Swaraj Helps Rescue Man Held For Ransom In Serbia After His Brother Tweets For Help

    Sushma Swaraj Helps Rescue Man Held For Ransom In Serbia After His Brother Tweets For Help
    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday once again responded to a distress call about an Indian abroad, saying that the victim has been found and is in safe custody of that country's authorities.

    Sushma Swaraj Helps Rescue Man Held For Ransom In Serbia After His Brother Tweets For Help

    Relations With India To Continue On Upward Trajectory: US Congressman Ami Bera

    The three-term Congressman from California, Dr Bera was Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans for two years before he passed on the baton to Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii early this month.

    Relations With India To Continue On Upward Trajectory: US Congressman Ami Bera

    Trump Aide On H-1B Visa: Some Americans Lack Skills For Jobs Available

    Trump Aide On H-1B Visa: Some Americans Lack Skills For Jobs Available
    Responding to questions from Senators, Acosta said that it's important to look at the issue that he highlighted about foreign workers taking American jobs.

    Trump Aide On H-1B Visa: Some Americans Lack Skills For Jobs Available

    Sushma Swaraj Wants ‘Abused’ Indian Wife Mohammadi Begum To Return From Pakistan

    Sushma Swaraj Wants ‘Abused’ Indian Wife Mohammadi Begum To Return From Pakistan
    They said Mohammadi Begum, who hails from Telangana, was living with her husband in Sialkot. She complained to her parents that she was being harassed and beaten up by her husband and in-laws and that she wanted to come back to India.

    Sushma Swaraj Wants ‘Abused’ Indian Wife Mohammadi Begum To Return From Pakistan

    Indian Sufi Clerics Blame Pakistani Newspaper For Their Troubles

    Indian Sufi Clerics Blame Pakistani Newspaper For Their Troubles
    A little-known Urdu newspaper in Pakistan had accused two Indian sufi clerics of being RAW agents thus getting them into trouble with intelligence sleuths who wanted to know the truth, the men said in Delhi on Monday.

    Indian Sufi Clerics Blame Pakistani Newspaper For Their Troubles