Americans For Immigrant Justice records, 1982-2020; 1982-ongoing

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Summary

Creator:
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Human Rights Archive (Duke University)
Abstract:
Americans for Immigrant Justice (formerly Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center [FIAC]) is a not-for-profit legal assistance organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the basic human rights of immigrants of all nationalities. The Americans for Immigrant Justice records span the years of 1980-2017. The collection contains project files and correspondence regarding immigrant detention policy and conditions in the state of Florida, particularly concerning the Haitian community; legal documents regarding the same, including restricted and confidential legal files; and audiovisual material produced by or for AIJ. The bulk of materials are organized by subject and detention facility.
Extent:
103 Linear Feet
23625 Items
Language:
Material in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole
Collection ID:
RL.00035

Background

Scope and content:

The Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ) records, formerly the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC), span the years of 1980-2017. This collection contains extensive documentation of the events and crises surrounding asylum, deportation, detention and abuses that took place within Florida detention centers from the years 1980 to 2017, as well as documentation regarding issues of repatriation. It records the efforts of AIJ to advocate on behalf of immigrant and refugee populations, mainly in Florida, during this time. The majority of material in this collection deals with Haitians seeking asylum in the U.S., but also includes major material on Cuban and Central American refugees, then minor files on Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other immigrant populations. Many files focus on Cheryl Little's work with child refugees and detainees and their asylum claims, and on discrimination against female immigrants. Files also include material on interdiction at sea and related court documents, government immigration policy pre- and post-9/11, documentation on hunger strikes at various facilities, material related to the Haitian Boat crises, and documentation of raids on immigrant populations. The detention facilities of particular concern in this collection include Guantanamo, Krome, and Turner Guilford Knight correctional facilities, as well as Florida's county jails.

The collection contains legal documents related to the activity of AIJ, including affidavits of detainees held in Florida facilities, and other court documents, such as court pleadings and briefings; reports on facility conditions; correspondence, including correspondence between detainees and their families, letters from concerned citizens, and formal correspondence between AIJ and other organizations and officials; case studies and reports on immigration and refugee crises, and reports of abuses and conditions in Florida detention facilities; FBI interviews with detainees; related articles and speeches; restricted material, including medical records; and promotional and educational videos produced by or for AIJ, documentary footage of missions and events, and press conference and news footage.

The series in this collection include the Detention Series, the Immigrant and Refugees Series, the Restricted Series, the General Organizational Records Series, the Audiovisual Series and the Photographic Materials Series. The bulk of the material for this collection belongs to the Detention Series and the Immigrant and Refugees Series.

Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Americans for Immigrant Justice (formerly Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC)) is a not-for-profit legal assistance organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the basic human rights of immigrants of all nationalities.

Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) was founded in 1996 because of pending restrictions and funding cuts to Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funded agencies, which prevented many organizations in the state of Florida from serving the immigrant population. Sweeping changes in immigration law and welfare reform also increased the demand for services from FIAC. In 2011 After 15 years of helping immigrants obtain legal status, successfully litigating their unjust treatment and pressing for constructive immigration laws and policy, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) became Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice for short and Americanos Por Justicia Inmigrante in Spanish) to better reflect the national focus and depth of their work.

Acquisition information:
The Americans For Immigrant Justice Records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2011 and 2018 .
Processing information:

Accession 2011-0115 processed by Jen Snow, Paula Jeannet and Patrick Stawski.

Encoded by Jen Snow and Clare Callahan.

Accession 2018-0140 processed and encoded by David Dulceany.

Web content described by Michelle Runyon.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Alien detention centers -- United States
Immigration advocates -- Florida
Women immigrants -- Discrimination -- United States
Refugees -- Haiti
Women immigrants -- Abuse of
Repatriation -- Haiti
Unaccompanied refugee children -- United States
Return migration -- Haiti
Refugees -- Cuba
Detention of persons -- Government policy -- United States
Asylum, Right of
Immigrants -- United States
Hunger strikes -- Detention of persons -- United States
Prisons -- Florida
Maritime law -- United States
Refugees -- Civil rights
Immigrants -- Florida -- Miami
Immigration enforcement -- United States
Immigration Lawyers
Central Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc -- United States
Boat people -- Government policy -- United States
Unaccompanied immigrant children -- Legal status, laws, etc -- United States
Refugees -- Colombia
Refugees -- China
Deportation -- United States
Prisoners -- Medical care -- United States
Immigration enforcement -- Mexican-American Border Region
Emigration and immigration law -- United States
Undocumented immigrant children -- Legal status, laws, etc -- United States
Refugees -- Middle East
Format:
Videocassettes
Legal documents -- Refugees -- United States
Color photographs
Black-and-white photographs
Names:
Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp
Krome Detention Center
Human Rights Archive (Duke University)
Broward Transitional Center
Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Little, Cheryl
Danticat, Edwidge, 1969- -- Family
Meek, Carrie P., 1926-
González, Elián, 1993-
Reno, Janet, 1938-2016
Graham, Bob, 1936-
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana
Ashcroft, John D., 1942-
Smith, William French, 1917-1990

Contents

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Restrictions:

The Restricted Files Series is restricted. Researchers must receive prior authorization from donor in order to access the material in this series. Please contact Rubenstein Research Services to request access. All other series are unrestricted.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Americans For Immigrant Justice Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.