Due Process

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The right to due process is a fundamental human right that we work to protect around the world and in the United States.

Due process refers to a fair judicial process, which includes a fair trial, qualified legal representation, and the ability to appeal. We’ve championed the right of due process for activists opposing repressive regimes, and we’ve also led the battle against the military tribunals at Gitmo, which undermine due process. Photo: AP.

Latest News and Press Releases

March 28, 2020

Four Reasons Middle East Governments Should Release Prisoners

Four Reasons Middle East Governments Should Release Prisoners Brian Dooley Senior Advisor The clamor to release elderly, sick, and political prisoners is growing. Dozens of NGOs and...

November 13, 2019

Human Rights First Statement on New Proposed Rule to Stop Refugees from Working

WASHINGTON – Human Rights First’s senior director for refugee protection, Eleanor Acer, made the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s new proposed rule, out today, which...

August 05, 2019

A Resolution in 9/11 Trial Still Elusive Despite Best Efforts for Justice

By Julia McKay Last month, I traveled as an NGO observer to the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to watch the 37th pretrial hearing in United States vs. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, et al—the...

August 01, 2019

PRB Hearings Continue While Guantanamo Detainees Sit on the Sidelines

By Julia McKay This past Tuesday, the Guantanamo Periodic Review Board (PRB) held a hearing for detainee Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, a 45-year-old Kenyan citizen held there for more than twelve...

July 09, 2019

New Directive On Credible Fear Interviews Subverts Due Process

Washington, D.C.—In response to reports of a new directive from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli that would allow asylum officers to conduct credible fear...

April 30, 2019

Parsing Truth from Fiction in President Trump’s Latest Attempt to Restrict Asylum

Earlier this week President Trump released a memorandum directing the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to impose a variety of new restrictions that would drastically undermine...

April 22, 2019

Asylum Seekers Barred at the Border Make the Choice to Survive

In late February, we interviewed *Daniel at the Karnes family detention center in Texas. Daniel had fled political persecution in Nicaragua and arrived in Piedras Negras, Mexico with his young son...

Related Event

October 10, 2017

Fair Hearings and Access to Asylum is Under Attack

A Discussion on Immigration Court Backlogs and Due Process

At this lunchtime event, Human Rights First will present its key findings, and panelists and guests will discuss the real-world impact of immigration court changes, proposed changes, and backlogs on access to counsel, access to asylum, due process and fairness.

Resources

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Issue Brief | 2018

Credible Fear: A Screening Mechanism in Expedited Removal

In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, creating an expedited removal process in which immigration officers are able to order the deportation of certain individuals charged with inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act. One

Factsheet | May 23, 2019

National Security Leaders & Bi-Partisan Opposition to Reported Memorial Day Pardons for War Crimes

General Martin Dempsey USA (Ret.): “Absent evidence of innocence or injustice the wholesale pardon of US servicemembers accused of war crimes signals our troops and allies that we don’t take the...

Report | April 22, 2019

Barred at the Border: Wait “Lists” Leave Asylum Seekers in Peril at Texas Ports of Entry

While President Trump reportedly demanded that former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen Nielsen resign over her failure to block all asylum seekers from entering the country, the United States...

Blueprint | April 05, 2019

The Real Solution: Regional Response Rather than Border Closures, Mass Incarceration, and Refugee Returns

The Trump Administration has purposefully mismanaged the refugee and humanitarian challenges pushing people to flee political repression, human rights abuses, economic deprivation, and climate...

Report | March 22, 2019

Family Incarceration Continues to Endanger Children, Impede Access to Legal Information & Waste Government Resources

The Trump Administration continues to incarcerate families in immigration jails and to push to hold them there for even longer. In fiscal year 2018, more than 45,000 parents and children were held in...