July 18, 2021

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on DACA Decision

DALLAS - On July 16, 2021, Judge Hanen of the Southern District of Texas declared DACA unlawful. DACA is a temporary protection for undocumented youth to lawfully work and stay in the United States. "To our family, friends, and community, we're here standing...

June 18, 2021

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on Reduction of Backlog for Immigrant Survivors

DALLAS – On June 16, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland reversed two Trump Administration immigration decisions that unjustly limited access to asylum for people fleeing domestic and gang violence in their home countries. The legally flawed decisions...

June 17, 2021

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on Reduction of Backlog for Immigrant Survivors

DALLAS - On June 14, 2021, the Biden Administration announced a new policy intended to ease the tremendous harm of the immigration backlog on immigrant survivors of serious crime. The policy, which specifically affects immigrant survivors eligible for the U Visa, will...

March 15, 2021

HRI Connect Announces Healthcare Navigator Tool for Immigrant Communities

DALLAS – On March 15, 2021, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), a Dallas-area non-profit organization, launched a multi-lingual healthcare navigator tool. The webpage and hotline will help immigrants and refugees living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex ...

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on President Biden's Executive Orders

DALLAS – On February 2, 2021, President Biden issued three Executive Orders ordering review of family separation, migration at the U.S. Southern Border, and the Public Charge rule and barriers to naturalization. "At HRI, we believe in a just immigration system,"....

December 14, 2020

During Twentieth Anniversary, HRI’s Founding Vision Ensured the Rental, Food and Social Services Support Necessary During the Pandemic

DALLAS – This December, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the country, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas celebrates its twentieth birthday and the founding vision that primed the organization to distribute close to $250,000 of direct rental....

December 10, 2020

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on Today's Major Asylum Rollback, Released on Human Rights Day

DALLAS – On December 10, 2020--the international observance of Human Rights Day--the Trump Administration announced the largest rollback of asylum in recent history.  The rule particularly targets people making asylum claims based on their gender and people fleeing political...

November 16, 2020

HRI Celebrates the Law Firms, Institutions, and Individuals that Help People Fleeing Violence Find Safety in Dallas

DALLAS – Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), a Dallas-area non-profit organization, is announcing this year’s prestigious Angel of Freedom award winners: Pete Thompson, Associate with Clark Hill Strasburger, as the Individual Angel of Freedom Honoree; Sidley ...

October 6, 2020

HRI and SMU Law’s Hunter Center Release New Report Detailing the Immigration System’s Revictimization of Undocumented Survivors of Crimes

DALLAS – Undocumented survivors of crime face significant barriers and re-victimization by United States’ broken immigration system, which forces them to wait nearly a decade for the U visas they are eligible for. Today, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), the Dallas-area...

October 1, 2020

HRI Announces Its Annual Storytelling Event, Stories From the HeART: Rock Your HeART Out (RYHO), for October 17

DALLAS – Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), a Dallas-area non-profit organization, is announcing its 2020 RYHO roster, which includes 22 visual artists, 12 musicians and 9 poetry performers who are coming together for a free virtual event on October 17, 2020...

March 20, 2020

Statement on Border Closure and Turnbacks of Asylum Seekers

DALLAS – “We echo the call of the United Nations, leading human rights organizations and immigration lawyers from across the country: in this crisis, America cannot shut the door in the faces of our siblings from across the world with nowhere else to go,” said Pilar Ferguson...

January 29, 2020

Statement: Today Marks One Year of U.S.-Inflicted Human Rights Abuses on Asylum Seekers at the Southern Border

DALLAS – “One year ago, this administration announced the implementation of the absurdly named Migrant Protection Protocols. Contrary to the requirements and norms of international law (as well as decades of practice at our borders), we now require desperate...

December 3, 2019

Over 25 Restaurants and Businesses—and Counting—Are Uniting in support of Human Rights Day DFW on December 10th, proceeds to benefit Human Rights Initiative of North Texas

DALLAS – Dozens of Dallas-area restaurants and businesses are coming together to celebrate the third annual Human Rights Day DFW on December 10, the anniversary of the 1948 day on which the United Nations adopted the universal declaration of human rights...

November 14, 2019

Statement on Proposal to Limit Asylum Seekers from Supporting Themselves While Their Applications Are Pending

DALLAS – “HRI’s clients flee from violence, torture, and threats of death at a moment’s notice. When they finally make it safely to US soil, they’re often in dire circumstances. Travel has wiped out savings. It’s lucky if they know anyone in the US that can provide some...

October 2, 2019

October 19 “Rock Your HeART Out Concert & Art Auction” Will Unveil New Works from 11 Visual Artists, including Tina Medina, Daniel Avazpour and Jessica Fuentes

DALLAS – Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) announces its fourth Annual Rock Your HeART Out Concert & Art Auction to take place on Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Life in Deep Ellum (2803 Taylor St., Dallas, TX 75226). Rock Your...

August 7, 2019

Statement on Advance of Anti-Asylum Bill to Senate Floor

DALLAS – "Where are the bills that solve the problems that have been plaguing our system for years, address the actual causes of this crisis and ensure that people fleeing persecution can find safety in the United States?” said Bill Holston, Executive Director of the...

June 14, 2019

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) Statement on Announcement to Expand Asylum Access

DALLAS – “Guatemala is not a safe country for its own citizens, let alone the refugees that are traveling through the country to reach the United States,” said Pilar Ferguson, Asylum Program Attorney at the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. “Our own State...

May 30, 2019

Statement on DOJ Rule Rejecting Asylum Seekers Who Have Traveled Through a Third Country

DALLAS – “Asylum was created by the international community in the wake of the Holocaust—an agreement that we would never again send people fleeing persecution back to their persecutors,” said Bill Holston, Executive Director of the Human Rights Initiative...