About the Refugee Justice League
Our mission:
The Refugee Justice League of America (League) is a group of attorneys and legal consultants who will defend the Constitutional rights of refugees who have been discriminated against on the basis of religion, ethnicity or national origin. The League is founded on the premise that refugees have a right to feel welcome, and to be treated with dignity. League members want refugees to know that they have friends willing to defend their right to live peacefully in their new homeland, maintain their cultural preferences, and practice their religious devotions openly without restrictions or harassment. At a minimum this is what it means to live in America.
What's happening:
Some refugees in our community have been threatened with removal of their headscarves (hijabs); accosted with gross profanities; physically threatened; bullied in school; harassed at work by co-workers; and menaced by strangers in public places. Others have had graffiti or pigs blood sprayed or smeared on their property.
Help with Legal Rights:
Abusive behavior is as intolerable as it is legally actionable. When such abuses occur, lawyers in the Refugee Justice League of Utah will donate their time to represent refugees in the legal system.
Members of the League will teach classes to and speak to groups of refugees so that they will better understand and appreciate their rights in America. And they will reach out to communities where refugees live to make sure everyone living amongst refugees will understand why everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. They will support legislation to help secure the rights of refugees. They will join with leaders in the refugee community in an effort to promote mutual respect and understanding. Members of the League will encourage refuges to share their powerful, moving, and compelling stories.
Education and Outreach:
This is not a partisan or parochial effort. Members of the Refugee Justice League belong to various political parties, are of many faiths, and hold different points of view on many subjects. However, all of the members agree that refugees in our community deserve our help, respect, and friendship.