On January 29th, 2025 the Young Initiative at 鶹Ƶ hosted a panel webinar titled, “How Cities Can Defend Human Rights in the Face of Mass Deportations.”
The webinar was the latest in a series of collaborations between the Young Initiative and the Human Rights Cities Alliance, (HRCA) a network of advocates and academics that works to promote human rights organizing in cities throughout North America. “The goal is to create more equitable and just communities by using human rights as a tool,” HRCA Steering Committee member Meade said.
According to Meade, the webinar comes at a crucial time. “The targeting of non-citizens for arrest, detention, and deportation, with as little due process and as much spectacle as possible, seems to be the number one priority of the president of the United States,” said Meade, prefacing the panel discussion. “I would argue that this is the most immediate threat to human rights facing our cities.” Meade ended his conclusion on a hopeful note: “There are proven measures that we can take to blunt, challenge, and possibly overturn [mass deportation] policies, and cities will play a critical role in this effort,” Meade said. “The first step is to get organized and informed—that’s the goal for this webinar.”
Moderated by Meade, the panel featured two experts in the field: Immigration Attorney Bettina Rodriguez Schlegel from the Acacia Center for Justice and Mary Meg McCarty, Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. Each panelist delivered a 10-minute presentation on their respective experience and expertise before moving into a Q&A session with Meade. Schlegel emphasized the right, regardless of immigration status, to due process under the U.S. Constitution. McCarthy noted the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects residents from unreasonable search and seizure, and advised against opening the door to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a judge-authorized warrant.
With 375 guests registered and 154 in attendance, this is the Young Initiative’s largest webinar in recent history. Meade, Schlegel, and McCarthy offered a comprehensive collection of links to resources to defend against mass deportation. The links are below.
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