02/12/18 02/12/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> what have we done? movement grow and blossom and explode. change in the streets. amy: a federal judge stays the deportation of immigrant rights leader ravi ragbir after ravi filed a free speech lawsuit charging the trump administration with targeting immigrant rights activists with surveillance and deportation.

we will speak to ravi ragbir and look at how federal judges across the country are resisting the trump administration's deportation orders. then we remember asma jahangir, pakistan's leading human rights attorney. she died this weekend at the age of 66. youhere's something inside telling you to do it. and it comes because you have heart. up.the courage to stand amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. tensions across northern syria have escalated sharply, amid a series of clashes between

external powers, including israel, iran, turkey, and the syrian government. on saturday, israel shot down what it claims was an iranian drone that had entered israel's airspace after being launched in syria. israel mounted an attack on iranian command center in syria from where the drone was launched. one of the israeli f-16 military jets was then downed by a syrian government anti-aircraft missile. israel then carried out a series of retaliatory strikes against both syrian and iranian targets in syria. saturday's events marked the first israeli jet shot down the 1980's. it is also believed to be the first time israel has carried out an attack in syria on the site were iranian troops were present. meanwhile come also in northern syria saturday, a turkish army helicopter was shot down by u.s.-backed syrian kurdish ypg fighters near the fighters near ypg the syrian kurdish city of

afrin, where turkey has launched a bombing and ground offensive. all this comes as the united nations is warning of soaring levels of civilian casualties in syria. this is u.n. high commissioner for human rights spokesperson elizabeth throssell. >> this has been a week of bloodshed in syria. more than 1000 civilian casualties in six days. we have received reports of at least 277 civilians have been killed, 230 people were killed in airstrikes of the syrian government and their allies. in addition, 812 people were injured. amy: president trump continues to defend members of his administration who are resigning amid reports of their domestic violence and physical abuse. on friday, white house speech writer david sorensen resigned after his ex-wife, jessica corbett, told "the washington post," he physically abused her during their short marriage, including by putting out a lit cigarette on her hand and running over her foot with a car.

sorensen's resignation comes after senior aide rob porter resigned as staff secretary last week after two of his ex-wives accused him of verbal and physical abuse. on saturday morning, president trump tweeted -- "peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. some are true and some are false. some are old and some are new. there is no recovery for someone falsely accused -- life and career are gone. is there no such thing any longer as due process?" president trump also said he wishes rob porter well, speaking from the oval office on friday. pres. trump: he said very strongly yesterday that he is innocent. so you will have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well. he did a very good job while he was at the white house. amy: on sunday, porter's second ex-wife, jennie willoughby, publish a powerful "time magazine" essay, in which she addressed trump's comments, writing -- "when donald trump repeated

twice that rob declared his innocence, i was floored. my friend turned to me and said, 'the president of the united states just called you a liar.' yes. and so he did." president trump himself has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by at least 16 women. senior white house officials, including chief of staff general john kelly, knew for months that the fbi had heard testimony from porter's ex-wives about the verbal and physical abuse. but on sunday, porter told the news outlet axios that white house officials had encouraged him to stay and fight the accusations, rather than resign. the justice department's third highest ranking official, rachel brand, announced abruptly on friday she plans to step down. her resignation comes as president trump has repeatedly attacked the justice department, over the ongoing investigation into trump and whether his presidential campaign colluded with russia. rachel brand is next in line in

succession after deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, who is overseeing special counsel robert mueller's investigation. brand is leaving to take the top legal position at walmart. before she left the justice department, she revoked hundreds of so-called guidance documents on issues including health care, the environment, civil rights , and labor. the revocation of the doj documents will make it much harder for companies to be sued on a wide range of issues. on capitol hill, the senate is set to begin a debate on immigration today. lawmakers are expected to debate how to handle the future of daca, the obama-era program deferred action for childhood arrivals, which gave some 800,000 young undocumented people permission to live and work in the united states before president trump canceled the program last year. president trump has proposed opening a path to citizenship for about 1.8 million undocumented people in exchange for a slew of dramatic

anti-immigrant measures, including $25 billion in funding for a border wall, as well as ending family reunification programs, and the diversity lottery which primarily benefits immigrants from africa. in more news on immigration, a federal judge has stayed the deportation of new york city immigrant rights leader ravi ragbir after he filed a free speech lawsuit arguing immigration officials unconstitutionally used their power to suppress political dissent by targeting outspoken activists for surveillance and deportation. he is executive director of the new sanctuary coalition. he has now been ordered to check-in with immigration and customs enforcement on march 15. he was going to be deported on saturday. we will speak with ravi ragbir after headlines. more than 100 public defenders walked out of a new york city courthouse thursday to protest immigration and customs enforcement agents arresting undocumented immigrants at the courthouse. the legal aid society, which held organize the strike at the

bronx courthouse, said -- "the presence of ice officers and the perception that no immigrant is safe to seek their day in court is threatening to upend our entire legal process and the principals upon which it stands." a federal appeals court has ruled a group of immigrants to aurora the for-profit ice processing center can proceed with their class-action lawsuit against the prison's owner, geo group. the men accuse geo group of forcing detain immigrants to clean the prison without pay, under threat of solitary confinement. the men are also accusing geo group of breaking labor laws by paying detainees only a $1 a day. back in washington, d.c., president trump has blocked the release of a democratic memo that refutes the arguments of the controversial now released memo written by house intelligence committee chair devin nunes. the nunes memo purported to show the fbi and justice department abused their authority by

placing trump campaign adviser carter page under surveillance in 2016 over his ties to russia. the counter memo, written by the house intelligence committee's highest ranking democratic member, adam schiff, refutes those claims and was declassified by the committee last week. but over the weekend, trump blocked the release of that memo, even though he allowed the nunes memo to be released. new york attorney general eric schneiderman has sued harvey weinstein and the weinstein company over years of sexual harassment. the lawsuit has threatened the company's potential sale, which comes after more than 100 women accused weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and harassment in cases that stretch back decades. among the allegations in the new york lawsuit is that weinstein sexually abused female workers and verbally threatened to kill employees and their entire families. in britain, the charity oxfam is facing a crisis after an

investigation by the "times of london" revealed oxfam tried to cover up sex crimes by senior aid workers in haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake. the reports accuse oxfam's senior aid workers -- including the country director -- of turning oxfam's rented house into a makeshift brothel, including with sex workers who may have been under 18 years old. senior members of oxfam are meeting with british government officials today amidst warnings the charity could lose its government funding. this is haiti ambassador to the u.k., bocchit edmond. cover-upclear it is a of the fact those folks were allowed to leave the country without any punishment, without even informing haitian authorities about that. it was a cover up. and now the fact that they did such a crime or there was such a cover-up, now we're wondering how many of those cases are

still happening in haiti? we don't know. amy: in news from the korean peninsula, north korea's leader kim jong-un has invited south korean president moon jae-in to visit the north korean capital pyongyang, in what could be the first meeting of korean leaders in more than a decade. the offer is the latest in a thaw of tensions on the peninsula amid the winter olympics in south korea. while returning from the olympic opening ceremonies, u.s. vice president mike pence says the united states would be open to talks with north korea, although he recently announced a new round of sanctions against north korea. the reuters news agency has published a shocking report about how burmese soldiers and members of an informal militia killed 10 rohingya muslim captives in september. at least two of the men were hacked to death. the others were shot. reuters published one photo showing the 10 men lined up in a row on the day of their execution.

a second photo shows the men's bloodied bodies buried in a single grave. the killings were part of what the united nations has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. during the reporting of the article, two reuters journalists were arrested by burmese police. they have been detained since december 12. fellow journalist salai thant zin criticized the detention of the journalists. the situation is now more obvious that they were arrested because of their investigative report in the massacre. journalists have the right to access the news according to ethics. this is an abuse of justice. this is evidenced the media are being intimidated in burma. amy: the international criminal court has opened a preliminary inquiry into the reports of thousands of extrajudicial killings by police and security

forces in the philippines as part of president rodrigo duterte's so-called war on drugs. duterte has repeatedly endorsed the use of extrajudicial killings. in honduras, thousands of people protested outside the united nations building in the capital tegucigalpa on friday, demanding the united nations recognize killings. opposition candidate salvador nasralla as president. his rival, the u.s.-backed right-wing incumbent juan manuel orlando hernandez, has been inaugurated as honduras' president after november's presidential election, which was marred by widespread reports of voter fraud. a new report by the group cofadeh says at least 30 protesters have been killed and more than 1000 were arrested by police and military forces since the contested election. among those imprisoned is longtime activist edwin espinal. this is espinal, speaking on democracy now! back in 2013, when he was protesting against president juan manuel orlando's first election. >> this electoral process is

very important to me and my -- the community organizer are being targeted by the military and police and the government just for organizing people in our communities, you know, to improve our communities and to educate people in our communities about the political situation in our country. amy: in iran, hundreds of thousands of people gathered sunday to mark the 39th anniversary of the 1979 islamic revolution. during the demonstrations, iranian president hassan rouhani reaffirmed iran's commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal and criticized the united states for threatening to undo the landmark accord. >> we witnessed the failure of america in the past year.

the americans wanted to interfere in our state matters. but our people said no to them through their unity, through their togetherness, through their steadfastness. they nullify the americans plans and conspiracy. amy: in more news on iran, the family of a prominent iranian-canadian environmentalist and professor is demanding an independent autopsy after he was found dead in a prison in tehran. kavous seyed emami was one of the founders of the persian wildlife heritage foundation. he had been arrested, along with other environmental activists, in late january. iranian authorities say he committed suicide. the latest is about wikileaks founder julian assange, the guardian is reporting suite that tempted to drop extradition proceedings against assange five years ago, but was pressured to reverse course by british prosecutors. sweden eventually dropped its investigation and allegations of sexual misconduct by julian assange last year. the news comes just after a british judge upheld the british

arrest warrant for assange, who has been living in ecuadorian embassy in london since 2012 after gaining political asylum there. another judicial decision is expected tuesday when a british court is scheduled to respond to a motion by assange's lawyers who are attempting to for sprint to drop its arrest warrant for him. a russian commercial plane crashed near the capital moscow on sunday afternoon, killing all 71 people on board. among the victims of the crash were three children. the cause of the crash is unknown. in puerto rico, wide swaths of the island were plunged back into darkness sunday afternoon explosion and fire in electrical station. the puerto rico electrical power authority says several municipalities lost power, including parts of the capital san juan. this comes after puerto rico's electrical power grid was devastated by hurricane maria. parts of the island have still not regain power since the

hurricane four months ago. in world-renowned pakistani human rights lawyer and activist asma jehangir has died at the age of 66. for decades, she is been a leading advocate for women, minorities, and democracy in pakistan and outside. in 1983, she was imprisoned for her work with the movement to restore democracy during the military role. in 2007, she was put under house arrest for helping we do lawyers protest movement that helped ref.military leader musher as one of pakistan's most powerful lawyers, she founded the country's first legal aid in 1986, when on to serve as the first female president of the supreme court are association of pakistan. this is asma jehangir speaking in a video produced by the right livelihood award, which she won in 2014. commodity is a rare in our part of the world. very rare. even chanting for

justice gives you some satisfaction if you are being heard. and you must be heard. you knock and you knock and you knock and you knock and you knock, and one day they are going to hear. on: asma jehangir died sunday in pakistan at the age of 66 after suffering cardiac arrest. we will have more on her life story later in the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in a dramatic move on friday, a federal judge stayed the deportation of immigrant rights leader ravi ragbir, which had been scheduled for the next day, on saturday. ragbir is executive director of the new sanctuary coalition of -- and won the stay after filing

a free speech lawsuit that argues immigration officials unconstitutionally used their power to suppress political dissent by targeting outspoken activists for surveillance and deportation. he filed the suit together with detention watch network, the national immigration project of the national lawyers guild, the new york immigration coalition, and casa de maryland. amy: ravi ragbir ragbir has now been ordered to check-in with immigration and customs enforcement again on march 15. well, on saturday, hundreds celebrated his stay to fight another day at a "you can't deport a movement" rally in manhattan, where speakers included new york city public advocate letitia james, new sanctuary coalition member judith paez, and new york congressmember nydia velazquez. first, we go to ravi ragbir's lawyer alina das. >> we will take these fights to the court. saying they're just enforcing the unjust laws.

the laws include the constitution. the laws include due process. they did the first amendment. to the people who are standing out here, so many of you standing for ravi even the people standing in the box of the small crowd standing, you are able to do that because of the first amendment. none of us deserve to be taken from our homes and our families because we are speaking our own truth. you can't kill an idea. you can't kill a thought. you can't kill a belief. and you cannot deport a movement. to put in and to the continued injustice of treating us like criminals, to put an end to the injustice of separating thousands of families, to put an end [indiscernible] suffering of millions. >> we have to do everything within our power, and that is the reason why i have introduced legislation that will grant ravi

legal, permanent status. [cheers] deported, auld be legal right to return. anyone --ing to full fool anyone. the majority, the republicans control the house and the senate. but it is important that when we that we send court a message to the judge, that when we have a movement like this, it speaks volumes about the kind of human being that ravi is. juan: that was new york representative nydia velazquez and other voices from saturday's "you can't report a movement" rally in new york city. on friday, ravi ragbir's

attorney also argued another case on his behalf, this one in the federal district court of new jersey, which challenges the legality of his sole conviction and sentence for wire fraud. judge kevin mcnulty said he would issue a written opinion on whether he, too, could issue a stay for ragbir, noting -- "the damage he'd suffer, and the injury he'd suffer, as a result of deportation, is obvious to me." amy: for more, we're joined by ravi ragbir, executive director the new century coalition. i did not know if you would be in the studio again. your deportation date was set for saturday. we were in the newark courthouse on friday as we were coming in train, we got the news in another case, not related to the newark case, that a federal -- was it a federal judge? >> it was a federal judge. amy: a federal judge ruled on a free speech issue in your case and state your deportation, which was set for this past saturday. loucks correct. what is even more important to note, the judge -- this was an agreement between the government

agents, ice itself, and my attorneys and they both agreed to stay this deportation in the judge was does all the judge did was ratified what was agreed to. amy: explain what that case was about. >> that was about free speech. a targetingeeing is of leadership, immigrant voices who are speaking out against this travesty, this terror is a show of our community, immigrant community. the destruction of our families and the people around us. they are taking this with an cause, with a plan to further terror, psychological warfare they call it, against those people. because if they take me away -- i have a lot of support. it sends a message that no matter who you are, who is

supporting you, we you will be deported. juan: were you jus surprised by the decision? if the judge in eyes agreed, it is probably because the judge told ice, i'm going to really is to so you might as well come along and do an agreement so you don't have a president already said in the court. but it also seems it is a much more expensive issue than just your particular case, clearly, that is still in with the whole issue, as you say, of immigrants activist being repressed in effect by ice. to answer the question. name any country that doesn't -- that doesn't have a strong judicial protection. even dictatorship has to suppress judiciary. name any agency in the united states, criminal justice, department of justice, u.s. marshal, even the fisa court,

and that is in secret, has to have judiciary approval. yet immigration customs enforcement is saying to the courts, this is the third branch of government, saying to the courts, you do not have jurisdiction over me. that is what is at stake right now. -- it is creating a gestapo. who pushed back a what she said, was the right wing. they said, you cannot use those words. they said, your speaking about it where how could an agency not have -- the court doesn't have jurisdiction over an agency? amy: explain what you found as you are about to be deported, when you are about to turn yourself -- this was january 11. we are carefully following your case as an example of what happens to others, though, is certainly not typical. at the same time, they were targeting another member of the new sanctuary movement, who do

get deported to haiti. they picked him up before his check in on the street. ice agents converged on him next to his home. at the same time, and there was a very good piece in the intercept, isis targeting political opponents for deportation, about the surveillance of you before you went for your ice check in outside the judson church where your organization is based and more people take sanctuary and outside your home. was picked up,ne immediately we mobilized to finalize what is causing this, why the sudden shift. because he had report immigration in less than two weeks. us, toa clear signal to me, and to my attorney, that you were coming here, you're not going to be released. but even prior to that, all members who have been trained to be vigilant around this were

seeing the same cars that looked strangely, in a strangely bizarre, you know, people sitting in their car not moving. the engine is on and there sitting the for hours. amy: black tinted windows. government-looking cars. >> exactly. with the antennas. hopefully, they will change those antennas. anyway, we want them to have it. and on that wednesday when jeanne was picked up, people kept seeing these cars. it wasn't that they were away from the church, there were literally in front of the door. so when you come out, ecb's tinted windows, government-looking car and you wonder what is happening. for cheaper as, people are trained so we didn't just sit back and hide. everyone went out and knocked on the windows. you are you? why are you here yet so we called nypd to get involved. we have so many immigrants in

the space, we don't know where the threat was coming from. they had to get involved. they did not get involved, virtually, we assume that ice at already told him they were around. -- iwe went in, not me could not go outside. grenell said, i would be taken away. my attorneys when outside and knocked on the windows and saw ice plates inside the vehicle. they denied it, but it was obvious. we knew they were surveilling us. not only at the church where we are housed, but we sent a team to my home in our surrounding my home. amy: we are going to go to break and then come back to this but i montht to quote code last district judge who ordered your immediate release from detention if you are held for white, ,lmost three weeks, 18 days

calling your detention -- well, she said in a decision she read aloud from the bench, "you have the freedom to say goodbye" and compared her treatment to that of regimes we revile as unjust, regimes where those who have long lived in a country may be taken without notice from streets, home, work and sent away. we're not that country and will be the day that we become that country under a fiction that laws allow it. when we come back, we will expand this discussion enjoyed by lee gelernt of the aclu, american civil liberties union, and others to talk about what federal judges are doing around the country right now and what activists are continuing to do on the ground. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "fly like an eagle" this is democracy now! to cup federal judge has take the deportation of immigrant rights activist ravi ragbir after you filed a free speech lawsuit charging the trumpet administration, targeting immigrant rights activists with surveillance and deportation. i want to list some of the other outspoken immigrants 11 targeted nick pintoaid out by in the intercept. daniela vargas, a 22-year-old activist who came to the united states from argentina when she was seven, was detained by ice agents last march as she was leaving a news conference in jackson, mississippi, where she had spoken on the obama-era deferred action for childhood arrivals program that stayed her own deportation for lacking immigration status. the same month, in vermont, ice arrested jose enrique balcazar sanchez and zully victoria palacios rodriguez, two leading organizers with migrant justice, a workers rights organization.

palacios rodriguez's lawyer, matt cameron, told the boston globe that the offense she was arrested for -- overstaying her visa by some eight months -- wouldn't usually attract ice's attention, and that it's especially unusual for such a person to be held without bail, as his client was. a couple months later, two more migrant justice activists, yesenia hernandez-ramos and esau peche-ventura, were arrested by a border patrol agent and transferred to ice custody after taking part in a march outside a ben and jerry's plant to demand better working conditions for farm workers supplying milk to the ice cream giant. in december, ice began deportation proceedings against maru mora-villalpando, a 47-year-old activist who came from mexico more than 25 years ago and is an outspoken critic of ice's deportation and detention practices in the seattle area. also in december, baltazar aburto gutierrez, a 35-year-old

clam harvester in washington state, was detained after he was quoted in local papers talking about his girlfriend's recent deportation. "you're the one from the newspaper," aburto gutierrez says the ice agent who detained him said. "my supervisor asked me to come find you because of what appeared in the newspaper." in january, ice agents in colorado arrested eliseo jurado after his wife ingrid encalada latorre publicly took sanctuary in a boulder church to avoid to predation to peru. that is all from nick pinto's article in the intercept titled, "ice is targeting political opponents for deportation, ravi ragbir and rights groups say in court." ravi, this amazing list of up,vist rounded essentially, by ice around the country. your reaction? is a statere seeing of fear that they're trying to

create a taking people away. . know maru mora-villalpando we have been in many conferences together. she is always been outspoken. to send her a notice that she is in removal proceedings, is -- shows the direction the agency is heading to. look at the resources they're using to deport me. you have seen the intensification against the immigrant community. from the quote president, where is the due process? we should be asking, where is the due process in what we're seeing. amy: president trump was talking to for domestic violence abusers in his white house. >> correct. your photographic proof of the abuse. between of seen his support for those abusers, right? we are not sing the support for the families were being destroyed. juan: lee gelernt of the aclu,

what about the due process? what do process rights to people who are in the country, according to ice illegally, have? >> the absolutely have to process rights because the constitution uses the word "persons" rather than "citizens." the supreme court long ago held that immigrants have due process rights. what we're seeing around the country is the trump administration rounding up people, large groups of people, and then trying to deport them abruptly without giving them their due process rights. what is even more troubling perhaps is that when we go to court, they are saying the court don't have jurisdiction, authority, to enforce the due process rights of immigrants. so the aclu has been fighting cases in detroit on for half of iraqis, boston and new jersey on behalf of john amy: what has happened in these cases? close these judges have all blocked the deportation, which is heartening. i have been doing this a long

time, but i don't think i can remember a time when the judges have been so pointed in questioning the government and saying, some of these individuals, many of these individuals are likely to be tortured or killed of's impact. what you rushing them out of the country without even giving them time to file claims? the judges have been extremely critical of the government. in issuing rigorous legal opinions, the governments appealed and we will see what happened. for now, it is been heartening. juan: in many of those cases, it has been ethnic groups targeted by ice. what about this issue of political activists, which is obviously a lot more difficult, possibly, first to get the evidence and then rulings? >> those cases are a subset of this larger problem. we of the aclu are hearing about these cases as you pointed out, all over the country, where people were speaking out are being targeted and we're

concerned it is surprising political speech. that is very troubling. what we anticipate the government is saying, well, the courts don't have jurisdiction to do anything about it. we're in for a long battle before the courts. amy: i want to read what the ice deputy director thomas homan told "the new york times" about the recent decisions by federal judges in cases of immigrants who are fighting their deportation. he said -- "i am increasingly troubled by orders from federal judges halting the deportation of certain groups of individuals, all of which appear to ignore the fact that each alien in question was lawfully ordered removed from the united states after full and fair proceedings, many of which lasted several years or longer, at great taxpayer expense. further, these orders hinder ice's efforts to address the clear public safety threat posed by many of these aliens -- the majority of whom have criminal convictions. of course, entering the united states illegally is, itself, a crime." that is from the ice deputy director thomas homan. tothat is not responsive

with the federal judges are saying. the federal judges are recognizing these individuals have final orders, but they're also putting of these final orders were decades ago. -- moreople have lived important, if they are sent back, they may be tortured. the part of the law he is ignoring is that congress has set up a system to say, you can go and reopen your case if you believe you're going to be tortured or persecuted if sent back. that is the part of the law that congress enacted that he is ignoring. juan: lasted a federal judge in newark, new jersey, to burley blocked the removal of indonesian christians including two fathers were detained by ice as they were taking the children to school. we're joined by seth kaper-dale, , ator of the reformed church green party candidate for governor of new jersey in 2017. welcome to democracy now! >> thank you so much. juan: could you tell us the latest developments with the

folks who were taking refuge in your church? refuge in ourg church, i can say after the aclu lawsuit was filed a week ago friday in the judge heard it immediately, we felt a great deal of relief. the lawsuit itself doesn't say that ice can't take action against people here, but as has ice cannot remove people from the country or move them out of district. so we believe that the people who are taking up sanctuary can go home, and they have gone home, and they have been safe since that time. we think would be very foolish if ice were to act against them when a judge has clearly made it clear that this is an exploratory moment. one of the things that concerns us is the two people who were detained to ask ago thursday on the same day that one of my church members made it here to sanctuary, they are still

detained. we were hoping that maybe they would be released during the time that things are pending. we have four you a citizen children who are desperate to see their dad's. we are hopeful that ice would release them during the time this was holding, but as of now, there still detained. amy: the governor got involved, is that right? the democratic governor after he was sworn in came to your church? i want to turn to one of the wives of the indonesian men targeted by ice speaking with foam murphy during his visit to your church, the have a park reformed church. she is not seen on camera to protect her identity. 1998 at a time raping, wasia was killing, was torture and i escaped and came to this country. since i came in, i can to new jersey, i work. i pay taxes.

i pay my own insurance. right now i work for insurance for my husband and kids. i never claim a penny from the government. we are here working hard. i did not ask you for anything. just leave us alone and let us raise our children in whatever dream they have. we don't want to kill their dream. i cannot bring them to my country. it does not belong to them. amy: that was the wife of one of the indonesian men that was taken. , ther seth kaper-dale significance of the intervention of the stay of deportation now, do you see this as part of a trend of federal judges saying no to the trump administration? now?hat needs to happen also, there are a group of indonesians, and i believe lee gelernt can address this, in boston.

and we will talk about that in a minute. >> i do see it as a trend. i would say in the case of the indonesians, my congregation was deeply involved in working with ice many years ago in creating opportunities for indonesians who are not a deportation priority to get stays because ice recognize the horrible torture and possible danger that awaited folks in indonesia. so we have worked in the past with ice to do the things that now we are counting on judges to do. i think that is one of the things that is happening. we had a moment where the administration understood prosecutorial discretion, especially run issues around torture and other things, and now we're in a place where we are counting on judges to do what it one point we could count on the diminished rate of wing to do. juan: lee gelernt, what about the issue of the indonesian christians? trumpally since president come on several occasions, has talked about the world, yet

right in the united states they are not dealing with a legitimate request of indonesian christians not to be sent back to place where they could be persecuted? >> exactly. we went to court in boston on behalf of approximately 50 indonesian christians, the judge blocked deportation. the judge said, look, i'm not deciding the legality of the deportation. what i am going to do is give them time to go before in immigration court to show that as indonesian christians, they will be persecuted or tortured if sent back. that is just basic due process. now the indonesian christians of new jersey are being threatened in the same way, so we went to court and blocked that. but it is christian iraqis out of detroit in the whole country does dynamic up how many are you representing in detroit? >> proximal he 1900 around the country, not just detroit. the judge has blocked nationwide. his basicasking for due process. let them go to immigration court to show they're going to be tortured or killed. when the judge said to the

administration, why not give them time? it is clear they may be in danger. the minister said, no, we're not giving them any time. that is when the judge stepped in and best traditions of the federal court. " the deputy director attacking me to to share? ag, attorneyr the general sessions, he himself has said publicly that this country will be so much better if we don't have a judiciary where it is right now. that shows the direction of where we're heading, too. i also what to put on doubt two things. does point out two things. my case, the new jersey case is different and the fourth the mimic case is different. sayinge saying -- ice is the court doesn't have jurisdiction for a case that is given with a criminal conviction. it is not having to do the

actual deportation order is so. that is what is at stake here, where they're taking with the tools of the court to protect its own space, its own process. they are fighting that. you see the violence that is coming out. amy: and mcnulty, the federal judge in newark, made this point repeatedly on friday, this issue of what it means when you have someone before them and then another branch of government supports them. >> up silly. i just want to be clear, that is happening in ravi's case but it is happening in all the cases i described. in every case, the government's principal argument is the court lacks traditional order to do anything. that is the theme around the country, the don't have authority. that is what the courts have rejected and hopefully will continue to reject. amy: thank you for being with us, ravi ragbir, who now has a

deportation date for march 15 but a federal judge in new jersey is going to decide whether to extend a stay before that date. pastor seth kaper-dale speaking to us from new jersey, whose church has given sanctuary to an indonesian immigrant and lee gelernt of the a so you immigrants rights project. when we come back, we remember a great human rights lawyer, he military and an activist from pakistan. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "a model of the universe" by johann johannsson. the us late musician and producer has died at the age of

48. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we ended they show by looking at the store near lack of world-renowned pakistani and activistlawyer asma jehangir who died on sunday in lahore at the age of 66. for decades, she is been a leading advocate for women and minorities and democracy in pakistan. in 1983, she was imprisoned for work with a movement to restore democracy during the military rule of general zia-ul-haq. in 2007, she was put under house arrest for helping legal lawyers protest movement that helped oust military leader pervez musharraf. asma jehangir is a founding chairman of the human rights observedn of pakistan repeatedly as the huma human repertoire. at the time of her death, she was the un's special repertoire the situation of human rights in iran.

amy: on sunday, the united nations secretary-general the terrorists said in a statement -- "we have lost a human rights giant. as one of pakistan's most powerful lawyers, asma jehangir found of pakistan's first legal aid center in 1986, when on to serve as the first female president of the supreme court bar association of pakistan. this is asma jehangir speaking in a video produced by the right livelihood awards, which she won in 2014. >> when you start off, there's something inside you telling you to do it. and it comes because you have heart and an eye. and the courage to stand up against those forces -- and there are plenty of them, believe me -- they do not wish to see people. human rights, it is not a job, it is a conviction.

laws as an the instrument and use the courts, but i have been on the streets as well. for each issue in each incidents , there has to be a strategy. justice is a rare commodity and are part of the world. very rare. but sometimes even shouting for justice gives you some satisfaction that you are being heard. and you must be heard. you knock and you knock and you knock and you knock and you knock, and one day they are going to hear.

amy: that was asma jehangir. she died on sunday in pakistan after suffering a heart attack. we're joined now by one of her dear friends, ayesha jalal, mary richardson professor of history at tufts university and the fletcher school. she was done only a closed my personal friend of asma jehangir , she is the author of several books including most recently, "the struggle for pakistan: a muslim homeland and global politics." professor, our condolences to you on the death of asma, first and foremost. significancema's in the world and was represented and did. >> i mean, she's an icon of human rights internationally come about within pakistan, she was really the symbol of the restoration of democracy. it was her petition to release her father that led to, beinglly, the principal

enunciated by the judiciary that martial law was not about the constitution. amy: her father was a progressive politician in pakistan? >> that's right. and he was in jail under martial law. she filed a petition and she won. that led to the process for the restoration of democracy in pakistan. so i really see her as that. history will remember her for that in the context of paxton. international, of course, she is an icon. juan: she's on google recognize as a kind of women's rights in pakistan. could you talk about her advocacy on behalf of of women within pakistan? transformative in women's issues, bringing women's issues into the public. it is because of her that many women acquired the courage to go and seek justice. she set up a special home for women who suffered abuse.

so she did a great deal for women's rights in pakistan. and i think she has really helped change the discourse on women's rights in pakistan. amy: can you talk about her zia-al-haug, when she let lawyers protesting the dictatorship? was incredible. she was not to be -- there was a sort of personality that she sort of -- that she became under military rule and under democracy, should a different sort of attitude. she wanted to improve democracy. but with the general, she was ferocious. so i can say this, she was never, never cowed down by efther zia-ul-haq or musharr so that is what made asma

great. juan: and her role in international human rights as aent, her many posts rapid tour for the united nations. could you talk about that as well? >> she is the inspirational for the human rights movement internationally. her personality, her courage, outspoken is, she never really compromised principles. i think all of those reasons, the international committee of human rights defenders will remember her, and we will continue to remember asma. she will always live in our hearts and minds. amy: we want to go to a few clips of asma herself also this from 2012 when asma jehangir spoke at the oslo freedom form about the u.s. backed dictatorship of general zia-ul-haq. >> when i became a lawyer, that was the time that the most had taken over our country.

he was patronized by the west because he was a leader of the so-called jihad industry -- which now, you are suffering also in the west. but we suffered it even before september 11. for us, every single day was september 11 ever since zia-ul-haq took office in pakistan. for us, we're never seen public flogging before and we saw it then. for us, we had never experienced laws which said that people should be stoned to death and their hands should be amputated, but we did see it with zia-ul-haq. and we had all of the western leadership backing this great jihadist to the cost of the people and the women of pakistan. amy: and this is asma jehangir when she received the right livelihood award in 2014.

>> often i have been asked if i had any plans of leaving pakistan because of numerous threats. without any hesitation, i've replied negatively. because in comparison to the terror of some, the warmth i perceived from others is -- i have received from others is overwhelming. pakistan has tumors problems and but it is also unique in its preservation and perseverance to overcome , authoritarianism, and in denouncing terrorist acts carried out in the name of religion. pakistanis deeply suffered and they deserve better. amy: i know this is so hard for you to hear her voice, this is such a shock to stop she is so many plans for the future, professor jalal, but the thoughts of your legacy she leaves? >> miming, the legacy is going

to be with us. it will be very hard for people to step into her shoes, but i think there are many abled individuals, men and women, thanks to her. because she has really given her best youth in the hope they will continue something that she started, transformed, and that is the conception of basic rights, human rights as we know in the west, but basic democratic rights for all, for women, for minorities. and asma will be with us forever. amy: let's end with asma jehangir speaking in 2012 at the university of san diego. >> and i recall many years ago when i first went to prison and i came out, my daughter was very young at that time. was very upset i had gone to jail. and said to me, why do you do this? why do you continuously keep going to bully stations and jail?

i can assure you that if you did not do it, women's rights would come. they will come without you. with you there, they will only come in our earlier. [laughter] so what you have to leave us? but i think we are all fighting for that hour earlier. amy: the our earlier. last 10alal, in these seconds, what you will tell your students today at taft? >> i think she is a model to be understood and followed an emulated by those who really want to pursue a career in human rights, but even for those who are committed to enhancing democratic dynamics in the country, i think asma's summit in we can all take a leap from. amy: ayesha jalal, mary richardson professor of history at tufts university and the fletcher school. friend of asma jahangir. close, personalfriend of asma jahangir. personal friend of asma jehangir

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