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title: "September 2026 Newsletter: Lawsuit filed after D.C. Jail residents suffer serious health injuries during fire; Federal court strikes down Trump birthright citizenship order; 14-year case concludes after life-saving medical reforms"
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| View in browser September 2026 Dear Friends,   This Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate the strength, leadership, and extraordinary contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities. All of us at Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs are committed to advancing and defending the rights and dignity of these thriving communities.   That commitment is especially urgent today. Latino families are at the mercy of cruel government policies that separate their families and result in detention and deportation.   In August 2026, we secured an important victory in our case challenging the administration’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship. A federal court declared the executive order unconstitutional, affirming that infants born on U.S. soil are citizens at birth, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. No president has the power to rewrite the Constitution or to create a category of second-class citizens.   In December 2025, we secured a preliminary injunction to halt warrantless immigration arrests in D.C. Following the court order, immigration arrests in D.C. plummeted from 1,400 to 100.   Next month, in October, we will be in federal court for oral argument on our request for a permanent injunction to halt immigration arrests and surveillance at 7,000 houses of worship in the DMV and across the country.   This fall, our new attorney Mel Borja will establish a free workers’ rights clinic in Northern Virginia, with a particular focus on serving construction workers and day laborers. A Latina and Virginia native, Mel will provide bilingual legal services to workers confronting wage theft, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and other workplace injustices.   In this newsletter, you will also meet Darianny Bautista and Yvette Castañeda, two bilingual paralegals who work alongside our attorneys on prisoners’ rights and civil rights cases.   Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate history, culture, and achievement. It is also a reminder that heritage, identity, and belonging must be protected. We are proud to stand with Hispanic and Latino workers, families, and communities in the continuing fight for justice and equality.   Together For Justice,   Joanne Lin Executive Director Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs D.C. Jail Residents Suffer Serious Health Injuries During Fire   Five men were trapped in their cells as fire and thick black smoke filled their housing unit at the D.C. Jail. They say their calls for help went unanswered.   Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), together with Miller & Chevalier Chartered, has filed a lawsuit against D.C. on behalf of five D.C. Jail residents who suffered serious injuries during a September 2023 fire. The men were housed in a therapeutic unit designed for residents with mental health needs. According to the complaint, another resident spent hours crying out for help and threatening self-harm before starting fires in the unit.   Trapped in their locked cells, residents banged on their doors to alert staff, using towels and linens to try to keep smoke out of their cells. Some fashioned makeshift masks to protect themselves.   “I thought that the officers were going to let us burn alive,” said one of our clients. “Nobody came for hours.”   The lawsuit follows nearly two years of work by WLC to obtain records about the fire. We sued for the records and prevailed.   As WLC Supervisory Counsel Leslie Faith Jones explained in The Washington Post’s coverage of the case, “Part of this is also just shedding light on the fact that there was never really an investigation into this incident: how it was possible for a person in a mental health crisis, over a 12-hour period, to lead to this level of damage.”   Our clients, Leslie said, “want people to know what happened to them to prevent this from happening again.”   Read our press release to learn more about the case. Federal Court in D.C. Strikes Down Trump Birthright Citizenship Executive Order in WLC Case   On August 20, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declared Executive Order 14160 unconstitutional in violation of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. The court upheld the constitutional guarantee that infants born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens at birth regardless of their parents’ immigration status.    This is the first time a federal court has issued a final judgment by applying the Supreme Court’s June 2026 ruling in Trump v. Barbara, which reaffirmed the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.   In January 2025, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and Arnold & Porter had sued the administration on behalf of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and individuals impacted by the administration’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.   The court's August 20 judgment confirms what the Constitution has guaranteed for more than 150 years: Infants born in the U.S. are citizens of the U.S. Even after the Supreme Court unequivocally ruled that birthright citizenship is a fundamental constitutional right, this administration released two more executive orders searching for ways to abridge that right, this time relying on racialized fearmongering and stereotypical anti-Chinese rhetoric.   The August 20 federal court order makes clear that no president has the power to rewrite the Constitution or create categories of children who are less entitled to its protections. WLC will continue to defend birthright citizenship against any attempt to weaken this constitutional protection. Lawsuit Concludes at Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center After 14 Years   Our 14-year federal civil rights class action seeking improved medical care for incarcerated women at Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center (FCCW) has concluded.   Filed in 2012 after an investigation into deficient medical care, Scott v. Clarke resulted in a 2016 settlement and a decade of work with a court-appointed medical monitor. The case led to tangible improvements, including electronic medical records, medication-assisted treatment, improved dental and mental health care, and a physical therapy program.   While significant progress has been made, concerns remain around isolation in the infirmary and chronic care coordination. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee was honored to advocate for the residents of FCCW and remains committed to continued improvements in medical care that promote dignity and justice for women in prison.   Read the full press release. Darianny Bautista recently joined WLC as a paralegal. Fluent in Spanish, Darianny supports the disability rights, education justice, and prisoners' rights team.   A graduate of George Washington University, Darianny was a Pathways Fellow with the U.S. Justice Department Office of the Inspector General and previously interned at the office of Senator Cory Booker. Mel Borja recently joined Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs as a two-year Powell Fellow. Fluent in Spanish, Mel will establish a free workers’ rights clinic in Northern Virginia and will conduct outreach to construction workers and day laborers in Virginia.   A 2026 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Mel participated in the Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic and the Economic and Consumer Justice Clinic.   Prior to law school, Mel worked as a policy analyst for the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (2022–2023), as Vice Chair of the Virginia Office of New Americans Advisory Board (2020-2022), and as an immigration caseworker for U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) (2019-2021).   Mel shares, “As a proud Latina and a Virginia native, I am thrilled to join the WLC team as a Powell Fellow where I will offer free bilingual legal services to low-wage workers in Northern Virginia. I am looking forward to working on behalf of the very communities that raised me, collaborating with Virginia advocates, and strengthening workers’ rights throughout the Commonwealth.” Yvette Castañeda is a paralegal at Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.   Yvette is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation graduate of the University of Southern California. She previously served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Spain and interned for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA).  We’re Hiring! Development Director Coming Down the Pike So Many Ways to Stand With Us!   Your support powers the Washington Lawyers’ Committee’s work across the region — from living rooms to courtrooms.   September 27: House party (Bethesda, MD)   November 14: House party (Cleveland Park, Northwest DC)   Please contact Angela Schlagel, angela\_schlagel@washlaw.org, for more information. Reach Out to Us Ryan Downer  ✉  Legal Director Joanne Lin  ✉  Executive Director Tanya Edelin  ✉  COO/CFO Board Co-Chairs Brian Schneider (ArentFox Schiff) Avis Buchanan (retired) The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs works to create legal, economic, and social equity for low-income marginalized communities in Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and across the country. We partner with individuals and communities facing discrimination and with the legal community to achieve justice.  We bring strategic litigation to advance fair housing, disability rights, education equity, workers’ rights, immigrant justice, women’s rights, and criminal legal system reform. Donate Washington Lawyers' Committee, 700 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
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