Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Rep. John Conyers, Jr. Remarks at forum on "An Examination of Trump’s Un-American Muslim and Refugee Ban”

| Posted in Press Releases

Today’s forum comes as our Nation stands at a crossroads. For decades, we have granted safe haven to families fleeing persecution and violence. Will we continue down that path of refuge, tolerance, and inclusion pursued across parties and Administrations, or will we veer down the path of intolerance, xenophobia, and paranoia as the current Administration appears to be heading? If we are to correct... Read more »

More Than 100 Members of Congress Call For DHS Briefing This Week on Trump Muslim Ban Executive Order

| Posted in Press Releases

More than 100 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by House Judiciary Committee Member Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), wrote to the Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly condemning the President’s Muslim ban executive ... Read more »

Top Judiciary Democrat & Congressional Black Caucus Chair Criticize Trump’s SCOTUS Pick

| Posted in Press Releases

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) today released the following statements in response to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy: Ranking Member Conyers said, “After the Senate Republican Majority committed a dereliction of duty for almost a full cal... Read more »

House Democrats introduce legislation to block President Trump’s travel and refugee ban

| Posted in Press Releases

More than 160 House Democrats, led by U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) today introduced legislation to defund and rescind President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from Muslim countries and suspending the refugee program. The SOLVE, or Statue of Liberty Values Act, introduced following profound confusion and fear after the implementation of an unpreced... Read more »

Top House Judiciary, Foreign Affairs & Homeland Security Democrats Call for Meeting with Homeland Security Secretary; Raise Concerns over Immigration Executive Order

| Posted in Press Releases

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), and House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to r... Read more »

Top Judiciary Democrat & Congressional Black Caucus Chair Call for Any Voter Fraud Investigation to be Completed by Nonpartisan Independent Panel; Request Investigation into Voter Suppression

| Posted in Press Releases

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) wrote to President Donald Trump to urge that if an investigation must be completed in regards to Trump’s voter fraud allegations, that it be completed by a non-partisan independent body and that the investigation also focus on voter suppression in the wake of th... Read more »

Conyers, Nadler, Cohen & Raskin to Trump: Torture Is Wrong & Your Black Sites Order Is Illegal

| Posted in Press Releases

Today, the New York Times reported on a forthcoming Executive Order on “Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants.” The order would permit the CIA “to reopen ‘black site’ prisons, like those where it detained and tortured terrorism suspects before President Obama shut them down.” The order would also reverse President Obama’s decision to give the International Committee of the Red Cross acce... Read more »