Inside ICWC v. Noem: A New Class Action Protecting Immigrant Survivors

Despite long-standing legal protections, immigrant survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other serious crimes are now facing escalating arrests, detention, and deportation under the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement regime. For attorneys, advocates, and others serving these survivors, understanding the shifting legal landscape and the growing challenges to safeguarding survivor rights is more critical than ever.

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law invites you to a free CLE webinar, Inside ICWC v. Noem: A New Class Action Protecting Immigrant Survivors – What It Means for VAWA, T, and U-Visa Petitioners on Thursday, November 20th, from 1:00-2:00pm PT. This training will explain the ICE policy memorandum issued earlier this year that, departing from decades of prior practice, authorizes the routine arrest, detention, and deportation of immigrant survivors, including those with pending U- and T- visa applications or grants of deferred action. Presenters will walk through the memo’s legal implications, how it undermines survivor protections established by Congress, and how ICWC v. Noem, filed in October 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, challenges this unlawful policy and the practices flowing from it in an effort to restore meaningful protections for immigrant survivors. 

The webinar will be led by Sarah Kahn and Erika Cervantes, attorneys with the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and members of the ICWC v. Noem litigation team, along with Jess Farb from the Immigration Center for Women and Children and Susan Beaty from the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), who will share insights from their work with and representation of immigrant survivors. In addition to reviewing the purpose and scope of VAWA, U, and T visas, the training will focus on what attorneys can do now to protect their survivor clients while the litigation proceeds - including advising clients on their rights, submitting formal stay requests, navigating USCIS’s failure to expedite survivor-based petitions, and developing basic habeas arguments for detained immigrant survivor clients.