Kelly Rissman is a graduate student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she writes about immigration and demographics. She also works as a social media intern at the BBC. She previously reported in Chicago, writing about women’s issues, politics and housing before joining Medill’s Washington, D.C. bureau. Before coming to Medill, Kelly graduated from Vassar College in 2018 with a degree in psychology.
Posts By This Author
How Credible Fear Interviews Can Harm Asylum Seekers
Regardless of the test result, an asylum seeker will have to attend a court hearing before an immigration judge. However, if she failed the test by not convincing the official that she has a “credible fear” of returning to her country, she has more to prove in the court hearing — or face deportation.
Democrats Challenge Customs and Border Protection Chief on Agency’s 'Culture of Cruelty'
Activists protest the treatment of children in immigration detention outside U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol station facilities in Texas. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez
Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) said that there is a “dangerous subculture at the agency that cannot be tolerated and must be addressed.” She was referring to offensive comments in a CBP private Facebook group, allegations of detained children being kicked to wake them up by CBP agents, and reports of abuse and sexual assault of detained migrants by CBP officers.
'The World Should Know What Happens in ICE Facilities,' A Grieving Mother Tells Congress
Yazmin Juarez, mother of 19-month-old Mariee, who died after detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), testifies before a House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services hearing. REUTERS/Erin Scott
Yazmin Juárez, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, told a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee that her 19-month-old daughter died because of medical negligence at a federal detention center in Texas.
Washington D.C. Communities Protest ICE Amid President's Mass Deportation Threats
Image via Ebony Curry and Kelly Rissman
“ICE is coming into our communities and tearing apart families and tearing apart our community on a regular basis, and they did so just again last week,” Sanctuary DMV organizer Ben Beachy said. “We need our D.C. elected officials to make D.C. a real sanctuary city, which means severing all ties with ICE.”