Following the NLG #Law4thePeople Convention in 2015, NLG membership adopted a resolution on prison abolition calling for “the dismantling and abolition of all prisons and of all aspects of systems and institutions that support, condone, create, fill, or protect prisons.” In 2020, NLG membership passed a resolution supporting the abolition of policing.

In honor of these political resolutions, NLG updated the annual student Week Against Mass Incarceration to the Week of Abolition (WOA) to reflect the Guild’s commitment to finding alternatives to current systems of incarceration and policing.

For the 2026 Week of Abolition (March 2-6), NLG law school chapters will be organizing events and actions related to the abolition of prisons and police. Given the escalated attacks on immigrant communities and the huge expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by the Trump administration, the 2026 WOA theme will be “ABOLISH ICE.”

COURT ORDERS UMASS AMHERST TO REINSTATE SUSPENDED STUDENT PROTESTER, FINDING LIKELY FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATION AMHERST

Justice Jeffrey J. Trapani of the Hampshire Superior Court granted plaintiff’s emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, ordering the University of Massachusetts Amherst to immediately terminate Kiv de Montebello’s suspension and allow him to return to campus and continue his education while the lawsuit proceeds. Suspending Mr. de Montebello for peacefully protesting Raytheon at a campus career fair, the court concluded, likely violated his right to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 16 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.

In its decision and order, the court applied the framework established in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) to Mr. de Montebello’s conduct at a protest during a career fair being held on campus. The court found it was not reasonable to conclude that Mr. de Montebello’s protest caused or was likely to cause a substantial disruption to any university activities, including the career fair. The court noted that the university’s own Associate Vice Chancellor, Jeff Hescock, reported that the career fair “proceeded as planned” with no disruptions inside the auditorium—a statement the court found “particularly helpful” to the plaintiff’s case.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and its Palestine Subcommittee stand with Leqaa Kordia, her family, attorneys, and advocates across the country to demand her immediate release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Center.

Leqaa is the last protester to remain in ICE detention for pro-Palestine speech during protests at Columbia University. She is a Palestinian from Ramallah, and she has lost 300 family members in Gaza since the escalation of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in 2023. Leqaa was first detained at a routine immigration check in on March 13th, 2025. After being taken from her check in, she was immediately moved from New Jersey to the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, far from her family and legal team. An immigration judge has granted Leqaa bond and ordered her released twice, yet she has remained detained.

After spending over seven months in multiple jails across North Texas, the Prairieland Defendants finally had their federal trial start on Tuesday, February 17. But then, as soon as the first defense attorney started asking questions to the prospective jurors, presiding Judge Mark Pittman declared a mistrial. Why? Because attorney MarQuetta Clayton, the only Black woman among the defense lawyers and counsel for defendant Maricela Rueda, was wearing a t-shirt featuring civil rights leaders of the past. Judge Pitman also took issue with Ms. Clayton’s voir dire questions, which reasonably probed jurors’ feelings about protest. 

As experienced defense attorneys, we can attest that Ms. Clayton did nothing wrong. Despite both the prosecution and the defense opposing more delays, Judge Pittman nevertheless declared a mistrial and dismissed the entire jury pool. Significantly, immediately before the judge’s decision, prospective jurors had overwhelmingly expressed criticism of ICE, and several took the position that the Second Amendment extends to protests – opinions with which the judge appeared to take issue. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues its violent practices, resulting in death across the U.S. Their actions are impacting the lives of everyday people, our neighbors, and immigrant communities. NLG members from our Portland chapter, alongside the ACLU, won a Temporary Restraining Order against ICE’s widespread use of chemical weapons. In Chicago, federal agents used chemical weapons at least 49 times on protesters, in violation of orders from judges. Earlier this week, Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s (ICE) actions led to the death of Linda Davis, a school teacher in Georgia.This is the latest in a string of deaths related to DHS’s, ICE’s, and Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) campaign of terror.

Keith Porter was murdered at his apartment complex in Northridge, California, after an off-duty ICE agent shot and killed him. ICE shot Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, hitting one of them in the leg, after accusing them of assaulting an agent. It turned out they lied under oath. In Chicago, Silvero Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by ICE, after initial reports claimed the ICE agent feared for his life. News reports claim that the ICE agent described his own injuries as “nothing major”.

DHS has been shooting tear gas, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and other “less lethal” munitions at people protesting the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, blanketing the neighborhood in tear gas and other chemical agents, for months.

Protesters and journalists have been injured by these munitions, and DHS has targeted journalists for doing their jobs. Some of the people who have been hurt filed a Complaint in federal court, alleging that all of this violence against protesters and journalists violates the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution and the Administrative Procedures Act. Then Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), asking the court to tell DHS to stop shooting at people.

On February 3, 2026, Judge Michael Simon issued a ruling on the TRO, declaring that the Plaintiffs had a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim of violation of their First Amendment rights.

The NLG National Office and Mass Defense Committee is excited to share with all current NLG members a recording of the Federal Repression Member Meeting we recently held!

In the meeting, we covered: 

• Techniques and tactics being used by ICE and other law enforcement
• Best practices for responding to these attacks
• Role of legal support organizations like NLG

To access the recording, you'll need to log into your nlg.org website account. If you need help doing so, email membership@nlg.org

Here are some relevant resources that were shared:

• Muslims For Just Futures: The Criminalization of Solidarity
• Legal Observer Video Guidelines 
• Federal Assault by Sandwich, Whistle & Protest: An Explainer on 18 U.S.C. 111(a)(1)
• ICE on University Campuses: Know Your Risks & Fight Back!
• Assessing Risks in Supporting Immigrants at Points of Intervention: Understanding the “Harboring” Non-U.S. Citizens Federal Crime, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)

For even more mass defense resources please visit: https://www.nlg.org/members-only/members_mass_defense/

NLG is receiving more and more verified reports of federal agent door-knocks and contacts. If you are approached by federal law enforcement, don’t be afraid to alert your community, and remember:

You do not have to let them into your house without a warrant.

You have no obligation to speak to law enforcement or answer their questions, and it can be dangerous to do so.

It is a crime to lie to federal agents.

Instead, you can invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, and your Sixth Amendment right to counsel, by saying “I cannot answer any questions without my lawyer. Please leave your name and number, and a lawyer will call you.”

You can also call the National Lawyers Guild federal repression hotline at 212-679-2811, for a free, privileged consultation about your rights, risks, and responsibilities, and to be connected with appropriate legal resources in your jurisdiction.

We keep us safe!

The Mass Defense Steering Committee (MDSC), with the support of the Director of Mass Defense and in collaboration with on-the-ground partners, has created a Hotline Manual to support organizers running legal hotlines for protests and broader social movements.

This document is written with the worst case scenario in mind: starting a hotline from scratch in an area with little legal support infrastructure, during a sudden upswing in demonstrations, such as we saw following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. However, many of the recommendations within should be relevant to more established hotlines. The system described in this manual is not necessarily the only one possible, but it is based on existing hotlines with strong track records.

Check out our NLG Member Orientation! This is for new, and newer members, so that y'all can learn about how the NLG is structured, how to reach out to other members, and ways that you can become involved with the NLG on a national level!