Khalilah Sabra

Khalilah Sabra ( is an American immigration attorney, civil rights advocate, and author. She is the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society (MAS) Immigrant Justice Center, a federally recognized legal service provider specializing in immigration representation. Sabra is known for her legal work on behalf of refugees, survivors of trafficking, and marginalized Muslim and Latin American communities.

As a government fellow in Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally's Office (1978–79) and as an intern in the United States House of Representatives (1981–83), worked closely with Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally's office staff on projects and to develop and advance legislation involving freedom of speech and other civil rights projects.

Sabra converted to Islam in the age of 15.

Early life and education

Born in U.S territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific, to a military family, Sabra began her working life as a high school student as a political intern after her participation was urged by one of her closest childhood friends, Lynn Dymally, the daughter of State Senator Mervyn Dymally, who became her mentor, as he ascended to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and United States Congressman. Sabra studied criminal justice at California State University earning a graduate degree. Her postgraduate work in Paralegal Studies was completed at UCLA.

Muslim American Society

Having converted to Islam at the age of 15, she began the Muslim American Society (MAS) Immigration Justice Center in 2019. Its services support Latin American communities and African as well. As a board member of the ACLU-Racial Justice Project, Khalilah Sabra, organized prayer vigils in Johnston County to call for an end to racism and bigotry.

In May 2011, Khalilah Sabra on behalf of the Muslim American Society joined with the Latin American Coalition and the Vietnamese Association of Charlotte. complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, against the State of North Carolina. Complainants were organizations whose members and constituents include language minority individuals entitled to equitable access to and meaningful participation in North Carolina judicial programs, activities, services, and benefits. They brought this complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, against the State of North Carolina and its Judicial Branch, to address Respondents' failure to take reasonable steps to ensure Limited English Proficient ("LEP") persons in North Carolina have meaningful access to the state judicial system.

Publications and worldview

Sabra was a contributor to the Report of the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. Sabra is the author of "An Unordinary Death: The Life of a Palestinian", a work on critical pedagogy, a teaching approach designed to help students achieve critical consciousness by asking them to question and challenge the beliefs and practices that dominate their society. Sabra designs and implements programs to educate non-Muslims about a moderate version of Islam that denounces violence and extremism. Her career has been focused on representing Muslim women with immigration whose cases involves  forced marriage, honor killing and other threats of violence.

Ideologically, her worldview combined leftist progressive politics with Islamic spiritual principles and support for Catholic social teachings on immigrant justice. “All persons have the right to find in their own countries the economic, political, and social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a full life through the use of their God-given gifts. In this context, work that provides a just, living wage is a basic human need."

Social justice and humanitarian work

Khalilah Sabra has many past experiences working with various social justice and humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Amnesty International, and the Bay Area Immigrant Justice Center in San Francisco, California. She is currently on the board of North Carolina Peace Action (NCPA), a consolidation of advocates. Sabra has previously served as a board member on the ACLU Racial Profiling Committee. In her role on the ACLU Racial Program, Sabra contributed to civil rights investigation on issues related to Islam and Muslims.

Advocacy for Muslim women

Since 9/11, Sabra has given controversial speeches about the subsequent marginalization of Muslims, especially Muslim women and religious racism.

"Gender issues and, in particular, the rights of women in Muslim culture, continue to generate much media attention in the West. Muslim women are often portrayed as inferior beings, despite rights accorded them in Islam which sought their liberation from patriarchal cultures that prevents their progress... As we become more active our work will not be overlooked by scholars and policymakers, as the Muslim woman becomes a significant contributor to policy, culture, and social change. This work is not a recommendation, but a requirement."

"The process of social, political, and cultural change in the United States is incomplete without the voices of Muslim women, particularly those whose words have been actively involved in civic activism and in resistance against inequality. In the west, the common picture of a Muslim woman has yet to transcend the stereotype of a woman hidden behind a veil, a voiceless, silent figure, bereft of rights. It is a picture familiar to all of us, in large part because this is invariably perpetrated by the western media.”

Of the necessity for transformational, gender-related advocacy with American Muslim communities, Sabra stated that "only the direct words of Muslim women activists can reveal the depths of their understanding of possibilities and promise in the presence of political and social despair."

In a statement to the Washington Post, Sabra cited one of the major problems for women being forced into situations against their will, “There are no resources out there,” she said. “A Muslim girl can’t go to the community mosque for help. Who supports the community mosque? The men.” She insists that it is “Not a family issue. It is a human rights issue. It is about choice and personal freedom.”

Khalilah Sabra received the International Human Rights Award in 2013. Sabra was honored for her work with refugees in Lebanon, Syria, and nations hosting Palestinian and Syrian civilians as well as for her leadership role as Director of the Muslim American Society Immigrant Justice Center.

Immigration work

Khalilah Sabra is a Department of Justice Accredited Representative, assisting migrants in immigration proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals, or before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She has been designated by the Muslim American Society, an organization that is recognized by the Board. Muslim American Society is the only Islamic organization approved by the Board of Immigration Appeals (the Board) to represent aliens before the Immigration Courts, the BIA, and the Department of Homeland Security.

References

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* http://www.chapelhillfriends.org/nl/newsletter-2009-09.pdf
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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabra, Khalilah
1967 births
Living people
Converts to Islam from Catholicism
American Muslims
California State University alumni
Damascus University alumni
21st-century American women writers