Ravi Ragbir
Biography
Ravi Ragbir is an immigrant-rights organizer with New Sanctuary Coalition. ICE detained him at a routine check-in on January 11, 2018. His lawyers challenged the detention and alleged retaliation for his advocacy. A federal judge ordered his release on January 29, 2018. President Joe Biden pardoned the underlying nonviolent conviction in January 2025. This profile documents the immigration detention and free-speech litigation; it does not characterize his earlier criminal conviction as politically motivated.
Case history and verification
Ravi Ragbir is an immigrant-rights organizer with New Sanctuary Coalition. ICE detained him at a routine check-in on January 11, 2018. His lawyers challenged the detention and alleged retaliation for his advocacy. A federal judge ordered his release on January 29, 2018. President Joe Biden pardoned the underlying nonviolent conviction in January 2025. This profile documents the immigration detention and free-speech litigation; it does not characterize his earlier criminal conviction as politically motivated.
Status reviewed October 8, 2026: Historical case. The profile records the last documented outcome; no current ICE custody is asserted.
Sources
- Ragbir defense campaign: detention and release chronology
- PEN America: release order and speech concerns
- Detention Watch Network: January 2025 pardon
Verified detail sources (October 8, 2026): PEN America’s January 29, 2018 biographical account uses he/him for Ravi Ragbir and identifies the same New Sanctuary Coalition organizer and detention case. Source 1.
Photo source: CEC ArtsLink participant biography. Original image reproduced without alteration.
Ragbir’s July 17, 2018 amended complaint alleges that, following his January 11 arrest, officers separated him from his wife during medical clearance, processed him curbside at Newark Airport and flew him to Florida, using tickets purchased the previous day. It alleges that family and legal access were sharply restricted during detention. These allegations concern the existing January 11–29, 2018 episode; no extra days or separate consecutive custody period are added.
