Center for Victims of Torture
@cvt.org
Center for Victims of Torture (CVT): Healing the wounds of torture globally, strengthening healers & human rights defenders, advocating to end #torture. www.cvt.org
Pinned
Center for Victims of Torture
@cvt.org
· Jan 28
We’ve received stop-work orders from the U.S. requiring us to halt multiple international programs and furlough the majority of our staff. These closures impact safety, health and wellbeing of the people we serve. You can help: www.cvt.org
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
As Pres/CEO of @CVT.org it was always inspiring to meet refugees and asylum seekers who were torture survivors. The fact that ICE has now abducted 6 of CVT’s Minnesota-based clients is immoral, illegal and unconscionably cruel. www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
Rash: They fled torture in their home countries. Now they’ve been held by ICE.
Six clients of the Center for Victims of Torture, all legally living in Minnesota, were detained as part of Operation Metro Surge, writes columnist John Rash.
www.startribune.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:44 AM
As Pres/CEO of @CVT.org it was always inspiring to meet refugees and asylum seekers who were torture survivors. The fact that ICE has now abducted 6 of CVT’s Minnesota-based clients is immoral, illegal and unconscionably cruel. www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
We must protect sensitive locations including schools, hospitals, places of worship, & more, from harmful ICE actions. CVT is proud to join @clasp.org & 430+ orgs calling for oversight on DHS practices & accountability for abuses in immigration enforcement.
www.clasp.org/publications...
www.clasp.org/publications...
430+ Organizations Call on Congress to Pass Meaningful Protections for Families, including Sensitive Locations | CLASP
Today, 430+ national, state, and local organizations signed onto a letter urging Congress to protect these sensitive locations as it negotiates DHS funding.
www.clasp.org
February 10, 2026 at 9:58 PM
We must protect sensitive locations including schools, hospitals, places of worship, & more, from harmful ICE actions. CVT is proud to join @clasp.org & 430+ orgs calling for oversight on DHS practices & accountability for abuses in immigration enforcement.
www.clasp.org/publications...
www.clasp.org/publications...
NEW: “This is not the freedom I sought. This is a prison of fear,” said a CVT client who spoke to the @startribune.com anonymously about what he’s experiencing today during the ICE enforcement surge in Minn: many of the same tactics used in his home country.
www.startribune.com/minnesota-re...
www.startribune.com/minnesota-re...
Minnesota refugees and immigrants are hiding in ‘a prison of fear’
Across Minnesota, thousands of immigrants and refugees are staying home from work, church and school to avoid ICE agents.
www.startribune.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:35 PM
NEW: “This is not the freedom I sought. This is a prison of fear,” said a CVT client who spoke to the @startribune.com anonymously about what he’s experiencing today during the ICE enforcement surge in Minn: many of the same tactics used in his home country.
www.startribune.com/minnesota-re...
www.startribune.com/minnesota-re...
After Assad fell in Syria & then the U.S. gov pulled funding, CVT clinicians found ways to continue providing support for Syrians. “Now the question was how to do as much as possible in what would likely be a small window of time available,” writes CVT's Justin Hett.
www.cvt.org/articles/at-...
www.cvt.org/articles/at-...
“At Last We Can Breathe”
With a deep, full-bodied inhale, and a beam across his face, my Syrian friend said to me “At last we can breathe!”
www.cvt.org
February 5, 2026 at 2:24 PM
After Assad fell in Syria & then the U.S. gov pulled funding, CVT clinicians found ways to continue providing support for Syrians. “Now the question was how to do as much as possible in what would likely be a small window of time available,” writes CVT's Justin Hett.
www.cvt.org/articles/at-...
www.cvt.org/articles/at-...
NEW on @mprnews.org: CVT’s Minnesota-based clients survived torture back home but now six have been taken by ICE and many are in hiding from the masked and militarized agents patrolling the city. Read about what asylum seekers are experiencing in Minneapolis.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Asylum-seekers at the Center for Victims of Torture say ICE reminds them of what they escaped
The torture rehabilitation clinic has pivoted to helping people process trauma from Operation Metro Surge.
www.mprnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 1:37 PM
NEW on @mprnews.org: CVT’s Minnesota-based clients survived torture back home but now six have been taken by ICE and many are in hiding from the masked and militarized agents patrolling the city. Read about what asylum seekers are experiencing in Minneapolis.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
Torture survivors.
6 Minn-based CVT clients, all torture survivors, all with legal status, have been taken by ICE and flown out of state. Only one was released. The situation is what they fled from. “The majority of our clients are essentially under house arrest,” said Sara Nelson
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
Rash: They fled torture in their home countries. Now they’ve been held by ICE.
Six clients of the Center for Victims of Torture, all legally living in Minnesota, were detained as part of Operation Metro Surge, writes columnist John Rash.
www.startribune.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Torture survivors.
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
@amnesty.org @cvt.org and more than 1000 other organizations in the USA call for an end to ICE’s onslaught on human rights and American democracy. www.amnestyusa.org/blog/letter-...
Letter From 1,025 Organizations Asks Congress to Halt Funds for ICE and Border Patrol
Amnesty joined over 1,000 national, state and local organizations in a letter to Congress to demand accountability and halt funding for ICE and Border Patrol.
www.amnestyusa.org
February 3, 2026 at 12:12 AM
@amnesty.org @cvt.org and more than 1000 other organizations in the USA call for an end to ICE’s onslaught on human rights and American democracy. www.amnestyusa.org/blog/letter-...
6 Minn-based CVT clients, all torture survivors, all with legal status, have been taken by ICE and flown out of state. Only one was released. The situation is what they fled from. “The majority of our clients are essentially under house arrest,” said Sara Nelson
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
Rash: They fled torture in their home countries. Now they’ve been held by ICE.
Six clients of the Center for Victims of Torture, all legally living in Minnesota, were detained as part of Operation Metro Surge, writes columnist John Rash.
www.startribune.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:13 PM
6 Minn-based CVT clients, all torture survivors, all with legal status, have been taken by ICE and flown out of state. Only one was released. The situation is what they fled from. “The majority of our clients are essentially under house arrest,” said Sara Nelson
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
www.startribune.com/rash-they-fl...
“Once they get to Texas,” said Sara Nelson, program manager, about the detention center where several CVT clients have been sent, “it’s like they’re in a black hole.” Read new reporting about how people taken by ICE are being treated. @startribune.com
www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...
www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...
‘No humanity’: Detainees describe conditions inside Whipple Federal Building
Immigration sweep brings overcrowded rooms and overflowing toilets. Lawyers say they can’t visit their clients. The Department of Homeland Security says “all detainees receive full due process.”
www.startribune.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:38 PM
“Once they get to Texas,” said Sara Nelson, program manager, about the detention center where several CVT clients have been sent, “it’s like they’re in a black hole.” Read new reporting about how people taken by ICE are being treated. @startribune.com
www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...
www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
The Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, a refuge for asylum seekers from around the world who were tortured by their regimes, has to now make this plea in the United States… We must fight this
growing evil.
@smith.senate.gov @klobuchar.senate.gov
@startribune.com
@cvt.org
growing evil.
@smith.senate.gov @klobuchar.senate.gov
@startribune.com
@cvt.org
January 29, 2026 at 10:13 PM
The Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, a refuge for asylum seekers from around the world who were tortured by their regimes, has to now make this plea in the United States… We must fight this
growing evil.
@smith.senate.gov @klobuchar.senate.gov
@startribune.com
@cvt.org
growing evil.
@smith.senate.gov @klobuchar.senate.gov
@startribune.com
@cvt.org
As CVT clients are taken by ICE, Sara Nelson tells @cnn.com they may get administratively canceled and deported. If deported, they may be a target once again for having fled their home country originally. “People are going to die, to be totally frank,” she said.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/u...
www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/u...
They were asylum seekers and refugees in Minnesota. Still, ICE detained and flew them to Texas to face deportation | CNN
Dozens of asylum seekers, as well as refugees who passed a rigorous, years-long vetting process before being admitted to the United States, have been arrested in Minnesota in recent weeks, immigration...
www.cnn.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:09 PM
As CVT clients are taken by ICE, Sara Nelson tells @cnn.com they may get administratively canceled and deported. If deported, they may be a target once again for having fled their home country originally. “People are going to die, to be totally frank,” she said.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/u...
www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/u...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
“Our clients are telling us this is the very thing that they fled in their home countries & they’re starting to see it play out in front of them,” Alison Beckman, Lab & @cvt.org, tells @kare11.bsky.social.
See the impacts clients & Minnesotans are facing.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
See the impacts clients & Minnesotans are facing.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
Center for Victims of Torture shares mental health impacts amid surge of immigration enforcement operations
Amid intensified immigration enforcement and the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis, the Center for Victims of Torture says its clients struggle psychologically.
www.kare11.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:39 PM
“Our clients are telling us this is the very thing that they fled in their home countries & they’re starting to see it play out in front of them,” Alison Beckman, Lab & @cvt.org, tells @kare11.bsky.social.
See the impacts clients & Minnesotans are facing.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
See the impacts clients & Minnesotans are facing.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
“I think there are very few people in this country that are safe,” said CVT's Scott Roehm on @skynewsrss.bsky.social about the militarized immigration enforcement in Minnesota & across the United States. He notes the need to completely dismantle ICE in its form.
news.sky.com/story/minnea...
news.sky.com/story/minnea...
Minneapolis latest: Trump faces next challenge as Democrats block huge spending bill in immigration fight
The US Senate has blocked a wide-ranging spending bill over Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, bringing swathes of the government close to a shutdown. Follow the latest.
news.sky.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:38 PM
“I think there are very few people in this country that are safe,” said CVT's Scott Roehm on @skynewsrss.bsky.social about the militarized immigration enforcement in Minnesota & across the United States. He notes the need to completely dismantle ICE in its form.
news.sky.com/story/minnea...
news.sky.com/story/minnea...
NEWS: Sonya Funna Evelyn joins CVT as president & CEO! She has extensive experience in global development & humanitarian response from her role leading sustainable development at ADRA Int’l, & a deep commitment to wellbeing with a background in clinical psychology. www.cvt.org/statements/c...
January 28, 2026 at 2:49 PM
NEWS: Sonya Funna Evelyn joins CVT as president & CEO! She has extensive experience in global development & humanitarian response from her role leading sustainable development at ADRA Int’l, & a deep commitment to wellbeing with a background in clinical psychology. www.cvt.org/statements/c...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
Today, in a massive show of support, 1,025 organizations, including immigrant justice, human rights, civil rights, faith, and labor organizations, sent a letter to members of Congress to express horror, outrage & deep grief about the recent shooting deaths by federal agents in Minneapolis.
January 27, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Today, in a massive show of support, 1,025 organizations, including immigrant justice, human rights, civil rights, faith, and labor organizations, sent a letter to members of Congress to express horror, outrage & deep grief about the recent shooting deaths by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
🚨🚨 NEWS: I'm urgently asking governments and global #HumanRights leaders to forcefully condemn Alex Pretti's murder and demand a transparent, impartial investigation so that those responsible can be brought to justice.
January 27, 2026 at 12:59 AM
🚨🚨 NEWS: I'm urgently asking governments and global #HumanRights leaders to forcefully condemn Alex Pretti's murder and demand a transparent, impartial investigation so that those responsible can be brought to justice.
“Executions in the streets. Abductions by masked security forces at gunpoint. Mass detention in an abusive & unaccountable system. Disinformation campaigns to justify it all. These are the tools & tactics of the world’s most repressive regimes,” writes CVT's Scott Roehm www.cvt.org/statements/s...
January 26, 2026 at 8:48 PM
“Executions in the streets. Abductions by masked security forces at gunpoint. Mass detention in an abusive & unaccountable system. Disinformation campaigns to justify it all. These are the tools & tactics of the world’s most repressive regimes,” writes CVT's Scott Roehm www.cvt.org/statements/s...
“This is exactly what our clients have fled from,” said Alison Beckman, senior clinician for external relations, describing the impacts of the militarized ICE enforcement on clients in Minn, all of whom survived torture in their home countries.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
For some refugees, immigration actions in Twin Cities are familiar
As a young man, George Thawmoo repeatedly fled his rural village in Burma, taking refuge in the jungle with his family until the Burmese government had retrenched. As soldiers left, they would set fir...
www.yahoo.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:38 PM
“This is exactly what our clients have fled from,” said Alison Beckman, senior clinician for external relations, describing the impacts of the militarized ICE enforcement on clients in Minn, all of whom survived torture in their home countries.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
1 year ago, CVT began receiving orders from the US government to stop our clinical work overseas, impacting clients who lost care. More than 400 colleagues lost their jobs, all highly skilled & dedicated to helping survivors. Each day we think of their contributions, brilliance, kindness & wisdom.
January 24, 2026 at 2:51 PM
1 year ago, CVT began receiving orders from the US government to stop our clinical work overseas, impacting clients who lost care. More than 400 colleagues lost their jobs, all highly skilled & dedicated to helping survivors. Each day we think of their contributions, brilliance, kindness & wisdom.
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
Minnesota is the frontline of democracy and human rights in the United States right now. Please support organisations like @cvt.org who are resisting ICE’s cruelty: www.cvt.org 🇺🇸
January 23, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Minnesota is the frontline of democracy and human rights in the United States right now. Please support organisations like @cvt.org who are resisting ICE’s cruelty: www.cvt.org 🇺🇸
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
Alison Beckman, Lab & @cvt.org, condemns the federal government's fatal immigration actions:
“People, including CVT clients, seek refuge in the US because they are fleeing these very types of overly militarized enforcement actions.”
@welcomewdignity.bsky.social
welcomewithdignity.org/wwd-condemns...
“People, including CVT clients, seek refuge in the US because they are fleeing these very types of overly militarized enforcement actions.”
@welcomewdignity.bsky.social
welcomewithdignity.org/wwd-condemns...
Welcome With Dignity Strongly Condemns ICE’s Extrajudicial Killing of Renee Nicole Good; Calls for Accountability & Justice for All Those Harmed by the Trump Administration’s Cruel Immigration Agenda ...
welcomewithdignity.org
January 23, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Alison Beckman, Lab & @cvt.org, condemns the federal government's fatal immigration actions:
“People, including CVT clients, seek refuge in the US because they are fleeing these very types of overly militarized enforcement actions.”
@welcomewdignity.bsky.social
welcomewithdignity.org/wwd-condemns...
“People, including CVT clients, seek refuge in the US because they are fleeing these very types of overly militarized enforcement actions.”
@welcomewdignity.bsky.social
welcomewithdignity.org/wwd-condemns...
"One of them was taken as she arrived for work. She was tackled in the snow in front of her coworkers," said Sara Nelson on KARE11 about clients who have been detained by ICE agents even though they are in the U.S. legally, going through the asylum process.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
www.kare11.com/article/news...
Torture survivors with pending asylum cases arrested by ICE, St. Paul nonprofit says
The Center for Victims of Torture said the four people arrested are in the United States legally with pending asylum cases, work permits and no criminal records.
www.kare11.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:10 PM
"One of them was taken as she arrived for work. She was tackled in the snow in front of her coworkers," said Sara Nelson on KARE11 about clients who have been detained by ICE agents even though they are in the U.S. legally, going through the asylum process.
www.kare11.com/article/news...
www.kare11.com/article/news...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
This is what happens when cruelty becomes government policy. Torture survivors are people who have fled dictatorship, persecution and state violence. Shame on ICE, President Trump and anyone who supports this disgusting slide into authoritarianism.
NEW: 4 CVT clients in asylum processes were detained by ICE and flown to Texas. All were in the U.S. legally. One was detained while going into her workplace; the ICE agents tackled her in the snow in front of her co-workers. Read more: www.cvt.org/statements/f...
January 21, 2026 at 2:26 PM
This is what happens when cruelty becomes government policy. Torture survivors are people who have fled dictatorship, persecution and state violence. Shame on ICE, President Trump and anyone who supports this disgusting slide into authoritarianism.
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
It’s 1 year since President Trump slashed funding to life-saving humanitarian programs around the world. The impact on @cvt.org staff was catastrophic. For some of our refugee clients it was deadly. Or as I explained to the Minnesota @StarTribune… www.startribune.com/ceo-of-cente...
CEO of Center for Victims of Torture: Ending foreign aid slams the door on hope
Our organization, which started 40 years ago at the University of Minnesota, has lost 75% of its budget and had to furlough or lay off 430 employees.
www.startribune.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:08 PM
It’s 1 year since President Trump slashed funding to life-saving humanitarian programs around the world. The impact on @cvt.org staff was catastrophic. For some of our refugee clients it was deadly. Or as I explained to the Minnesota @StarTribune… www.startribune.com/ceo-of-cente...
Reposted by Center for Victims of Torture
More evidence that ICE isn’t about keeping our communities safe.
It’s about terrorizing. Putting us in fear and taking control.
They’re not about immigration.
It’s about terrorizing. Putting us in fear and taking control.
They’re not about immigration.
NEW: 4 CVT clients in asylum processes were detained by ICE and flown to Texas. All were in the U.S. legally. One was detained while going into her workplace; the ICE agents tackled her in the snow in front of her co-workers. Read more: www.cvt.org/statements/f...
January 20, 2026 at 8:24 PM
More evidence that ICE isn’t about keeping our communities safe.
It’s about terrorizing. Putting us in fear and taking control.
They’re not about immigration.
It’s about terrorizing. Putting us in fear and taking control.
They’re not about immigration.