Archive

SAN DIEGO – As San Diego County struggles to address a growing migrant shelter crisis, Governor Gavin Newsom today unveiled his proposed budget for the 2019-20 Fiscal Year that includes a $25 million General Fund investment (including $5 million to be made available this year) for a community-based rapid response program for nonprofit first responders helping migrant families seeking protection fr... Read More

On Tuesday night, President Trump will address the nation in a primetime speech in which he’ll make his case for a 1,000-mile border wall, followed by a trip to South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley on Thursday. But Trump’s characterization of the situation on the southwest border is driven not by facts but by his own nativist agenda and political obsession with building a wall. In advance of the spee... Read More

BANGKOK — Google today made it clear that it has not, and will not, sell a facial recognition surveillance product until the technology’s dangers are addressed, citing its susceptibility to abuse. Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, issued the following comment in response: “This is a strong first step. Google today demon... Read More

WASHINGTON — Reports released today indicate that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are using tear gas against migrants attempting to seek asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry at the Mexico/California border. Lorella Praeli, deputy political director at the ACLU, had the following response: “Under no circumstances should CBP be using tear gas on children. This show of violence is ... Read More

San Francisco — A federal court issued a ruling on Friday that halts a Trump administration policy that blocked hundreds of lawful permanent residents from serving in the U.S. military. Judge Jon S. Tigar granted a preliminary injunction, holding that the Department of Defense likely violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act after it implemented a policy discriminating against lawful pe... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Constitutional Rights have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the asylum ban proclamation signed this morning by President Trump. The lawsuit currently charges the administration with violating the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as the Administrative Procedure Act. “President Trump’s new... Read More

UPDATE, Nov. 20, 2018: Late Monday night, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump’s asylum ban while the suit moves forward. The order will be in effect until Dec. 19 at least, when there will be another hearing on the ban. In his order, Judge Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco wrote, “The rule barring asylum for immigrants who enter the ... Read More

New York — In response to reports that President Trump has asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony D. Romero issued the following statement: Jeff Sessions was the worst attorney general in modern American history. He was an egregious violator of civil rights and civil liberties. From his plot to deport Dreamers, remove police and... Read More

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government impose criminal liability on correctional facility staff who have sexual contact with people in their custody. These laws recognize that any sexual activity between detainees and detention facility staff, with or without the use of force, is unlawful because of the inherent power imbalance when people are in custody. Yet, one... Read More

NEW YORK — President Trump is reportedly considering issuing an executive order that attempts to end birthright citizenship in the United States. Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had this reaction: The president cannot erase the Constitution with an executive order, and the 14th Amendment's citizenship guarantee is clear. This is a transparent and blatantly unc... Read More