News

Immigrants detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility and the Yuba County Jail filed a class action lawsuit against ICE asking for immediate release of detainees from fundamentally unsafe conditions which endanger their health and lives. Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has ordered the release of two more detained immigrants in ICE detention centers in California on the grounds that their age and medical conditions make them especially vulnerable to a potentially fatal COVID-19 infection. As of today, eight of twelve plaintiffs who sued for their release have been or are scheduled to be freed. The decision by U.S. District Judge M... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has ordered the release of four immigrants detained in two ICE detention centers in California on the grounds that their age and medical conditions make them especially vulnerable to the potentially fatal COVID-19 infection. “None of these [individuals] is in a position to meaningfully limit his exposure to COVID-19 while at Yuba or Mesa Verde,” Judge Chesney aff... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a preliminary injunction in a class action lawsuit against the federal government filed by two Bay Area fathers who were denied bond hearings and held in ICE detention at the Contra Costa West County Detention Facility in Richmond. “We are gratified that the Ninth Circuit recognized that our clients cannot be held for lengthy peri... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, thirteen immigrants detained in two ICE detention centers in California filed a lawsuit in federal district court against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement calling for their immediate release. Because of their advanced age and underlying medical conditions, the 13 plaintiffs are especially vulnerable to the potentially fatal COVID-19 infection while they are confi... Read More

ACLU of Northern California urges you to develop and implement holistic policies that align with guidance from public health experts and that will minimize the harm inflicted on people involved in the criminal legal system – and, by extension, the harm inflicted on broader communities. Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — In March, the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC) hired an Indigenous Education Advocate. This newly created position is part of a larger collaboration between NCIDC and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, aimed at advancing educational equity for Native American students in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties and adjacent tribal lan... Read More

On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Public Safety Committee voted to approve an ordinance that would bring oversight to government use of surveillance technology, prohibit government use of facial recognition, and ban government use of predictive policing technology. Read More

SACRAMENTO — A partial company list published today in an expose by Buzzfeed confirms that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and at least one California law enforcement agency have teamed up with Clearview AI to run people’s faces against the company’s shadily-assembled database of billions of photos. In fact, according to Buzzfeed, ICE agents have run more than 8,000 searches from about 60 acco... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Under a proposed settlement announced today between the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) and a class of homeless people whose property was taken by Caltrans crews in sweeps of their encampments, Caltrans will establish a $1.3 million fund to compensate people for the loss of property that was destroyed in the sweeps. In addition, Caltrans will be required to ado... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – The City of San Francisco has agreed to financially compensate seven black men and women who were purportedly arrested for selling small amounts of drugs by the San Francisco Police Department, which targeted them for federal criminal prosecution because of their race, while ignoring people of other races engaged in the same activity. In a $225,000 settlement, the City of San Fr... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — As the ACLU celebrates 100 years of landmark civil rights work nationwide, the ACLU of Northern California is simultaneously releasing the digital archives of our membership newsletter, in partnership with the California Historical Society. This treasure trove of civil liberties history, including every issue of the ACLU News newsletter dating back to 1936, will now be digitally... Read More