News

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court’s preliminary injunction in Texas, et al. v. U.S., enjoining President Obama’s immigration executive action initiatives. Read More

Today Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), and other members of the Legislature unveiled legislation that would enhance protections for undocumented Californians. Read More

Today, the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that from January 2 through February 20 of this year, 110,000 undocumented Californians had earned drivers' licenses under AB 60, the state's Safe and Responsible Driver Act. Read More

Today the ACLU of California unveiled plans to expand its advocacy work through its legislative office, the Sacramento-based Center for Advocacy and Policy. The organization also welcomed Natasha Minsker as Center Director and Kevin Baker as Legislative Director. Read More

A federal court judge has certified a nationwide class, and rejected the government’s motion to dismiss, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of certain asylum seekers who are detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for months while they await screening interviews that allow them to proceed on their claims for protection in U.S. immigration courts. Read More

The ACLU of California celebrates the President's move to keep millions of families together by protecting an estimated 1.6 million undocumented Californians from deportation. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of a fight in addressing our broken immigration system. The ACLU remains committed to expanding relief to all immigrants and preventing further militarization of border. Read More

Today, California's Department of Motor Vehicles issued emergency regulations that will determine how driver’s licenses are granted to undocumented immigrants under California's AB 60 (Alejo). The DMV’s emergency regulations are effective for 180 days. Responding to community suggestions raised at hearings in Oakland and Los Angeles, the new regulations expand the types of documents which immigran... Read More

On Sunday, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 873, a bill which will set aside $3 million to provide legal aid to refugee children fleeing endemic violence in their home countries. In response, the ACLU of California issued the following statement: "While the ACLU of California applauds California lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown for taking important steps to ensure that some children aren't fo... Read More

Today a broad coalition of organizations commends Governor Brown for signing Senate Bill 1159, a bill that improves access to economic opportunities to immigrants in California. The bill, by Senator Ricardo Lara (D), allows qualified individuals to obtain professional licenses, regardless of immigration status. Thus California continues to lead the way in fully incorporating immigrants as contribu... Read More

Today, the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that the design for drivers' licenses for undocumented residents under California's AB 60 has been finalized. The front of the license will state "Federal limits may apply" on the top-right corner; the additional sentence on the back will remain as previously proposed. In response to this development, the Drive California coalition issue... Read More

Today the ACLU of California and the American Friends Service Committee released a report confirming the Latino community’s experience of being targeted for suspected unlicensed driving by California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers in Fresno County, with two officers being largely responsible for the racially disparate impact. Read More

Our immigration system is broken. The ACLU joins millions of Americans in calling on our representatives to fix it in a way that stays true to those values. Read More