It was 75 years ago that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which began the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Tens of thousands of American citizens were declared dangerous to domestic security and forced to go to internment camps in isolated areas across the Western United States.
ACLU of Northern CA statement on our fight against the Muslim ban.
Today, President Trump and his new administration confirmed the institution of draconian, punitive, and discriminatory immigration policies that ignore the lessons of the last 30 years of immigration policy and betray our most basic values as a state and as a nation. These policies not only signal widespread violation of the rights of immigrants and citizens, but will waste resources, drive fear into our communities, foster bigotry, and make us all less safe.
Among some of the most problematic directives in the Executive Orders are:
Everyone has a right to safe, clean, affordable drinking water. And the news this week means we’re going to have to shout it from the rooftops. Water is life. Water is a human right.
The ACLU of Northern California stands in support of the Movement for Black Lives. As we prepare to enter the presidency of a man who has called for the adoption of racist policies like Stop-and-Frisk and nominated an opponent of civil rights to run the Department of Justice, it is more important than ever that we actively resist the unrelenting oppression of Black people.
Real change starts with you – and every one of us can help make a difference.