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U.S. Citizen Who Was Illegally Detained and Twice Deported Is Latest Victim of Government's Unconstitutional Immigration Enforcement Policy (10/30/2008)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A U.S. citizen who was illegally detained and twice deported to Mexico said immigration officials refused to believe his claim of citizenship, even when his mother traveled to the border to show Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents his birth certificate.

Attorney General To Reconsider Rules Protecting Immigrants From Lawyers' Mistakes (10/07/2008)
NEW YORK – In a radical departure from years of legal precedent, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is considering ending the practice of allowing immigrants to reopen cases that they lost because of their lawyers' mistakes or incompetence. Mukasey announced that he was considering the issue late this summer and then imposed the unrealistic deadline of October 6 for interested parties to submit briefs, preventing organizations opposing the change, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Bar Association (ABA), from providing a meaningful response.

Governor Signs Important Disaster Victim Protection Bill (09/29/2008)
A bill requiring public employees who provide evacuees with disaster-related assistance to do so without asking for information or documents not strictly necessary to determine eligibility for the services, AB 2327 (Caballero), was signed into law by the governor yesterday. Civil rights organizations that had provided assistance to victims of last year's California wildfires applauded the bill.

ACLU Applauds Senators Menendez and Kennedy for Bill to Protect U.S. Citizens from Unlawful Detention and Deportation (09/26/2008)
Washington, DC – Last night, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation to protect U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from being unlawfully detained and deported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the wake of sweeping immigration raids that have devastated communities across the country, the ACLU welcomes this bill, S.3594, The Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, as the first legislation to require DHS to follow due process standards in executing immigration raids.

ACLU Calls Immigrant Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 Long Overdue (09/17/2008)
Washington, DC – Today for the second time in two weeks, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical and mental health care for all detainees held by DHS Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ACLU urges the House Judiciary Committee members to vote for H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008, introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). This bill is the first congressional action to provide basic medical care of immigration detainees after months of compelling TV and newspaper exposes detailing deficient medical care and over 60 immigration detention deaths.

Castelano, et al. v. Rice, et al. - Second Amended Complaint (09/09/2008)

Attorney General Mukasey's Order Regarding "Ineffective Assistance" Right (09/08/2008)

Objection to Attorney General Mukasey's Orders (08/27/2008)

Attorney General Mukasey's Order Regarding "Ineffective Assistance" Right (08/07/2008)

Polous Al Matchy v. Mukasey et al. - Exhibit 2 (07/16/2008)

Coalition Letter to Senators Urging Support of the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act (09/26/2008)
We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support S. 3594, the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, sponsored by Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Kennedy (DMA). We represent a broad group of religious, labor, immigration, asylum/refugee, civil liberties and community groups from across the country.

Immigration Raids: Postville and Beyond (07/31/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) commends the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law for conducting a hearing on July 24, 2008 regarding the Postville, Iowa immigration raid and criminal prosecutions. Many important facts and questions emerged from the oral and written testimony at the hearing. However, many disturbing aspects of this raid have not been fully addressed and many inconsistencies and critical questions remain unanswered.

English and Integration Act Sign-On Letter (07/30/2008)

ACLU Statement for House Homeland Security Committee (07/17/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU") commends the House Committee on Homeland Security for conducting a hearing on the challenges faced by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") in aligning programs, personnel, and resources to achieve border security. The ACLU urges the Committee to exercise rigorous oversight of DHS’s inspection, detention, and deportation practices at the international borders and ports of entry. This written statement addresses a range of problematic DHS practices in immigration interrogation, detention, and removal, as well as DHS’s collection of personal data on millions of U.S. citizens, its use and misuse of that data, and its attempts to build an ever-expanding surveillance infrastructure. Collectively, these practices illustrate how DHS has mismanaged and abused its authority, wasted valuable human resources, and pursued practices that are terrifying immigrant communities around the country.

ACLU testimony before House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees at a hearing regarding immigrant detainee medical care (06/04/2008)

Ineffective Assistance Right for Immigrants (10/07/2008)

American Bar Association (ABA) Letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey (10/06/2008)
ABA letter to Attorney General Mukasey opposing the briefing schedule and the proposed change to the Board of Immigration Appeals requirements governing ineffective assistance of counsel to immigrants in the United States.

ACLU Letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey (10/06/2008)
ACLU letter to Attorney General Mukasey opposing the briefing schedule and the proposed change to the Board of Immigration Appeals requirements governing ineffective assistance of counsel to immigrants in the United States.

Biography of Caroline Cincotta (10/02/2008)

Biography of Michael Tan (10/02/2008)

Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. United States (09/14/2006)
Whether a state conviction for drug possession that would be a misdemeanor under federal law can nonetheless be treated as an "aggravated felony" for immigration purposes, which leads to serious adverse consequences, including ineligibilitiy for political asylum and cancellation of removal. DECIDED

Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. United States (06/21/2006)
Whether a state conviction for drug possession that would be a misdemeanor under federal law can nonetheless be treated as an "aggravated felony" for immigration purposes, which leads to serious adverse consequences, including ineligibilitiy for political asylum and cancellation of removal. DECIDED

Polous Al Matchy v. Mukasey et al. (07/16/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the government in a federal court in Kansas for unlawfully delaying the citizen application of Julian Polous Al Matchy, a highly decorated U.S. Army war hero. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court with the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri in cooperation with the McCrummen Immigration Law Group, LLC against Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller and two officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al. (07/15/2008)
Today, five individuals and Somos America, a Latino community-based coalition, sued Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) and Maricopa County, charging that they or their members were unlawfully stopped and mistreated by law enforcement because they are Latino. The class action lawsuit - which builds upon a complaint filed last December - is before the U.S. District Court in Arizona.

U.S. Citizen Who Was Illegally Detained and Twice Deported Is Latest Victim of Government's Unconstitutional Immigration Enforcement Policy (10/30/2008)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A U.S. citizen who was illegally detained and twice deported to Mexico said immigration officials refused to believe his claim of citizenship, even when his mother traveled to the border to show Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents his birth certificate.

Attorney General To Reconsider Rules Protecting Immigrants From Lawyers' Mistakes (10/07/2008)
NEW YORK – In a radical departure from years of legal precedent, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is considering ending the practice of allowing immigrants to reopen cases that they lost because of their lawyers' mistakes or incompetence. Mukasey announced that he was considering the issue late this summer and then imposed the unrealistic deadline of October 6 for interested parties to submit briefs, preventing organizations opposing the change, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Bar Association (ABA), from providing a meaningful response.

Governor Signs Important Disaster Victim Protection Bill (09/29/2008)
A bill requiring public employees who provide evacuees with disaster-related assistance to do so without asking for information or documents not strictly necessary to determine eligibility for the services, AB 2327 (Caballero), was signed into law by the governor yesterday. Civil rights organizations that had provided assistance to victims of last year's California wildfires applauded the bill.

ACLU Applauds Senators Menendez and Kennedy for Bill to Protect U.S. Citizens from Unlawful Detention and Deportation (09/26/2008)
Washington, DC – Last night, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation to protect U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from being unlawfully detained and deported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the wake of sweeping immigration raids that have devastated communities across the country, the ACLU welcomes this bill, S.3594, The Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, as the first legislation to require DHS to follow due process standards in executing immigration raids.

ACLU Calls Immigrant Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 Long Overdue (09/17/2008)
Washington, DC – Today for the second time in two weeks, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical and mental health care for all detainees held by DHS Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ACLU urges the House Judiciary Committee members to vote for H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008, introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). This bill is the first congressional action to provide basic medical care of immigration detainees after months of compelling TV and newspaper exposes detailing deficient medical care and over 60 immigration detention deaths.