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ACLU of Maryland Launches Immigrants Rights Project (12/10/2008)
BALTIMORE – With the filing of Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests with local governments across the state to help gather information regarding local laws and policies towards immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today announced the creation of our first Immigrants Rights Project. The new initiative will be headed by Skadden Fellow Ajmel Quereshi, who will spend two years in the ACLU of Maryland's office to address a broad range of legal issues affecting the rights of all immigrants in the state.

Federal Court Rejects Bush Administration's Attempt To Deport Torture Victim Without Due Process (12/05/2008)
PHILADELPHIA – Rebuffing the Bush administration's efforts to deport Egyptian torture victim Sameh Khouzam, a federal appeals court today upheld his right to challenge Egypt's "diplomatic assurances" that it will not torture Khouzam upon his return. This is the latest development in an ongoing American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit on behalf of Khouzam.

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.

Virtual Fence Should Not Become a Reality (09/10/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing examining what has prevented the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) virtual fence initiative from becoming a reality. The American Civil Liberties Union reaffirms its opposition to the failed and intrusive program that has been besieged with technological difficulties since its inception and calls on Congress to prevent further homeland security resources from being squandered on this effort.

ACLU Sues Governor Over Executive Order on Immigration (09/03/2008)
The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the controversial "immigration executive order" that Governor Donald Carcieri issued in March. Specifically, the lawsuit, filed in R.I. Superior Court by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Randy Olen, challenges the order's requirement that all vendors and contractors with the state participate in the federal employment authorization system known as E-Verify.

ACLU Investigating Largest Immigration Raid In The Country (08/27/2008)
LAUREL, MS - In the wake of the largest workplace immigration raid in the country that involved the arrest of at least 600 workers and reports that raise grave concerns about the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Mississippi officials, the American Civil Liberties Union began an investigation of ICE's conduct and called on the Bush administration to ensure that constitutional rights are scrupulously respected going forward. Staff from the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project arrived in Mississippi today to assess the situation firsthand.

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Unreasonable Delays in Granting Citizenship (08/12/2008)
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA), and the law firms of Stoel Rives and Ropes and Gray today announced that they have reached a preliminary settlement agreement with the federal government in a landmark class action lawsuit.

Justice Inspector General Report Finds Immigration Judges Were Illegally Hired (07/30/2008)
Washington, DC – Today at a hearing on “Politicized Hiring at the Department of Justice,” the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine. In light of a report released on Monday by the DOJ Offices of the Inspector General (“OIG”) and Professional Responsibility (“OPR”) on political hiring, the American Civil Liberties Union urges the Committee to probe the illegal screening process used to hire immigration judges (“IJs”) between 2004 and 2006. The politicization of the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is the largest part of the report, entitled “An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General.” The EOIR includes approximately 200 IJs nationwide who are responsible for deciding over 300,000 cases annually related to asylum, detention, and deportation.

ACLU Applauds Sen. Clinton and Rep. Honda for Language Rights Bill (07/24/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) for introducing a bill that protects the rights of English language learners. “Strengthening Communities Through English and Integration Act of 2008” will increase investment in English literacy programs, business support for adult education and training programs as well as other local strategies for integrating immigrant communities.

Sheriff Arpaio Sued Over Racial Profiling Of Latinos In Maricopa County (07/16/2008)
PHOENIX – 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.

ACLU Sues Government Over Citizenship Delay For Iraq War Hero (07/16/2008)
KANSAS CITY, MO – 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).

ACLU Reacts to DHS OIG Report on ICE Detainee Deaths and Medical Care (07/01/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reacts to the release of the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, “ICE Policies Related to Detainee Deaths and the Oversight of Immigration Detention Facilities.” The report examines two of the 33 detainee deaths reported between January 1, 2005 and May 31, 2007 and DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) standards related to detainee deaths and the medical treatment of immigration detainees.

Community Group Launches "Know Your Rights" Campaign In Response To Growing Repression (07/01/2008)
Members of Volviendo a Vivir, Respect/Respeto, and Unidos en Arizona have teamed up with Copwatch and the ACLU of Arizona to launch the Valley's largest and most wide-reaching "Know Your Rights" effort to date. Event organizers will kick-off the campaign at 10 am on Wednesday, July 2, at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Phoenix.

ACLU In Federal Court Today To Prevent Deportation Of Egyptian To Torture (06/30/2008)
PHILADELPHIA – The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Pennsylvania were in a federal appeals court today challenging the government's efforts to deport an Egyptian torture victim. The government claims to be relying on unreviewable "diplomatic assurances" from Egypt that it will not torture him upon his return. Last January, in the first decision of its kind, a federal district court sided with the ACLU and ordered the government to stop the deportation of Sameh Khouzam based on such secret and unreliable promises and release him under conditions of supervision. However, the Bush administration appealed this ruling, claiming that the executive branch has unfettered authority to deport Khouzam and to detain him indefinitely pending his legal proceedings.

ICE Immigration Raids Are Reckless and Unconstitutional (05/20/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union commends Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and the Workforce Protection Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee for holding today’s hearing on immigration raids and their impact on families and communities. Since late 2006 the Department of Homeland Security Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) section has undertaken an unprecedented campaign of immigration raids in homes, and worksites. The ACLU has challenged the legality and constitutionality of many of these raids including worksite raids conducted in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Van Nuys, California.

ACLU Welcomes Detainee Basic Medical Care Act (05/13/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for introducing the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008. This legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical care for all detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation also requires ICE to report detainee deaths to the DHS and Department of Justice Offices of Inspector General.