Home : Immigrants' Rights : Local & State Measures

Enforcement of the nation's immigration laws should be left to the federal government and to the federal government alone. However, across the country states, counties and towns are attempting to override national law and policy by passing their own anti-immigrant laws and using local law enforcement as immigration agents. This patchwork of conflicting requirements based on local politics and conditions is leading to the breakdown of meaningful national immigration policy and is making us less safe when members of our community fear reporting crimes to the police.

Farmers Branch, Texas Anti-Immigrant Ordinance Is Blocked While Challenge Continues (09/22/2008)
DALLAS – City officials in Farmers Branch, Texas today agreed not to fight a request from residents to block the city's latest anti-immigrant ordinance from taking effect while a legal challenge continues. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed a request in federal court on the residents' behalf for a preliminary injunction blocking the ordinance. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas is expected to enter the injunction today.

ACLU And MALDEF File Lawsuit To Stop Farmers Branch Newest Anti-Immigrant Ordinance (09/15/2008)
DALLAS – Friday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a complaint in federal court charging that Farmers Branch Ordinance 2952 violates the U.S. Constitution and federal and state statutes. The ordinance, which requires all renters in Farmers Branch to register their presence with the City and obtain an occupancy license, is the city's third effort to restrict residency in Farmers Branch.

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.

Court Blocks Local Arizona Anti-Solicitation Law (08/08/2008)
PHOENIX – The U.S District Court in Phoenix today blocked the town of Cave Creek, Arizona from enforcing an anti-solicitation ordinance that infringes on the free speech rights of day laborers in that town. The order ensures that day laborers will be able to exercise their constitutional rights by expressing their availability to work in public areas.

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.

Reyes et al. v. City of Farmers Branch - Complaint (09/12/2008)

Lopez, et al. vs. Town of Cave Creek, et. al. - Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (08/08/2008)

Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al. - First Amended Complaint (07/16/2008)

Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al. - Order Granting Motion For Leave To Amend Complaint (07/16/2008)

Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al. - Exhibit A To Memorandum Of Agreement (07/16/2008)

ACLU of Virginia Letter to Prince William County Board of Supervisors (07/09/2007)

Escondido, Calif., Resolution No. 2007-16 and Final Statement (01/10/2007)
Escondido, California's, Resolution No. 2007-16 and final statement.

Farmers Branch, Texas, Ordinance No. 2892 (01/02/2007)

Hazleton, Pa., Ordinance No. 2006-40 (12/26/2006)
Entitled "Illegal Immigration Relief Act Implementation Amendment," this ordinance is the third version of the city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

Hazleton, Pa., Ordinance No. 2006-35 (12/13/2006)

Letter from Mayor to Attorney General Requesting Civil Rights Investigation of Maricopa County Sheriff (04/04/2008)
Letter from Phil Gordon, Mayor of Phoenix, to U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey requesting civil rights investigation of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Letter from Esmeralda County School District Superintendent Robert Aumaugher Regarding the Speaking of Spanish on School Busses (02/12/2008)

Letter to Esmeralda County School District Superintendent Robert Aumaugher (01/31/2008)
Letter from the ACLU of Nevada and the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project requesting Aumaugher to reconsider and rescind the school district's policy prohibiting public high school students in the district from speaking Spanish while riding the school bus.

Anti-Immigrant Ordinances: Cherokee County, Ga. (01/19/2007)

Anti-Immigrant Ordinances: Farmers Branch, Texas (01/05/2007)

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).

Lopez-Valenzuela, et al. v. Maricopa County, et al. (04/04/2008)
In April 2006, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund challenged the Arizona anti-immigrant law Proposition 100 in federal court because it violates the Constitution and unjustly denies a select group of people a fair legal process. The law forbids judges from considering bail for criminal defendants who are suspected of having "entered or remained in the United States illegally" and applies to most state felony charges in Arizona, including relatively minor crimes such as shoplifting and possessing a phony ID. As a result of Proposition 100, countless individuals are jailed who pose no risk of flight or danger to others.