Home : Immigrants' Rights

Federal Court Ends County Official's Policy Of Denying Marriage Licenses Based On Immigration Status (02/12/2008)
SCRANTON, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania yesterday approved a consent order ending a Luzerne County official's policy of denying marriage licenses based upon applicants’ immigration status. The order, issued in the case of Buck v. Stankovic, makes permanent a previous court ruling holding that the Luzerne County Register of Wills violated the constitutional rights of marriage license applicants by requiring that they show a green card or current visa in order to obtain a license.

Challenge To Arizona Employer Sanctions Law Continues In Appellate Court (02/07/2008)
PHOENIX - After a Phoenix federal court today issued a decision that would allow Arizona officials to begin enforcement of the so-called Legal Arizona Workers Act on March 1, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) announced that they will ask the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to suspend the Act.

ACLU Asks Esmeralda County To Stop English-Only Rule On School Bus (01/31/2008)
LAS VEGAS – Forbidding Esmeralda County public high school students from speaking Spanish while riding the school bus violates their free speech rights and discriminates against children of Latino backgrounds, charged the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Nevada in a letter sent today to Esmeralda County School District Superintendent Robert Aumaugher. The ACLU requests that the school district rescind the ban on Spanish immediately.

Civil Rights Coalition Condemns Court Decision Upholding Missouri Employer Sanctions Law (01/31/2008)
VALLEY PARK, MO – Today a Missouri federal court upheld the City of Valley Park's so-called "Illegal Immigration Relief Act" that unlawfully punishes business owners and employers who are suspected of hiring undocumented workers.

La ACLU le pide al Distrito Escolar del Condado de Esmeralda que anule la política de prohibirles a los alumnos hablar el español en el autobús escolar (01/31/2008)
LAS VEGAS - El prohibir hablar español a los alumnos de la preparatoria pública, o high school, del Condado de Esmeralda, cuando viajen en el autobús, representa una violación de sus derechos a la libre expresión y discrimina contra los niños de origen latino, acusaron la Unión de Libertades Civiles de los Estados Unidos (American Civil Liberties Union, o ACLU, por sus siglas en inglés) y la ACLU de Nevada, en una carta enviada el día de hoy al Superintendente del Distrito Escolar del Condado de Esmeralda, Robert Aumaugher. La ACLU solicita que el distrito escolar anule de inmediato la prohibición del uso del español.

New York County’s Employment Proposal Is Discriminatory And Unnecessary (01/24/2008)
NEW YORK – A proposal by Suffolk County, New York lawmakers that would require that all 15,000 licensed contractors in the county prove their employees’ working status amounts to political posturing that promotes discrimination, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU Calls Passage of Deaths in Custody Bill a Step in the Right Direction (01/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today supported a bill passed by the House that compels officials to report deaths of prisoners and immigration detainees in local and state custody. The Deaths in Custody Reporting Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), demands accountability and transparency from state and local agencies, where most immigration detainees are held, when people die in custody. The bill does not, however, apply to deaths in federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

Egyptian Torture Victim Released From Immigration Detention (01/15/2008)
SCRANTON, PA - Egyptian national Sameh Khouzam was released from detention today days after a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government cannot rely on secret and unreviewable “assurances” from the Egyptian government that it will not torture him upon his return. Last Thursday, the judge granted Khouzam’s habeas corpus petition and ordered that he be immediately freed from a Pennsylvania prison, where he has been held since May. Khouzam is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Court Rejects Government’s Attempt to Deport Egyptian to Torture (01/10/2008)
SCRANTON, PA – In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge today ordered the government to stop the deportation of Egyptian national Sameh Khouzam based on a secret and unreliable “assurance” from the Egyptian government that it will not torture him upon his return. The judge called for Khouzam’s immediate release from jail under reasonable conditions of supervision and granted his habeas corpus petition. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit on Khouzam’s behalf, applauded the judge’s ruling.