Anti-Immigrant Laws

03/22/2013

Mother Faces Deportation for Having Barking Dogs

By Jennie Pasquarella, ACLU of Southern California & Axel Caballero, Cuéntame at 2:20pm

Where would you expect to find half-a-dozen patrol cars on New Year's Eve? In Bakersfield, California, ranked in the highest ten percent of the most violent cities in America, you'd hope they'd be responding to incidents of violence and preventing murder, rape, and other violent crime. At the very least, you'd expect them to be patrolling for drunk drivers.

Not so. At least not when it comes to prioritizing such matters as "barking dogs." On December 31, 2012, the Kern County Sheriff's Department deployed six police cars and numerous officers at the behest of a resident who called for help from, well, the sounds of two small barking dogs. Her neighbor, Ruth Montaño, a Latina farm-worker, and her three American children owned the dogs.

03/20/2013

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

How to Create an Immigration System That's Worthy of American Values

By Ahilan Arulanantham, ACLU of Southern California at 11:37am

This was cross-posted to The Huffington Post.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values," where I will testify. The hearing will address how our immigration system currently fails to live up to our Constitution because it does not ensure the due process right to a fair day in court before locking someone away for months in an immigration prison or permanently banishing them from our country. Furthermore, although immigration law is formally termed as "civil," this is legal fiction; in reality, it has the hallmark harshness of the criminal justice system. The outcomes of this system are often devastating, not only for the immigrants themselves, but also for their families.

03/12/2013

DREAM Act

Victory! Alabama Lets DREAMers Drive

By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 4:24pm

Alabama officials have announced that young immigrants who came to the country as children—also known as DREAMers—will be allowed to apply for state driver's licenses. The decision affects an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 DREAMers who stand to benefit from the federal government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") program.

The decision is a huge victory for young immigrants like Victor Palafox, a community organizer and aspiring history teacher who lives in the suburbs of Birmingham. Born in Mexico City, he was raised in Alabama, and is actively involved with helping organize communities throughout the state. Alabama's decision will help Victor and DREAMers like him get on with their daily lives—drive to work, go to church, buy groceries, and attend school—and make even greater contributions to their communities.

03/08/2013

Immigration Detention

Immigration Detainees Deserve Fair Hearings

By Michael Kaufman, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Southern California at 11:45am

Apparently as a result of sequester-induced budget cuts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently released hundreds of immigration detainees that it found were not risks either to flee or endanger public safety. The fact that these detainees were locked up in the first place confirms a startling truth about our immigration detention system: the government routinely detains people for no good reason. Even Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised to examine why these detainees were in jail, saying: "That's a good question. I've asked the same question myself...so we're looking into it."

02/28/2013

E-Verify

E-Verify: Immigration Reform Cannot Come at the Expense of the Right to Privacy

By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:13am

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security held a hearing yesterday on E-Verify...

02/21/2013

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The U.S.-Mexico Border: Safer than Ever

By Shawn Jain, ACLU & Vicki B. Gaubeca, ACLU of New Mexico at 10:05am

Over the weekend, "NBC Nightly News" aired a segment on ranchers in rural Arizona concerned with border security. As is so often the case with media coverage of the border, this segment only included one side of the story – ranchers concerned about smugglers. Not included in this piece were the voices of many community members in the southwest—including ranchers – who are critical of the massive scale-up of border security, and the effect that it's had on their communities and ranches. For example, we have heard complaints from ranchers in the New Mexico boot heel region, who are concerned with Border Patrol agents "tearing up their land" or killing their cattle without paying them for their loss.

02/20/2013

Anti-Immigrant Laws

Not the Usual Suspects: E-Verify Worries a Motley Crew

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:39pm

Today the ACLU and a wide variety of other organizations sent a short letter to the Hill describing our concerns with the E-Verify program. These types of letters aren't unusual – in DC groups frequently try to showcase the breadth of support or opposition to particular programs. But what is surprising is how many groups that have little or nothing to do with immigration are worried about E-Verify.

02/07/2013

Immigration Detention

The Problem of Prolonged Incarceration of Immigrants

By Julia Harumi Mass, ACLU of Northern California at 11:24am

Bertha Mejia is a 53-year-old grandmother who fled political violence and sexual abuse in her native El Salvador as a girl. She has four U.S. citizen children and is the primary caretaker for her 9-year-old grandson, Pablo. The victim of rape at the hands of her employer, Ms. Mejia has a strong case for a "U-visa," a type of visa for victims of crime who cooperate with law enforcement. The police have already certified that Ms. Mejia is a victim who has assisted the police in apprehending the perpetrator.

01/29/2013

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ACLU Lens: ACLU Responds to President’s Immigration Announcement

By Vesna Jaksic, ACLU at 4:18pm

The ACLU welcomed President Obama’s announcement earlier today to prioritize federal immigration reform, and stressed the need for a common-sense system that is fair, just and respects everyone’s civil liberties.

The president’s speech in Las Vegas came shortly after a bi-partisan group of senators – ‘the Gang of Eight’ – put forth its proposal. The ACLU has released a framework for immigration reform, which urges policymakers to ensure a crucial set of priorities is adopted in order to ensure people’s civil rights are protected.

01/25/2013

Anti-Immigrant Laws

Border Communities’ Needs in Federal Immigration Reform Legislation

By Vicki B. Gaubeca, ACLU of New Mexico at 1:40pm

While the ACLU is encouraged that there is renewed interest in immigration reform, we urge the Obama Administration to develop and champion proposals that are grounded in Americans’ fundamental values of equality and justice for all. One area of particular concern is the conventional wisdom in some circles about a purported need for additional resources dedicated to border enforcement. Those of us who live in border communities can attest that what is truly needed is more accountability by border enforcement agencies and reducing, not expanding, an already-bloated border enforcement system. This week, the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights submitted a letter to President Obama that makes this case based on values and empirical evidence.

American Civil Liberties Union