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ACLU Welcomes Immigration Detention Medical Treatment Legislation The ACLU applauds Representative Lofgren for introducing H.R. 5950, 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. More >> LEARN MORE > Medical Care in Immigrant Detention ACLU Applauds Repeal of Anti-Immigrant Ordinance in Riverside, N.J. The ACLU praised the Riverside, N.J., township council for voting to repeal an unlawful ordinance that would have punished landlords and employers for renting to or employing individuals it classified as "illegal" immigrants. > ACLU Applauds Repeal of Anti-Immigrant Ordinance in Riverside, N.J. > Learn more about the ordinance in Riverside, N.J. Landmark Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Conditions at Hutto Detention Center On August 27, the ACLU announced a landmark settlement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that greatly improves conditions for immigrant children and their families in the T. Don Hutto detention center in Taylor, Texas. Learn More >> > Landmark Settlement Announced in Federal Lawsuit Challenging Conditions at Immigrant Detention Center in Texas (8/27/2007) VICTORY! Federal Court Strikes Down Hazleton's Anti-Immigrant Ordinance On July 26, 2007, in the first trial decision of its kind, a federal court has declared unconstitutional a local ordinance that sought to punish landlords and employers for doing business with undocumented immigrants. The landmark decision in the closely-watched challenge to Hazleton's anti-immigrant ordinance held that the ordinance cannot be enforced. Learn more >> > Federal Court Strikes Down Discriminatory Anti-Immigrant Law in Hazleton, Pennsylvania (7/26/2007) > EN ESPAÑOL: Tribunal Federal Rechaza Ley Anti-Inmigrante Discriminatoria, de Hazleton, Pennsylvania (7/26/2007) ACLU Calls on Congress to Improve and Codify Immigration Detention Standards Nearly 300,000 men, women, and children are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) each year, the majority of whom have no criminal history whatsoever. Thousands arrived on our shores fleeing persecution and torture, only to be locked up like criminals in one of over 400 detention facilities around the country. Congress must ensure that detained immigrants receive treatment that reflects America's fundamental values. Learn more >> San Diego Correctional Facility Poor Health Care at Detention Facility Blamed for Deaths On June 13, 2007, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of immigrant detainees at San Diego Correctional Facility (SDCF), charging that inadequate medical and mental health care have caused unnecessary suffering and, in several cases, avoidable death. Learn more >> Know Your Rights Immigrant Marches / Marchas de los Inmigrantes EN ESPAÑOL Acerca de la Union Americana de Libertades Civiles   MULTIMEDIA ACLU of Tampa board member Carol Mehlman talks about immigrants' rights Air America's Rachel Maddow and MSNBC's Tucker Carlson discuss immigration Every wave of immigration into the United States has faced fear and hostility, especially during times of economic hardship, political turmoil, or war: in 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of our nation's first immigration laws, to keep out all people of Chinese origin during the "Red Scare" of the 1920s, thousands of foreign-born people suspected of political radicalism were arrested and brutalized; many were deported without a hearing. in 1942, 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were interned in camps until the end of World War II. It is true that the Constitution does not give foreigners the right to enter the U.S. But once here, it protects them from discrimination based on race and national origin and from arbitrary treatment by the government. Immigrants work and pay taxes; legal immigrants are subject to the military draft. Many immigrants have lived in this country for decades, married U.S. citizens, and raised their U.S.-citizen children. Laws that punish them violate their fundamental right to fair and equal treatment.

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Unreasonable Delays in Granting Citizenship (8/12/2008)
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.

Court Blocks Local Arizona Anti-Solicitation Law (8/8/2008)
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.

ACLU Rebukes House for Passing Problematic E-Verify System (8/1/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union rebukes the U.S. House of Representatives for this evening’s reauthorization of the national voluntary employment-verification program (E-Verify). The House has extended a system proven to be ineffective in verifying potential employees’ work status. It has been plagued with errors and has prevented innocent applicants from working.

ACLU Obtains Government Manual For Prepackaged Guilty Pleas For Prosecution Of Immigrant Workers In Postville, Iowa (7/31/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union obtained a government "manual" distributed to defense lawyers assigned to represent immigrant workers arrested and prosecuted in last May's Postville, Iowa meatpacking raids. The document – posted on the ACLU Web site today – contains prepackaged scripts for plea and sentencing hearings as well as documents providing for guilty pleas and waivers of rights that were used to push the more than 300 Postville workers through mass criminal proceedings as quickly as possible.

Justice Inspector General Report Finds Immigration Judges Were Illegally Hired (7/30/2008)
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.