Press Releases
about Immigrants' Rights

Families share how Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order upended their hopes, and forced them to consider early births or leaving the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to demand transparency from the Trump administration regarding its treatment of pregnant unaccompanied immigrant youth in federal immigration custody. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the ACLU and NCYL’s February 2025 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records and correspondence from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees the care and custody of unaccompanied immigrant youth until they are placed with a sponsor, usually a family member in the United States. The release of this information is important to monitor whether the Trump administration is ensuring that these marginalized young people have access to the full range of pregnancy-related care while in government custody, as is required by law.

This lawsuit seeks to use several tools, including a state civil rights act, to hold federal immigration agents accountable for violating the rights of a Portland resident who held a lawful visa. In January 2026, federal immigration officers descended on Maine as part of what the federal government has called “Operation Catch the Day.” The federal government claimed the operation targeted “the worst of the worst criminal aliens,” yet in fact it targeted many people who had committed no crimes. Among them was our client, Juan Sebastián Carvajal-Muñoz, a Portland-based civil engineer with a valid visa, who was seized by federal agents.   With the help of the ACLU and other law firms, Mr. Carvajal-Muñoz filed suit to hold the federal agents accountable. This case has significant implications: it could confirm that state laws can authorize individuals to hold federal officials accountable for violating rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Amid rampant abuse by federal agents, state legislatures can pass critical laws that allow people to take federal agents to court for violating their rights.