News & Commentary

This week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally announced the creation of a “Commission on Unalienable Rights.” Its stated purpose, according to a notice published in the Federal Register in May, is to provide “fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation’s founding principles of natural law and natural rights.” The Trump administration’s

In February 2017, two U.S. CBP officers stood on a jet bridge at New York’s JFK Airport to meet Delta Flight 1583 as it taxied to the gate upon arrival from San Francisco. As passengers prepared to deplane, they were told by flight attendants — at the direction of the two officers — that all passengers would have to show identification documents to the officers in order to exit. The passengers were held on the plane as the CBP officers, standing immediately outside the aircraft door, scrutinized each traveler's identification upon exit. Passengers were confused, nervous, and afraid, and felt they had no choice but to comply. When some passengers ask

The world has watched in horror as migrant families have been forcibly separated, placed into camps, and subjected to the cruel conditions of detention, as part of the Trump administration’s sustained assault on immigrant rights. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) proposed “mixed status” rule is yet another form of family separation, with clear negative implications for survivors of domestic violence. That’s why today the ACLU, ACLU of California and other state affiliates filed public comments condemning the proposed rule, joining the ranks of the National Housing Law Project, National Low Income Housing Coalition, and countless other advocates. On May 10, 2019, HUD proposed a rule that will effectively evict tens of thousands of

I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in “Camp J,” one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America’s most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. Back then I didn’t know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that

President Trump has told the Supreme Court it should be legal to fire someone just because they’re LGBTQ.  The President may be a bully, but he’s just one voice.  Today, more than 2,000 voices from across the country joined together to tell the Supreme Court:  Don’t roll back our rights. The message came in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs—ne

On November 6, 2018, nearly 65 percent of Florida voters—more than 5 million people—resoundingly approved Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over a million of their fellow citizens. By passing Amendment 4, Floridians successfully ushered in the largest expansion of the electorate in nearly 50 years. The people of Florida did it on their own, using a constitutional ballot initiative, to finally achieve change where Florida politicians had failed. Instead of celebrating this progress, Florida politicians are trying to destroy it

On November 6, 2018, nearly 65 percent of Florida voters—more than 5 million people—resoundingly approved Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over a million of their fellow citizens. By passing Amendment 4, Floridians successfully ushered in the largest expansion of the electorate in nearly 50 years. The people of Florida did it on their own, using a constitutional ballot initiative, to finally achieve change where Florida politicians had failed. Instead of celebrating this progress, Florida politicians are trying to destroy it

The images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who lost their lives trying to seek refuge in the United States, have left us haunted. They serve as an ever-important reminder of the urgency of the fight for immigrant justice on our southern border and the need to stand up to the Trump administration's policies denying humanitarian protection and basic due process to families fleeing for their lives.  We remain at the frontlines of the family separation fight. In early 2018, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit to stop the s

The images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who lost their lives trying to seek refuge in the United States, have left us haunted. They serve as an ever-important reminder of the urgency of the fight for immigrant justice on our southern border and the need to stand up to the Trump administration's policies denying humanitarian protection and basic due process to families fleeing for their lives.  We remain at the frontlines of the family separation fight. In early 2018, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit to stop the s