Home : Immigrants' Rights : Secret Evidence

ACLU of Florida Urges Government Prosecutors to Dismiss Remaining Charges Against Sami Al-Arian (01/23/2006)
MIAMI -- Saying that a decision to re-try Dr. Sami Al-Arian following the recent acquittal of all serious charges lodged against him “would appear to be pointless and vindictive,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida to dismiss the remaining charges against Dr. Al-Arian and bring the case to a close.

Court Orders Feds to End Stonewalling and Immediately Process ACLU Request for Torture Records (08/18/2004)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union today won a significant victory in their 10-month struggle to obtain records on the abuse of prisoners held by the United States at detention facilities overseas. In a stinging rebuke, a federal judge ordered the administration to begin honoring an ACLU request under the Freedom of Information Act, saying that the government had dragged its feet for far too long.

ACLU Argues For Expedited Release of Government Documents on Torture of Detainees (08/12/2004)
NEW YORK -The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union urged a federal court today to order the government to release records relating to the treatment of prisoners held by the United States at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities overseas.

ACLU Washington Director Asks Democratic Committee To Include Strong Stand for Civil Liberties in Party Platform (06/19/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Democratic Party Platform Committee to include strong language in its 2004 platform to protect and promote civil liberties.

ACLU Asks Appeals Court to Reconsider Ruling Upholding Closed Hearings in Sept. 11 Immigration Cases (11/22/2002)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that immigration hearings involving people detained after Sept. 11 may be unilaterally closed by the government without the input of a court.

ACLU Files Brief on Behalf of American-Born Taliban Indefinitely Incarcerated without Counsel or Access to Courts (10/25/2002)
RICHMOND, VA -- The national American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Yaser Hamdi, an American citizen who was captured in Afghanistan last November and who has been held incommunicado in a military brig in Norfolk for the last six months. Labeled an "enemy combatant" by the Department of Justice, he is being indefinitely jailed in isolation and without any access to counsel.

ACLU Challenges Palestinian Professor's Detention, Saying Charges of Terrorist Ties Proved Unfounded (05/14/2002)
MIAMI--The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a petition in federal court today arguing that the Immigration and Naturalization Service's continued detention of a Palestinian man violates both federal law and the Constitution. 

ACLU Blasts Attorney General's Move to Subvert Court Order Opening Records of Immigration Detainees (04/18/2002)
WASHINGTON--Attorney General Ashcroft today issued a regulation forbidding non-federal authorities from releasing information about immigration detainees held in state and local facilities, an act the American Civil Liberties Union said was the latest Justice Department attempt to keep its actions shrouded in secrecy. 

Secret Evidence Measure Resoundingly Defeated; ACLU Applauds Senate Vote Favoring Basic Due Process (11/08/2001)
WASHINGTON -- Calling it a victory for basic due process rights, the American Civil Liberties Union applauded the overwhelming defeat in the Senate today of a measure that would have further stripped away the safeguards that exist to prevent the incarceration and deportation of legal residents on the basis of secret evidence. 

Civil Rights Lawyers Fight Government's Efforts to Detain Immigrants on Basis of "Secret Evidence" (11/07/2001)
MIAMI -- Nearly one year after a federal court here ordered the release of a Palestinian immigrant who was jailed for nearly four years on the basis of "secret evidence," the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other rights groups are still fighting the government's efforts to jail immigrants on the basis of evidence kept secret from them and their attorneys. 

Bills Would Ban Use of Secret Evidence (07/15/2001)
WASHINGTON -- Two bills that are now pending before the House Judiciary Committee would bar the government from using secret evidence in cases against immigrants, Newsday reported. 

ACLU Strongly Endorses Legislation To End Use of Secret Evidence in Immigration Proceedings (03/27/2001)
WASHINGTON -- Saying that no one should be deported or kept in jail on the basis of secret evidence, the American Civil Liberties Union strongly endorsed legislation introduced today establishing fair procedures for handling classified information in immigration cases. 

Emergency Motion Filed in Federal Court Seeking Immediate Release of Palestinian Jailed on "Secret Evidence" (12/07/2000)
MIAMI--Two days after a Bradenton immigration judge ordered the release of a 43-year-old man jailed for three-and-a-half years on "secret evidence," his lawyers are still fighting to set him free, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Judge Orders Release of Palestinian Immigrant Jailed by U.S. (12/06/2000)
BRADENTON, FL-- A local immigration judge today ordered the release on bond of Mazen Al Najjar, a Palestinian held for more than three-and-a-half years as a national security threat on the basis of secret evidence that neither he nor his lawyers ever had a chance to see.

Secret Evidence Bill Clears Key Committee Hurdle (09/26/2000)
WASHINGTON -- Saying that using secret evidence to imprison people is unjust and un-American, the American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a House panel's approval of legislation to end the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings. 

Lawyers for Palestinian Jailed on "Secret Evidence" Say INS Judge Flouted Order to Disclose Documents (09/05/2000)
MIAMI, FL - Lawyers for jailed Palestinian immigrant, Dr. Mazen Al-Najjar, filed a motion today asking a federal judge to prohibit the Immigration and Naturalization Service from continuing to detain their client without presenting a summary of the "secret evidence" on which Al-Najjar has been held these past three years.

Florida Court to Hear Arguments Today in "Secret Evidence" Case (08/29/2000)
BRADENTON, FL--At a hearing before an immigration judge today, the American Civil Liberties of Florida will urge the release of Dr. Mazen Al-Najjar -- a Palestinian who has lived in the United States for 18 years -- who has been jailed for more than three years based on secret evidence that the government has refused to reveal.

ACLU Asks Senate to Preserve Civil Liberties While Preventing Terrorism (06/15/2000)
"This report is a virtual smorgasbord of civil liberties violations," said ACLU Legislative Counsel Gregory T. Nojeim, who pointed to a broad range of red flags raised by the Commission's report. 

Attack on Terrorism Misses Target, Hits America's Freedoms Instead, Charges the ACLU (06/05/2000)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today criticized a new report by the National Commission on Terrorism, which included several disturbing recommendations, including putting the Pentagon in charge when there is a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

ACLU Urges Congress to End Use of Secret Evidence (05/23/2000)
WASHINGTON -- Saying that the use of secret evidence to imprison people is unjust and un-American, the American Civil Liberties Union today testified before a House panel to urge Congress to pass legislation that would end the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings.