Home : Immigrants' Rights

New York County’s Employment Proposal Is Discriminatory And Unnecessary (01/24/2008)
NEW YORK – A proposal by Suffolk County, New York lawmakers that would require that all 15,000 licensed contractors in the county prove their employees’ working status amounts to political posturing that promotes discrimination, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU Calls Passage of Deaths in Custody Bill a Step in the Right Direction (01/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today supported a bill passed by the House that compels officials to report deaths of prisoners and immigration detainees in local and state custody. The Deaths in Custody Reporting Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), demands accountability and transparency from state and local agencies, where most immigration detainees are held, when people die in custody. The bill does not, however, apply to deaths in federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

Egyptian Torture Victim Released From Immigration Detention (01/15/2008)
SCRANTON, PA - Egyptian national Sameh Khouzam was released from detention today days after a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government cannot rely on secret and unreviewable “assurances” from the Egyptian government that it will not torture him upon his return. Last Thursday, the judge granted Khouzam’s habeas corpus petition and ordered that he be immediately freed from a Pennsylvania prison, where he has been held since May. Khouzam is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Court Rejects Government’s Attempt to Deport Egyptian to Torture (01/10/2008)
SCRANTON, PA – In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge today ordered the government to stop the deportation of Egyptian national Sameh Khouzam based on a secret and unreliable “assurance” from the Egyptian government that it will not torture him upon his return. The judge called for Khouzam’s immediate release from jail under reasonable conditions of supervision and granted his habeas corpus petition. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit on Khouzam’s behalf, applauded the judge’s ruling.

ACLU Argues in Federal Court Today That Prolonged Indefinite Detention of Immigrants Is Illegal (01/07/2008)
PASADENA, CA – In a federal appellate court in California today, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that the government is violating the law and the court’s prior rulings by incarcerating immigrants in detention centers for prolonged and indefinite periods of time while they fight their immigration cases.

Civil Rights Coalition Continues to Challenge Arizona Employer Sanctions Law (12/21/2007)
PHOENIX – A Phoenix federal court today declined to issue an order suspending the so-called Legal Arizona Workers Act from going into effect on January 1, 2008. The law would compel businesses to check the work authorization status of employees using the Department of Homeland Security’s Basic Pilot program (recently renamed e-Verify) and would institute new state-based penalties, including the revocation of business licenses without federal authorization.

Civil Rights Coalition Files New Lawsuit Challenging Arizona Employer Sanctions Law (12/12/2007)
PHOENIX – A coalition of civil rights groups filed a new lawsuit in a Phoenix federal court today charging that the so-called Legal Arizona Workers Act unlawfully requires businesses to participate in a flawed work authorization verification database, lacks due process protections, improperly threatens businesses with a “business death penalty” that interferes with federal law, and would lead to discrimination against workers who are perceived as being foreign born.

ACLU Says Mayor Gordon’s Immigration Scheme Will Erode Immigrants' Willingness to Cooperate With Police (12/12/2007)
PHOENIX – In a letter sent today to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona urged the mayor to abandon plans to use local police to enforce complex immigration laws, saying the proposal is a sure-fire way to reduce immigrants' willingness to cooperate with authorities in the fight against crime.

Groups Sue to Stop Excessive Citizenship Delays (12/05/2007)
LOS ANGELES - Many immigrants who have satisfied the requirements to become U.S. citizens are left in limbo for months or years due to slow processing of FBI name checks, according to a class-action lawsuit to be filed in federal court. The delays violate time limits in the law that are meant to reduce naturalization backlogs while ensuring national security.

ACLU Responds to Chertoff’s Attack on “No Match” Rule (12/05/2007)
NEW YORK -- During the Thanksgiving holiday, the federal government announced that it would abandon its proposed Department of Homeland Security "no match" rule which would use error-prone social security records as a tool for immigration enforcement. This came after a federal court found that the rule could cause citizens and other authorized workers to lose their jobs. The government first said that it would put forward a new rule it claims would be in accordance with the court’s decision. But yesterday, in a seemingly inconsistent maneuver, the government announced that it would simultaneously appeal the federal court’s decision blocking the original rule.