News & Commentary
Victory! Immigration Authorities Must Stop Coercing Immigrants Into Signing Away Their Rights
One night last summer, Patricia's mother, Marta, did not come home. She had been in poor mental health, but it was unlike her to simply disappear without a word. Marta Mendoza was born in Mexico but lived in the United States for decades, where she raised six U.S. citizen children. As Patricia and her sisters desperately searched their Los Angeles neighborhood for their mother, Marta was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody being pressured to sign a "voluntary return," which would result in her immediate expulsion to Mexico without an immigration hearing. If Marta had been permitted to go before a judge, she could have won the right to remain here lawfully on account of her U.S. citizen children. Patricia didn't hear from her mother until Marta called from Mexico, scared and confused about what had happened to her.
Unfortuna
By By Gabriela Rivera, Staff Attorney, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties & Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties
Illinois Commits to True Sex Equality in the Workplace
Pregnancy shouldn't be a firing offense, but time and time again, when pregnant women ask their employers for reasonable accommodations, they are shown the door.
By By Hedy Gutfreund
The Road To Equality: 'Til Death Do Us Part And Beyond
Life is full of unexpected ups and downs. Sometimes our greatest joys are followed by our deepest sorrows and through the good times and the bad we turn to our loved ones to guide and comfort us.
By By Chase Strangio, Staff Attorney, ACLU
An Execution, Censored
On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett was scheduled to die by lethal injection at the hands of the State of Oklahoma. Under a state law that requires public witnesses to all executions, 12 journalists gathered to observe his death.
By By Lee Rowland, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
Mothers and Children Fleeing Violence Need a Fair Chance
Imagine this: Several months ago, a young mother realized that if she didn't leave home, she would be raped, murdered, or both. She had two young children – an infant and a toddler – and few resources. She knew she couldn't count on the police to protect her. With no other choice, she decided to risk a voyage of more than 2,000 miles north, much of the trip on foot through difficult and dangerous terrain, in the hope that she would find refuge from her persecutors.
By By Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties & James Lyall, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of Arizona
Armed Guards at Every Home: The View from El Salvador
The story always starts the same way: unaccompanied kids, and sometimes whole families, fleeing terrible violence in Central America.
By By Rachel Nusbaum, Media Strategist, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Journalism is Under Attack, and Not Just in Ferguson
It is not a great time to be a journalist in America.
By By Noa Yachot, Communications Strategist, ACLU
There Is No 5-Second Rule for the First Amendment, Ferguson
This piece originally ran at POLITICO.
Tear gas,
By By Lee Rowland, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
For Eric Holder, While He's on the Front Lines in Ferguson
Long after the news cameras leave town, Attorney General Eric Holder wants the people in Ferguson to know he stands with them. He's in Missouri today, visiting the front lines.
By By Jennifer Bellamy, Washington Legislative Office
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