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ACLU of Maryland Launches Immigrants Rights Project (12/10/2008)
BALTIMORE – With the filing of Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests with local governments across the state to help gather information regarding local laws and policies towards immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today announced the creation of our first Immigrants Rights Project. The new initiative will be headed by Skadden Fellow Ajmel Quereshi, who will spend two years in the ACLU of Maryland's office to address a broad range of legal issues affecting the rights of all immigrants in the state.

Federal Court Rejects Bush Administration's Attempt To Deport Torture Victim Without Due Process (12/05/2008)
PHILADELPHIA – Rebuffing the Bush administration's efforts to deport Egyptian torture victim Sameh Khouzam, a federal appeals court today upheld his right to challenge Egypt's "diplomatic assurances" that it will not torture Khouzam upon his return. This is the latest development in an ongoing American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit on behalf of Khouzam.

U.S. Citizen Who Was Illegally Detained and Twice Deported Is Latest Victim of Government's Unconstitutional Immigration Enforcement Policy (10/30/2008)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A U.S. citizen who was illegally detained and twice deported to Mexico said immigration officials refused to believe his claim of citizenship, even when his mother traveled to the border to show Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents his birth certificate.

Attorney General To Reconsider Rules Protecting Immigrants From Lawyers' Mistakes (10/07/2008)
NEW YORK – In a radical departure from years of legal precedent, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is considering ending the practice of allowing immigrants to reopen cases that they lost because of their lawyers' mistakes or incompetence. Mukasey announced that he was considering the issue late this summer and then imposed the unrealistic deadline of October 6 for interested parties to submit briefs, preventing organizations opposing the change, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Bar Association (ABA), from providing a meaningful response.

Governor Signs Important Disaster Victim Protection Bill (09/29/2008)
A bill requiring public employees who provide evacuees with disaster-related assistance to do so without asking for information or documents not strictly necessary to determine eligibility for the services, AB 2327 (Caballero), was signed into law by the governor yesterday. Civil rights organizations that had provided assistance to victims of last year's California wildfires applauded the bill.

Attorney General Mukasey's Order Eliminating "Ineffective Assistance" Right (01/07/2009)

Khouzam v. Chertoff - Decision (12/05/2008)

Castelano, et al. v. Rice, et al. - Second Amended Complaint (09/09/2008)

Attorney General Mukasey's Order Regarding "Ineffective Assistance" Right (09/08/2008)

Objection to Attorney General Mukasey's Orders (08/27/2008)

Coalition Letter to Senators Urging Support of the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act (09/26/2008)
We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support S. 3594, the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, sponsored by Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Kennedy (DMA). We represent a broad group of religious, labor, immigration, asylum/refugee, civil liberties and community groups from across the country.

Immigration Raids: Postville and Beyond (07/31/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) commends the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law for conducting a hearing on July 24, 2008 regarding the Postville, Iowa immigration raid and criminal prosecutions. Many important facts and questions emerged from the oral and written testimony at the hearing. However, many disturbing aspects of this raid have not been fully addressed and many inconsistencies and critical questions remain unanswered.

English and Integration Act Sign-On Letter (07/30/2008)

ACLU Statement for House Homeland Security Committee (07/17/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU") commends the House Committee on Homeland Security for conducting a hearing on the challenges faced by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") in aligning programs, personnel, and resources to achieve border security. The ACLU urges the Committee to exercise rigorous oversight of DHS’s inspection, detention, and deportation practices at the international borders and ports of entry. This written statement addresses a range of problematic DHS practices in immigration interrogation, detention, and removal, as well as DHS’s collection of personal data on millions of U.S. citizens, its use and misuse of that data, and its attempts to build an ever-expanding surveillance infrastructure. Collectively, these practices illustrate how DHS has mismanaged and abused its authority, wasted valuable human resources, and pursued practices that are terrifying immigrant communities around the country.

ACLU testimony before House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees at a hearing regarding immigrant detainee medical care (06/04/2008)

Ineffective Assistance Right for Immigrants (10/07/2008)

American Bar Association (ABA) Letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey (10/06/2008)
ABA letter to Attorney General Mukasey opposing the briefing schedule and the proposed change to the Board of Immigration Appeals requirements governing ineffective assistance of counsel to immigrants in the United States.

ACLU Letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey (10/06/2008)
ACLU letter to Attorney General Mukasey opposing the briefing schedule and the proposed change to the Board of Immigration Appeals requirements governing ineffective assistance of counsel to immigrants in the United States.

Biography of Caroline Cincotta (10/02/2008)

Biography of Michael Tan (10/02/2008)

Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. United States (09/14/2006)
Whether a state conviction for drug possession that would be a misdemeanor under federal law can nonetheless be treated as an "aggravated felony" for immigration purposes, which leads to serious adverse consequences, including ineligibilitiy for political asylum and cancellation of removal. DECIDED

Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. United States (06/21/2006)
Whether a state conviction for drug possession that would be a misdemeanor under federal law can nonetheless be treated as an "aggravated felony" for immigration purposes, which leads to serious adverse consequences, including ineligibilitiy for political asylum and cancellation of removal. DECIDED

Polous Al Matchy v. Mukasey et al. (07/16/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the government in a federal court in Kansas for unlawfully delaying the citizen application of Julian Polous Al Matchy, a highly decorated U.S. Army war hero. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court with the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri in cooperation with the McCrummen Immigration Law Group, LLC against Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller and two officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al. (07/15/2008)
Today, five individuals and Somos America, a Latino community-based coalition, sued Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) and Maricopa County, charging that they or their members were unlawfully stopped and mistreated by law enforcement because they are Latino. The class action lawsuit - which builds upon a complaint filed last December - is before the U.S. District Court in Arizona.