Home : Immigrants' Rights

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.

Lopez-Valenzuela, et al. v. Maricopa County, et al. (04/04/2008)
In April 2006, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund challenged the Arizona anti-immigrant law Proposition 100 in federal court because it violates the Constitution and unjustly denies a select group of people a fair legal process. The law forbids judges from considering bail for criminal defendants who are suspected of having "entered or remained in the United States illegally" and applies to most state felony charges in Arizona, including relatively minor crimes such as shoplifting and possessing a phony ID. As a result of Proposition 100, countless individuals are jailed who pose no risk of flight or danger to others.

Valle del Sol v. Goddard (11/14/2007)
Civil Rights Coalition Argues Arizona Employer Sanctions Law Is Illegal

Cases Challenging Indefinite Detention of Immigrants (10/29/2007)
The ACLU is challenging the incarceration of immigrants in detention centers for prolonged and indefinite periods of time while they fight their immigration cases.

AFL-CIO v. Chertoff (08/29/2007)
AFL-CIO, ACLU and National Immigration Law Center Challenge New Homeland Security Rule

Khouzam v. Chertoff (03/07/2002)
The ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania (2007) prevailed in their case on behalf of an Egyptian Coptic Christian who had been detained and who claimed he had been tortured by the Egyptian government because he refused to convert to Islam. After permitting Sameh Khouzam to stay in the United States for nine years based on evidence that he would probably be tortured if he returned to Egypt, the U.S. government changed its position in 2007 and sought to deport Mr. Khouzam based on diplomatic assurances from the Egyptian government that Mr. Khouzam would not be tortured upon return. As a result of the ACLU's advocacy, a federal court granted Mr. Khouzam an indefinite stay of deportation to Egypt.