Immigrants' Rights
No Human Being Is Illegal
Upholding the rights of immigrants is important to us all. The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every "person" and are not limited to citizens.
When the government has the power to deny legal rights and due process to one vulnerable group, everyone’s rights are at risk. The ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project is dedicated to expanding and enforcing the civil liberties and civil rights of immigrants and to combating public and private discrimination against them.
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Your support helps the ACLU defend immigrants’ rights and other civil liberties.
Using targeted impact litigation, advocacy and public outreach, the Project carries on the ACLU’s commitment to protecting the rights and liberties of immigrants. For 25 years, the Project has been at the forefront of almost every major legal struggle on behalf of immigrants’ rights, focusing on challenging laws that deny immigrants’ access to the courts, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and discriminate on the basis of nationality. In addition, the Project has challenged constitutional abuses that arise from immigration enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels, including litigation against anti-immigrant “show me your papers” laws at the state level, local anti-immigrant employment and housing laws, improper enforcement of federal immigration laws by local law enforcement, and worksite and home raids.
From federal district and appellate courts across the country to the Supreme Court, the Project conducts the nation’s largest impact litigation program dedicated to defending and expanding the rights of immigrants, enforcing the guarantees of the Constitution, and achieving equal justice under the law.
Immigration Reform 2013: An immigration reform bill introduced in April 2013 in the Senate has the potential to be a historic advance for the civil rights and liberties of immigrants and all Americans. If passed, it will put millions of immigrants who contribute every day to the vitality of our country on a road to citizenship.
State Anti-Immigrant Laws: The ACLU is fighting back against anti-immigrant laws inspired by Arizona’s notorious SB 1070 through impact litigation and legislative advocacy.
Local Anti-Immigrant Laws: The ACLU is at the forefront of challenging anti-immigrant laws at the local level.
Immigration Detention: The ACLU is leading the battle against arbitrary mass immigration detention and inhumane detention conditions through impact litigation and administrative advocacy.
Immigration Enforcement: The ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project is committed to challenging abusive and discriminatory immigration enforcement practices wherever they occur.
ACLU Framework on Immigration Reform: As President Obama and Congress take up immigration reform, the ACLU urges policymakers to endorse and promote a certain set of priorities.
