ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project

The Immigrants’ Rights Project is a national project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation with offices in New York and California. Using targeted impact litigation, advocacy and public outreach, the Project carries on the ACLU’s historic commitment to protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants. In federal district and appellate courts, including 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.

The Project has focused on challenging laws that deny immigrants access to the judicial system, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and constitute discrimination on the basis of “alienage” by governmental and private entities. In addition, the Project has been challenging post-9/11 practices, including litigation against Secretary Rumsfeld and military commanders for torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, FOIA litigation to disclose government documents about such torture, suits challenging selective enforcement and other forms of discrimination, and the use of “enemy combatant” and “material witness” designations to impose detention without trial.

Our Education program is focused on reaching out to the Latino immigrant community in California and addressing the effects of “vigilante” actions around the country as well as the impact of the recent REAL ID legislation.