ACLU: How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond

How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond

In a rare occurrence, this year Martin Luther King Jr. Day will coincide with the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The two federal holidays have only fallen on the same day once since former President Ronald Reagan made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday in 1983.

At the ACLU, we’re using this rare Inauguration-MLK Day pairing to advocate for our civil rights and civil liberties. While we don’t endorse or oppose candidates for elected office, we recognize that Trump’s re-election will have immense implications for the future of our democratic norms, institutions, and processes.

Dr. King encouraged Americans to engage in nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice and oppression. In his honor, the ACLU has created a non-exhaustive guide for how to take action and join the effort to create a more perfect union. Read more below.

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LEARN … about the issues, people, and policies shaping our lives.

Catch Up On Project 2025

Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and a blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch that threatens to strip away our vital civil rights and civil liberties. Published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and aligned with the Trump administration, its 900-page proposals would undercut decades of progress and Constitutional protections.

In 2024 we broke down the impact that Project 2025 will have on real people. From immigrant families torn apart, to the denial of vital reproductive healthcare, to censorship in our classrooms, Project 2025 promises vast and devastating ramifications. While Project 2025’s alarming vision threatens our fundamental liberties, the ACLU has a roadmap for how we’ll continue to fight for an America where we have the right to say what we want, to control our bodies, and participate freely in society. To join us in the fight, add your name to a growing movement of community members looking to fight back.

Read Up On Other Civil Liberties News

At the ACLU, we believe that knowledge is power. To help communities make informed decisions about our civil liberties and civil rights, our news blog offers perspective on current events, updates on our legal and advocacy work and real stories from the individuals and groups impacted by the fight for our rights.

In 2024, we explained what’s at stake in the Supreme Court case on gender-affirming care. We broke down what the Constitution says about birthright citizenship. We also explored why the government should not be allowed to childproof the internet and why banning TikTok is unconstitutional.

Our news page is updated regularly with the latest from the courts, Congress and our communities. Bookmark this page or sign-up for email updates to stay informed.

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TRACK … the bills, state court cases and more that impact our rights.

Track Bills Across the Country

Bill tracking, or the monitoring of proposed laws that may expand or restrict our rights, empowers us to stay informed, take action, and intervene before bills become law. To follow bills, start by visiting your state legislature’s website, where most have searchable databases containing summaries of current legislation, bill sponsors, and voting history.

From Roe v. Wade and the Dobbs case, which overturned the right to an abortion; to Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws banning interracial marriage; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized marriage equality across the country — many Supreme Court cases that address all of our civil rights come from laws that were passed in state legislatures.

At the ACLU, our 54 affiliate offices across the nation provide local connections to attorneys and advocates working on state-level civil rights issues impacting your community. Use our interactive map to find your affiliate, learn about local legislative action, and access resources to inform your advocacy. The ACLU action page is also updated regularly with petitions and volunteer opportunities to help you get involved in your state.

Track State Supreme Court Cases

State Supreme Courts are responsible for interpreting their own state’s constitution and laws, and serve as the highest authority in a state’s judicial system. This often means that state Supreme Courts have the power to provide broader protections for civil rights and civil liberties than the U.S. Supreme Court or federal law.

With federal courts growing increasingly hostile to civil liberties, state Supreme Courts have become a first line of defense for our freedoms. In 2023, the ACLU launched its State Supreme Court Initiative to advocate for improved access to these courts and their cases.

To learn more about your state Supreme Court, find your court on our interactive map and read reports on key state court cases across the country.

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ORGANIZE … to protect our most fundamental rights.

Lead or Attend a Protest

The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Want to know what actions are protected? The ACLU’s Know Your Rights (KYR) guide empowers all individuals with clear, practical information about their constitutional and civil rights.

Before you hit the streets, read our guide and then test your civil liberties knowledge with the ACLU’s Know Your Rights quiz. If your rights have been violated, you can take action by finding your local ACLU affiliate and filling out their online form to report any civil liberties violations.

Engage Your Community

The ACLU's "How to Organize" resource offers ideas to help you engage and organize your community. Whether it's starting a group, joining existing coalitions, leading a protest, or activating a PTA, there are many ways you can take the first step to fight back.

No matter who is president, the ACLU’s advocacy and organizing teams are working to build a firewall for freedom – a barrier that stops the spread of constant attacks on our civil rights – in our communities. Want to join the ACLU in protecting our freedoms? Our volunteer teams are dedicated to mobilizing communities across the country in defense of civil liberties. Sign up now to receive immediate steps to begin taking action.

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TALK and WRITE … about the issues that matter

Start a Conversation

At the ACLU, we believe speaking up is key to a strong democracy. By using our voices, we can hold leaders accountable and ensure that everyone’s rights and liberties are protected. Curious about how to discuss issues like abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, free speech, immigrants’ rights, and more? The ACLU has suggestions for how to open dialogues in your community.

Do you want to know what speech is protected by the First Amendment? Check out our three-part “Ask an Expert” podcast series where Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, answers questions about the First Amendment, its protections, and its importance.

Write Your Elected Officials

Elected officials are meant to represent the people they serve, and it’s essential that we make sure they hear our voices. Writing to your legislators is one of the most powerful ways to exercise your rights and influence policy. Whether you’re drafting a letter or posting a message online, contacting your elected officials is a protected expression of free speech that plays a vital role in influencing decisions that shape our civil rights and liberties.

Effective advocacy starts with clear, concise communication. Take a look at the ACLU’s writing tips guide to make sure you’re equipped with strategies for crafting effective and impactful messages.

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Whether you choose to take action using the resources shared here, or in other ways – like donating to causes you care about, expressing yourself creatively, seeking out wellness resources, or coming together with loved ones – there is no right or wrong way to fight for our rights, our communities and our nation.

At the ACLU, we’d love to see how you’re getting involved. Take a photo or video of what taking action looks like for you, share it on your social media page and tag the ACLU (@aclu_nationwide) on Instagram, or @aclu on X, Facebook and TikTok.

Published January 17, 2025 at 10:14PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/JLuA2Qd

ACLU: How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond

How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond

In a rare occurrence, this year Martin Luther King Jr. Day will coincide with the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The two federal holidays have only fallen on the same day once since former President Ronald Reagan made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday in 1983.

At the ACLU, we’re using this rare Inauguration-MLK Day pairing to advocate for our civil rights and civil liberties. While we don’t endorse or oppose candidates for elected office, we recognize that Trump’s re-election will have immense implications for the future of our democratic norms, institutions, and processes.

Dr. King encouraged Americans to engage in nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice and oppression. In his honor, the ACLU has created a non-exhaustive guide for how to take action and join the effort to create a more perfect union. Read more below.

---

LEARN … about the issues, people, and policies shaping our lives.

Catch Up On Project 2025

Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and a blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch that threatens to strip away our vital civil rights and civil liberties. Published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and aligned with the Trump administration, its 900-page proposals would undercut decades of progress and Constitutional protections.

In 2024 we broke down the impact that Project 2025 will have on real people. From immigrant families torn apart, to the denial of vital reproductive healthcare, to censorship in our classrooms, Project 2025 promises vast and devastating ramifications. While Project 2025’s alarming vision threatens our fundamental liberties, the ACLU has a roadmap for how we’ll continue to fight for an America where we have the right to say what we want, to control our bodies, and participate freely in society. To join us in the fight, add your name to a growing movement of community members looking to fight back.

Read Up On Other Civil Liberties News

At the ACLU, we believe that knowledge is power. To help communities make informed decisions about our civil liberties and civil rights, our news blog offers perspective on current events, updates on our legal and advocacy work and real stories from the individuals and groups impacted by the fight for our rights.

In 2024, we explained what’s at stake in the Supreme Court case on gender-affirming care. We broke down what the Constitution says about birthright citizenship. We also explored why the government should not be allowed to childproof the internet and why banning TikTok is unconstitutional.

Our news page is updated regularly with the latest from the courts, Congress and our communities. Bookmark this page or sign-up for email updates to stay informed.

---

TRACK … the bills, state court cases and more that impact our rights.

Track Bills Across the Country

Bill tracking, or the monitoring of proposed laws that may expand or restrict our rights, empowers us to stay informed, take action, and intervene before bills become law. To follow bills, start by visiting your state legislature’s website, where most have searchable databases containing summaries of current legislation, bill sponsors, and voting history.

From Roe v. Wade and the Dobbs case, which overturned the right to an abortion; to Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws banning interracial marriage; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized marriage equality across the country — many Supreme Court cases that address all of our civil rights come from laws that were passed in state legislatures.

At the ACLU, our 54 affiliate offices across the nation provide local connections to attorneys and advocates working on state-level civil rights issues impacting your community. Use our interactive map to find your affiliate, learn about local legislative action, and access resources to inform your advocacy. The ACLU action page is also updated regularly with petitions and volunteer opportunities to help you get involved in your state.

Track State Supreme Court Cases

State Supreme Courts are responsible for interpreting their own state’s constitution and laws, and serve as the highest authority in a state’s judicial system. This often means that state Supreme Courts have the power to provide broader protections for civil rights and civil liberties than the U.S. Supreme Court or federal law.

With federal courts growing increasingly hostile to civil liberties, state Supreme Courts have become a first line of defense for our freedoms. In 2023, the ACLU launched its State Supreme Court Initiative to advocate for improved access to these courts and their cases.

To learn more about your state Supreme Court, find your court on our interactive map and read reports on key state court cases across the country.

---

ORGANIZE … to protect our most fundamental rights.

Lead or Attend a Protest

The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Want to know what actions are protected? The ACLU’s Know Your Rights (KYR) guide empowers all individuals with clear, practical information about their constitutional and civil rights.

Before you hit the streets, read our guide and then test your civil liberties knowledge with the ACLU’s Know Your Rights quiz. If your rights have been violated, you can take action by finding your local ACLU affiliate and filling out their online form to report any civil liberties violations.

Engage Your Community

The ACLU's "How to Organize" resource offers ideas to help you engage and organize your community. Whether it's starting a group, joining existing coalitions, leading a protest, or activating a PTA, there are many ways you can take the first step to fight back.

No matter who is president, the ACLU’s advocacy and organizing teams are working to build a firewall for freedom – a barrier that stops the spread of constant attacks on our civil rights – in our communities. Want to join the ACLU in protecting our freedoms? Our volunteer teams are dedicated to mobilizing communities across the country in defense of civil liberties. Sign up now to receive immediate steps to begin taking action.

---

TALK and WRITE … about the issues that matter

Start a Conversation

At the ACLU, we believe speaking up is key to a strong democracy. By using our voices, we can hold leaders accountable and ensure that everyone’s rights and liberties are protected. Curious about how to discuss issues like abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, free speech, immigrants’ rights, and more? The ACLU has suggestions for how to open dialogues in your community.

Do you want to know what speech is protected by the First Amendment? Check out our three-part “Ask an Expert” podcast series where Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, answers questions about the First Amendment, its protections, and its importance.

Write Your Elected Officials

Elected officials are meant to represent the people they serve, and it’s essential that we make sure they hear our voices. Writing to your legislators is one of the most powerful ways to exercise your rights and influence policy. Whether you’re drafting a letter or posting a message online, contacting your elected officials is a protected expression of free speech that plays a vital role in influencing decisions that shape our civil rights and liberties.

Effective advocacy starts with clear, concise communication. Take a look at the ACLU’s writing tips guide to make sure you’re equipped with strategies for crafting effective and impactful messages.

---

Whether you choose to take action using the resources shared here, or in other ways – like donating to causes you care about, expressing yourself creatively, seeking out wellness resources, or coming together with loved ones – there is no right or wrong way to fight for our rights, our communities and our nation.

At the ACLU, we’d love to see how you’re getting involved. Take a photo or video of what taking action looks like for you, share it on your social media page and tag the ACLU (@aclu_nationwide) on Instagram, or @aclu on X, Facebook and TikTok.

Published January 17, 2025 at 04:44PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/JEgVC8Q

ACLU: "This is the Moment to Be 100 Percent In." How One of the ACLU’s Immigrants' Rights Experts is Fighting For Our Freedoms.

"This is the Moment to Be 100 Percent In." How One of the ACLU’s Immigrants' Rights Experts is Fighting For Our Freedoms.

Maribel Hernández Rivera is a hugger. Her natural warmth and compassion is rivaled only by her sense of preparedness. As a life-long advocate for immigrants’ rights, she has been working tirelessly for months to draft a plan to combat President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to deport millions of people, including members of Hernández Rivera’s family.

“When I think about [immigrants’ rights] I think about human beings. I think about my father and my husband,” Hernández Rivera says. “I think about how we can respect the humanity of the people whose lives will be impacted.”

Giddel Contreras and Maribel on their wedding day.

Maribel Hernández Rivera

Hernández Rivera has worked in the ACLU’s National Political Action Department fighting for immigrants’ rights since 2021. She previously spent a decade advocating for immigrants’ rights with the New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, the Immigrant Justice Corps, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and more. While in law school at New York University, she was also an advocate for undocumented immigrants.

For Hernández Rivera, helping the immigrant community is a way to give back, and to ensure that no one feels unsupported in their journey. “When I first came to the states, I thought no one cared,” Hernández Rivera says, explaining how she felt isolated as an undocumented person. “I really want to show others that we’re never alone. There are people fighting for our rights.”

Hernández Rivera came to the states from Mexico in 1993 and settled with her family in Houston, Texas. As a child, she was fearful that if anyone knew she was undocumented, she’d be deported. Even as she excelled in school, learning English and going on to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and, later, Harvard University, she continued to plan for what she might do if she was forced to return to her home country.

Maribel Hernández Rivera

“I thought that if I was sent back to Mexico, I was going to work as a luggage carrier in the airport. In that case, knowing English would guarantee me a good tip,” she laughs.

While she jokes about it now, reality was much more serious for Hernández Rivera and her family. In 2006, her father died in a car accident while undocumented. The authorities never notified the family of his passing. Hernández Rivera was deeply hurt by the experience. “[My father’s death] really showed how immigrants are not treated as human beings,” she says.

Today, Hernández Rivera honors her father’s legacy by fighting for increased rights, dignity and compassion for the immigrant community. Many people come to the states fleeing violence, or seeking greater opportunity for themselves and the families they were forced to leave behind. But once in the U.S., Hernández Rivera points out, there exists few pathways for legal citizenship and the threat of deportation always looms large. In her own family, Hernández Rivera has seen just how quickly a new life in the states can be taken away.

Hernández Rivera’s husband, Giddel Contreras, has temporary protected status (TPS), which gives immigrants time-limited permission to live and work in the U.S. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he vowed to end TPS for millions. If her husband was deported, Hernández Rivera had to decide whether to go with him to Honduras, possibly facing the same violence that led to the deaths of some of his family members, or to stay in the U.S. and support her mother and step-father. Either choice would rip her family in two.

To her great relief, the first Trump administration was not able to eliminate this vital protection. Today, however, Trump has vowed to be more aggressive in his efforts to deport millions of people. Giddel’s TPS status expires this summer and Hernández Rivera finds herself returning to what she has done since she was a child: Making plans for how to survive uncertainty.

“Trump upended our lives the first time around,” Hernández Rivera says. “I know that the second time around, I have to be even more prepared.”

Hernández Rivera’s fight for her family’s safety mirrors her fight for all immigrants. At the ACLU, alongside her legal and advocacy colleagues, Hernández Rivera is working to build a civil rights firewall to protect residents to the full extent possible, including safeguarding asylum access, ending unlawful detention and mobilizing communities to take action. As a native Spanish speaker, Hernández Rivera helps communicate this plan to the communities most impacted by the Trump administration’s draconian policies. Whether it's sharing links on social media or doing an interview in Spanish, Hernández Rivera wants the word out that there is a movement fighting for the immigrant community.

“I get asked every day about how to get ready, what can I do?” Hernández Rivera says. “I must step up, for me, my family and my community. We have to be in this together. This is the moment to be 100 percent in.”

Our series, Behind the Fight for Our Rights, asks individuals defending our freedoms how they’re thinking about the next four years. Below, Hernández Rivera shares insight into her life – both professional and personal – under the Trump administration.

ACLU: What are you most looking forward to in the next four years?

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I know it’s going to be a very difficult four years, but I also know our community is going to come together. I look forward to fighting side by side with our community.

ACLU: What is the biggest challenge you’re expecting in the next four years?

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: We know the Trump administration’s policies will be far more cruel than before. The biggest challenge will be losing loved ones to Trump’s deportation machine.

ACLU: What do you wish people knew more about the fight for immigrants’ rights

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I wish people kept in mind that when we talk about immigration, we’re talking about parents, children, neighbors, and community members. It’s not easy to come to the U.S and it's not easy to fix your immigration status.

ACLU: What is one thing you wish you knew about the fight for immigrants’ rights

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I wish I knew that those making the decisions cared about and understood the human consequences of their actions.

Published January 16, 2025 at 08:45PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/0faWXnZ

ACLU: "This is the Moment to Be 100 Percent In." How One of the ACLU’s Immigrants' Rights Experts is Fighting For Our Freedoms.

"This is the Moment to Be 100 Percent In." How One of the ACLU’s Immigrants' Rights Experts is Fighting For Our Freedoms.

Maribel Hernández Rivera is a hugger. Her natural warmth and compassion is rivaled only by her sense of preparedness. As a life-long advocate for immigrants’ rights, she has been working tirelessly for months to draft a plan to combat President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to deport millions of people, including members of Hernández Rivera’s family.

“When I think about [immigrants’ rights] I think about human beings. I think about my father and my husband,” Hernández Rivera says. “I think about how we can respect the humanity of the people whose lives will be impacted.”

Giddel Contreras and Maribel on their wedding day.

Maribel Hernández Rivera

Hernández Rivera has worked in the ACLU’s National Political Action Department fighting for immigrants’ rights since 2021. She previously spent a decade advocating for immigrants’ rights with the New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, the Immigrant Justice Corps, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and more. While in law school at New York University, she was also an advocate for undocumented immigrants.

For Hernández Rivera, helping the immigrant community is a way to give back, and to ensure that no one feels unsupported in their journey. “When I first came to the states, I thought no one cared,” Hernández Rivera says, explaining how she felt isolated as an undocumented person. “I really want to show others that we’re never alone. There are people fighting for our rights.”

Hernández Rivera came to the states from Mexico in 1993 and settled with her family in Houston, Texas. As a child, she was fearful that if anyone knew she was undocumented, she’d be deported. Even as she excelled in school, learning English and going on to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and, later, Harvard University, she continued to plan for what she might do if she was forced to return to her home country.

Maribel Hernández Rivera

“I thought that if I was sent back to Mexico, I was going to work as a luggage carrier in the airport. In that case, knowing English would guarantee me a good tip,” she laughs.

While she jokes about it now, reality was much more serious for Hernández Rivera and her family. In 2006, her father died in a car accident while undocumented. The authorities never notified the family of his passing. Hernández Rivera was deeply hurt by the experience. “[My father’s death] really showed how immigrants are not treated as human beings,” she says.

Today, Hernández Rivera honors her father’s legacy by fighting for increased rights, dignity and compassion for the immigrant community. Many people come to the states fleeing violence, or seeking greater opportunity for themselves and the families they were forced to leave behind. But once in the U.S., Hernández Rivera points out, there exists few pathways for legal citizenship and the threat of deportation always looms large. In her own family, Hernández Rivera has seen just how quickly a new life in the states can be taken away.

Hernández Rivera’s husband, Giddel Contreras, has temporary protected status (TPS), which gives immigrants time-limited permission to live and work in the U.S. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he vowed to end TPS for millions. If her husband was deported, Hernández Rivera had to decide whether to go with him to Honduras, possibly facing the same violence that led to the deaths of some of his family members, or to stay in the U.S. and support her mother and step-father. Either choice would rip her family in two.

To her great relief, the first Trump administration was not able to eliminate this vital protection. Today, however, Trump has vowed to be more aggressive in his efforts to deport millions of people. Giddel’s TPS status expires this summer and Hernández Rivera finds herself returning to what she has done since she was a child: Making plans for how to survive uncertainty.

“Trump upended our lives the first time around,” Hernández Rivera says. “I know that the second time around, I have to be even more prepared.”

Hernández Rivera’s fight for her family’s safety mirrors her fight for all immigrants. At the ACLU, alongside her legal and advocacy colleagues, Hernández Rivera is working to build a civil rights firewall to protect residents to the full extent possible, including safeguarding asylum access, ending unlawful detention and mobilizing communities to take action. As a native Spanish speaker, Hernández Rivera helps communicate this plan to the communities most impacted by the Trump administration’s draconian policies. Whether it's sharing links on social media or doing an interview in Spanish, Hernández Rivera wants the word out that there is a movement fighting for the immigrant community.

“I get asked every day about how to get ready, what can I do?” Hernández Rivera says. “I must step up, for me, my family and my community. We have to be in this together. This is the moment to be 100 percent in.”

Our series, Behind the Fight for Our Rights, asks individuals defending our freedoms how they’re thinking about the next four years. Below, Hernández Rivera shares insight into her life – both professional and personal – under the Trump administration.

ACLU: What are you most looking forward to in the next four years?

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I know it’s going to be a very difficult four years, but I also know our community is going to come together. I look forward to fighting side by side with our community.

ACLU: What is the biggest challenge you’re expecting in the next four years?

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: We know the Trump administration’s policies will be far more cruel than before. The biggest challenge will be losing loved ones to Trump’s deportation machine.

ACLU: What do you wish people knew more about the fight for immigrants’ rights

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I wish people kept in mind that when we talk about immigration, we’re talking about parents, children, neighbors, and community members. It’s not easy to come to the U.S and it's not easy to fix your immigration status.

ACLU: What is one thing you wish you knew about the fight for immigrants’ rights

HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA: I wish I knew that those making the decisions cared about and understood the human consequences of their actions.

Published January 17, 2025 at 02:15AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/mL7O1YU

ACLU: The Long Journey Home

The Long Journey Home

What does daily life look like while waiting to win asylum? That question was central to our latest series, Letters to America. The series, available now, features several individuals sharing their heartwarming – and often haunting – experiences coming from all over the world to seek safety, freedom and opportunity in the U.S.

For many individuals, the journey to being granted asylum is long. Even after arriving in the States, they may be held in detention centers for months or even years before being released into the community and reuniting with friends and loved ones. Many people begin to build their lives while their future remains in limbo. To better understand what daily life looks like for the asylum-seekers featured in our series, select ACLU team members who met with our storytellers share behind-the-scenes reflections to learn more.

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ACLU

As our crew stepped into Carlota’s home, she gave every member of our crew a warm hug and welcomed us into her home as if we were family.

We started the morning filming Carlota reading her letter about her asylum journey. She read her letter aloud at her craft station where she makes piñatas for her kids’ birthday parties, hand-embroidered tablecloths, and other homemade crafts. In just the first few moments of meeting Carlota in person and hearing her story, it was immediately evident how important family is to her, and how every decision she has made has been for them.

ACLU

Fearful for her family’s safety, Carlota made the difficult decision to leave their home and everything they knew behind in Mexico to take her two young children on a journey to seek asylum in the U.S. Today, they’ve been in the U.S. over two years and, while she awaits a final decision on her asylum application, she and her family have worked to build their lives and community here.

ACLU

After we finished filming for the morning, all the crew members sat down for lunch with Carlota and her daughter. Carlota and her family had prepared a delicious homemade feast. We had agua de jamaica, mole, fresh homemade tortillas, and frijoles. The familiar aromas and the meal took me back to being at my abuelita’s house eating her home cooked Mexican food. It felt like the comforts of home. As we ate lunch together, Carlota and her daughter were vibrant and laughing as they openly shared stories about their family and their lives here in the U.S.

Carlota told us she can finally feel “tranquility and peace that here we are creating a better future for our children.”

— Eva Lopez, Creative Campaign Strategist

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ACLU

When our crew arrived at Jessica’s home, we surveyed her living room to find a place to set up our cameras. As we scanned the walls looking for the right backdrop, we noticed a drawing hung up on the wall. “I made that during my time in detention,” Jessica told us.

We asked her if she’d kept other drawings from that time that she could show us. When we arrived at her home the next day, she handed us a stack of papers. We flipped through portraits of her children shaded in colored pencil, pieces of paper with handwritten notes and prayers from her Bible. When we asked Jessica if she had a favorite drawing, she showed us one of a rose that she’d sent to her eldest daughter to celebrate her high school graduation – one of many milestones she missed during her six years in immigration detention.

ACLU

As she held the paper in her hand, she lamented the fact that she was unable to give it to her daughter in person at the time, before turning the page to show us the note she’d written on the back: I made this little drawing for you. I love you sweetie. God bless you, your mother.

Jessica had signed her full name on the back of the drawing and, later, told me she did that so that her children knew the drawings were coming from her. “I wanted my kids to remember their mom as a fighter and someone who never gave up,” she told me.

– Gabby Arias, Communications Strategist, Immigration

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Kohar Minassian

“If you have a little time,” Joseph said quietly as soon as we entered his home, “I’d like to tell you about the history of Cameroon.”

As he explained his home country’s history of colonization with a professor’s exactitude, I glanced over to my right and realized that there was a baby in a pack n’ play right next to me. She was sleeping angelically, her tiny arms raised above her head, like she drifted off while silently doing the wave. Joseph’s fourth and youngest child, the only one of her siblings who was born in their family’s new home country, was totally unbothered by the strangers in her living room threatening to disrupt her afternoon nap.

Our crew was there to hear and document Joseph’s story seeking asylum in the U.S. while honoring his choice to remain anonymous. This visual challenge led to creative solutions, like the use of filters to abstract a scene, or framing shots to obscure Joseph’s face. The resulting images are a record of everyday moments in the American dream – the shocking red vibrancy of roses after a summer shower, paper planes and real jets soaring past each other carelessly above the suburban sprawl, a dinner table prayer of thanks illuminated by the evening sun.

Kohar Minassian

Joseph shared how his family’s asylum journey had led them to Ohio, where during family meetings they discussed hard topics, like adjusting to their new school system, openly as a group. The smile in his eyes as he spoke was ceaseless, unbreakable, and calm. When his teenage daughter and two elementary school-aged sons arrived home, their house was filled with the noise of family life: the chopping of vegetables for dinner, someone watching a YouTube video in the other room, the scuffle of homework on the dining table.

“My dream is to reach out to the sky,” Joseph told me. “To ensure that my children receive the quality education that they deserve.”

— Kohar Minassian, Senior Multimedia Producer

Published January 13, 2025 at 08:17PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/rfqgBcu

ACLU: The ACLU’s Historic Fight for Our Freedoms

The ACLU’s Historic Fight for Our Freedoms

January 20th will be a pivotal day in U.S. history. On the day we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a global human rights hero, we will also witness the inauguration of a president who has vowed to undermine so many of our most cherished civil rights and civil liberties. Just one day prior on January 19th, the ACLU will mark the 105th anniversary of our founding.

More than a century ago, the ACLU began its fight to ensure the promise of the Constitution and expand its reach to people historically denied its protections. Throughout our history, we have defended the rights and liberties in cases like Scopes, Loving, Griswold, Obergefell, Skokie and Skrmetti that have defined what it means to live in a nation committed to justice and equality.

Even as we celebrate 105 years of fighting the good fight, we are not resting on our laurels. Instead, we’re shifting into high gear; once again called to defend our nation’s civil rights and civil liberties during a most perilous time. At this critical inflection point for our nation, and our organization, we are more prepared than ever to rise to the occasion.

The fight we now confront will take all of us.

At the ACLU, our strength lies not only in our legal and advocacy expertise, or our affiliates in every state in the nation, but in the millions of card-carrying members who have animated our work throughout the last century. In the ongoing struggle for justice and equality, it’s the people who have continuously risen to reclaim power through dissent and struggle against government overreach.

With such high stakes before us, we cannot afford to be distracted by attempts to divide our movement. The intense scapegoating of advocacy groups and the fracturing across issues and communities we see today is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my 23 years leading the ACLU. For a multi-issue organization like ours, these dynamics can be particularly challenging since we cover the waterfront of civil rights and civil liberties issues. However, as an organization committed to free speech, we believe the airing of divergent viewpoints makes us stronger – even when the criticism is focused on us.

Since our founding, the ACLU has endured criticism from all sides – we are perennially accused of having moved “too far” to the left, as well as falling short of so-called progressive litmus tests. In an early critique of the ACLU published in 1923, a West Virginia newspaper detailed an outcry against the organization and its “propaganda” advancing free speech in West Virginia.

In response, we continue to draw on our organization’s history not only to inform our work, but also to put things into perspective. For example, the ACLU is nonpartisan and does not endorse or oppose political parties or candidates. But we have always engaged in political advocacy to advance civil rights and civil liberties, even from our first days. In fact, the original charity organization that was chartered in 1920 was our political arm, a 501(c)(4), and the largest line item in our first budget was, indeed, for “propaganda.” The tax-deductible 501(c)(3), ACLU Foundation, was not formed until decades later.

From the Palmer Raids to the Red Scare, to the House Un-American Activities Committee to the war on terror, to the first Trump administration — our history provides us with good and bad lessons for our future work. Our history reminds us that when immigrants are scapegoated, critics are silenced, or the government deploys the immensity of its resources to target its perceived political enemies, everyone ends up losing.

Drawing on our experience during the last century, we know our most fundamental rights and freedoms will soon be challenged in unprecedented ways. But we are more prepared than ever to fulfill our core mission to defend the rights and liberties granted to all of us by the Constitution. At the state and local level, ACLU affiliates will work to build a firewall for freedom, leveraging the powers of state and local governments to defend rights and liberties. We will also mobilize our members and volunteers to join the fight to uphold our rights and defend those being targeted.

We will turn to the courts as we have so often done in our 105-year history. We will fight any effort to repeal birthright citizenship. We will bring Fourth and Fifth Amendment challenges to mass deportations. We will resist attempts to send federal agents or military forces to quell peaceful protests or interfere with journalists reporting on them. We will stand with the transgender community and their families, arguing that they deserve equal protection of the law against discrimination and prejudice.

Although today’s ACLU may be the largest and strongest in our 105 years, we must not forget that the resources of the Trump administration and the federal government dwarf us by comparison. We remain the David to the government’s Goliath.

In the years ahead, our wins will certainly be hard fought and far from guaranteed. We are clear-eyed about what is ahead of us and recognize that, despite our best efforts and intentions, sometimes we may fall short. If we want to create a more perfect union, we must all recommit to the struggle for justice, fairness, and equality. What better time to do this than on the ACLU’s 105th anniversary.

Published January 13, 2025 at 06:49PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/MNmfISZ

ACLU: The ACLU’s Historic Fight for Our Freedoms

The ACLU’s Historic Fight for Our Freedoms

January 20th will be a pivotal day in U.S. history. On the day we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a global human rights hero, we will also witness the inauguration of a president who has vowed to undermine so many of our most cherished civil rights and civil liberties. Just one day prior on January 19th, the ACLU will mark the 105th anniversary of our founding.

More than a century ago, the ACLU began its fight to ensure the promise of the Constitution and expand its reach to people historically denied its protections. Throughout our history, we have defended the rights and liberties in cases like Scopes, Loving, Griswold, Obergefell, Skokie and Skrmetti that have defined what it means to live in a nation committed to justice and equality.

Even as we celebrate 105 years of fighting the good fight, we are not resting on our laurels. Instead, we’re shifting into high gear; once again called to defend our nation’s civil rights and civil liberties during a most perilous time. At this critical inflection point for our nation, and our organization, we are more prepared than ever to rise to the occasion.

The fight we now confront will take all of us.

At the ACLU, our strength lies not only in our legal and advocacy expertise, or our affiliates in every state in the nation, but in the millions of card-carrying members who have animated our work throughout the last century. In the ongoing struggle for justice and equality, it’s the people who have continuously risen to reclaim power through dissent and struggle against government overreach.

With such high stakes before us, we cannot afford to be distracted by attempts to divide our movement. The intense scapegoating of advocacy groups and the fracturing across issues and communities we see today is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my 23 years leading the ACLU. For a multi-issue organization like ours, these dynamics can be particularly challenging since we cover the waterfront of civil rights and civil liberties issues. However, as an organization committed to free speech, we believe the airing of divergent viewpoints makes us stronger – even when the criticism is focused on us.

Since our founding, the ACLU has endured criticism from all sides – we are perennially accused of having moved “too far” to the left, as well as falling short of so-called progressive litmus tests. In an early critique of the ACLU published in 1923, a West Virginia newspaper detailed an outcry against the organization and its “propaganda” advancing free speech in West Virginia.

In response, we continue to draw on our organization’s history not only to inform our work, but also to put things into perspective. For example, the ACLU is nonpartisan and does not endorse or oppose political parties or candidates. But we have always engaged in political advocacy to advance civil rights and civil liberties, even from our first days. In fact, the original charity organization that was chartered in 1920 was our political arm, a 501(c)(4), and the largest line item in our first budget was, indeed, for “propaganda.” The tax-deductible 501(c)(3), ACLU Foundation, was not formed until decades later.

From the Palmer Raids to the Red Scare, to the House Un-American Activities Committee to the war on terror, to the first Trump administration — our history provides us with good and bad lessons for our future work. Our history reminds us that when immigrants are scapegoated, critics are silenced, or the government deploys the immensity of its resources to target its perceived political enemies, everyone ends up losing.

Drawing on our experience during the last century, we know our most fundamental rights and freedoms will soon be challenged in unprecedented ways. But we are more prepared than ever to fulfill our core mission to defend the rights and liberties granted to all of us by the Constitution. At the state and local level, ACLU affiliates will work to build a firewall for freedom, leveraging the powers of state and local governments to defend rights and liberties. We will also mobilize our members and volunteers to join the fight to uphold our rights and defend those being targeted.

We will turn to the courts as we have so often done in our 105-year history. We will fight any effort to repeal birthright citizenship. We will bring Fourth and Fifth Amendment challenges to mass deportations. We will resist attempts to send federal agents or military forces to quell peaceful protests or interfere with journalists reporting on them. We will stand with the transgender community and their families, arguing that they deserve equal protection of the law against discrimination and prejudice.

Although today’s ACLU may be the largest and strongest in our 105 years, we must not forget that the resources of the Trump administration and the federal government dwarf us by comparison. We remain the David to the government’s Goliath.

In the years ahead, our wins will certainly be hard fought and far from guaranteed. We are clear-eyed about what is ahead of us and recognize that, despite our best efforts and intentions, sometimes we may fall short. If we want to create a more perfect union, we must all recommit to the struggle for justice, fairness, and equality. What better time to do this than on the ACLU’s 105th anniversary.

Published January 14, 2025 at 12:19AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/umTordw