ACLU: Into the Black Hole: Navigating the Center of Trump’s Deportation Force in Louisiana

Into the Black Hole: Navigating the Center of Trump’s Deportation Force in Louisiana

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nora Ahmed joined the ACLU of Louisiana as Legal Director in 2020. She has helped to build the organization’s policing, immigration, voting rights, and First Amendment dockets from the ground up. Under her leadership, the Justice Lab program has secured nearly $1.5 million in settlements for police brutality victims and changed Louisiana’s statute of limitations after two Supreme Court cases, expanding constitutional protections for thousands of Louisianans. She’s now leading the newest iteration of Justice Lab focused on freeing immigrants wrongfully detained in Louisiana’s carceral system.

Last year on October 30, I drove six hours to an immigration detention facility at night, looking for my 18-year-old client, Juan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnapped Juan, who uses a pseudonym due to age and privacy concerns, off the street in New York while he was on his way to work. ICE then sent him to Louisiana where he languished in the Jackson Parish Correctional Center for nearly three months. Driving up to the facility at 11 p.m., I had a federal court order in hand, signed by a judge who had ordered Juan’s immediate release. But when I showed up, the correction officers refused to set him free. So, in the middle of the night, our partner attorneys and I filed a motion alleging ICE was disobeying the court order. The next morning, we secured Juan’s freedom.

Here in Louisiana, we often refer to the state as the “black hole” of immigration detention, where people simply disappear. According to some estimates, over 60,000 people have been trapped by this system annually. Immigrants detained in Louisiana face abhorrent conditions, along with a lack of access to legal support. It took a while for our team to get to the point of trying to free a client in the middle of the night in rural Louisiana. But against innumerable odds, we have been able to release dozens of people from immigration detention centers here over the years — through parole applications, advocacy, litigation, assistance for people representing themselves in court, and habeas petitions. A habeas petition asks the federal court to order the release of someone in immigration detention who has been wrongfully detained. While thousands who deserve justice remain left behind, the ACLU of Louisiana is expanding our work to connect them with crucial immigration services and obtain their freedom.

Building immigration work from the ground up in Louisiana

Through years of intentional relationship building, my colleagues and I were able to gain a foothold within this black hole. We now understand how it works in ways we did not a few years back. As the Trump administration has cracked down on immigration and used Louisiana as the center of its mass deportation campaign, our foothold has allowed us to expose injustices from within, while continuing to free wrongfully detained immigrants.

When I joined the ACLU of Louisiana during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I was tasked with building out our immigration practice. A critical first step in my role as legal director was to seek out the people already doing legal support on the ground, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA), and other local advocates.​ While working with these groups, and the current Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation at the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, I quickly learned that local organizations were stretched thin. In fact, when we first began our immigration work at the ACLU of Louisiana, the actual daily population of people detained and the number of detention centers operating in the state was unclear. The incredibly remote locations of most detention facilities in the state, and how often authorities transported people from one detention center to another, only made things harder. I now know it can take at least three hours, and sometimes more than seven, to get to certain facilities depending on traffic and road closures. At this point, I have been to every single detention center in our state multiple times.

To get to this point, it was critical to gain access to all the detention centers operating within our state. To do so, we developed Know Your Rights packets and presentations that we submitted for approval to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That rigorous approval process ultimately provided us with access to all operating detention centers in the state by 2022. By presenting critical legal information to those detained, we learned that there were thousands of individuals detained in Louisiana without representation, a much higher number than we anticipated. This is not suprising considering Louisiana operates ten ICE detention centers, each of which falls within the jurisdiction of the ICE Field Office in New Orleans. The office also oversees detention centers in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Louisiana alone is second only to Texas in detaining the highest number of immigrants in the country.

The state is also home to the only detention center attached to an airport in the country: the Alexandria Staging Facility. Tens of thousands of people get deported from, or pass through, the staging facility annually. Many, if not most, are never to be seen or heard from again. When a person arrives at the staging facility, the government has already deemed them deportable, which means there is little recourse to be had. When ICE sends immigrants there, attorneys and family members struggle to obtain the most basic information about how their client or family member ended up there and, most importantly, how they can get out.

Against this bleak backdrop, we became familiar faces to the wardens and correctional officers in charge of these ICE facilities, and with the individuals heading up the New Orleans ICE Field Office. Having access allowed us to be a resource for detained individuals. While it did not ease the sense of injustice immigrants felt in the detention centers, it helped people detained understand their legal options and pathways to release, if any.

As part of the ACLU of Louisiana’s immigration work, we prioritized visiting clients consistently, staying on site all day, and interacting with facility staff. That type of lasting presence brings people together, as long as all parties are respectful of one another’s work. The Field Office and the facilities came to understand that we would be respectful of their constraints if they could accommodate us. As we conducted Know Your Rights presentations in 2022 and 2023 at every detention center across the state, I was the point person on our team liaising with the facility. For that first year, I was there, every time, constantly conferring with detained individuals, facility staff, and with ICE.

Expanding immigration work despite surging cases under the Trump administration

Prior to the elections in 2024, we published our initial report on the Louisiana immigration system: “Inside the Black Hole.” It outlined the conditions we saw at these detention centers firsthand: abusive and discriminatory treatment; lack of access to basic hygiene and food; denial of care for medical emergencies, and more. Once Trump took office again, detention cases surged and conditions only worsened. Armed with years of relationship building and research, we were prepared. Our team was uniquely positioned to quickly get ahead of the surge and free unjustly detained individuals. This included high-profile cases like Mahmoud Khalil, and lesser-known cases like Juan’s. We have recently updated the report with new research explaining what detention looked like in Louisiana under the first year of the current Trump administration.

We hope our work highlights two crucial lessons for other legal practitioners. Firstly, be prepared for detained immigrants to end up in Louisiana. The Alexandria Staging Facility is the spoke in a wheel of mass detentions and deportations. Secondly, investing early in relationships and infrastructure is crucial for immigration providers, especially to gain access to facilities and get the work done from within. When there’s a crisis, it is often too late to build relationships from scratch.

The detention system in Louisiana may still function like a black hole in many ways, with no information coming in or out. But years of patient relationship building, legal advocacy, and documentation have created a blueprint for how we can pull people out of this opaque system. We are working to take that knowledge to others, through our Justice Lab: Immigration project, a volunteer corps that mobilizes attorneys barred nationwide to provide free legal habeas representation to detained immigrants in Louisiana. Our initiative partners overworked immigration attorneys with trained federal litigators to provide crucial habeas support. To answer the call of thousands in need of legal assistance at this critical point in our nation’s history, we aim to build a bench of at least 50 federally-barred litigators to work on cases in Louisiana, representing individuals from across the country detained within the state.

Our work is far from over, but these strategies can be replicated and expanded to protect more people from disappearing into detention. And while our own work is limited to Louisiana, residents across the country can contact their elected officials and urge them to end DHS abuses and hold ICE accountable. Learn more about our Justice Lab: Immigration project, spread the word, and if you are a fit, consider volunteering. Attorneys interested in volunteering can contact the ACLU of Louisiana.

Published February 11, 2026 at 12:33AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3oWpCge

ACLU: Into the Black Hole: Navigating the Center of Trump’s Deportation Force in Louisiana

Into the Black Hole: Navigating the Center of Trump’s Deportation Force in Louisiana

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nora Ahmed joined the ACLU of Louisiana as Legal Director in 2020. She has helped to build the organization’s policing, immigration, voting rights, and First Amendment dockets from the ground up. Under her leadership, the Justice Lab program has secured nearly $1.5 million in settlements for police brutality victims and changed Louisiana’s statute of limitations after two Supreme Court cases, expanding constitutional protections for thousands of Louisianans. She’s now leading the newest iteration of Justice Lab focused on freeing immigrants wrongfully detained in Louisiana’s carceral system.

Last year on October 30, I drove six hours to an immigration detention facility at night, looking for my 18-year-old client, Juan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnapped Juan, who uses a pseudonym due to age and privacy concerns, off the street in New York while he was on his way to work. ICE then sent him to Louisiana where he languished in the Jackson Parish Correctional Center for nearly three months. Driving up to the facility at 11 p.m., I had a federal court order in hand, signed by a judge who had ordered Juan’s immediate release. But when I showed up, the correction officers refused to set him free. So, in the middle of the night, our partner attorneys and I filed a motion alleging ICE was disobeying the court order. The next morning, we secured Juan’s freedom.

Here in Louisiana, we often refer to the state as the “black hole” of immigration detention, where people simply disappear. According to some estimates, over 60,000 people have been trapped by this system annually. Immigrants detained in Louisiana face abhorrent conditions, along with a lack of access to legal support. It took a while for our team to get to the point of trying to free a client in the middle of the night in rural Louisiana. But against innumerable odds, we have been able to release dozens of people from immigration detention centers here over the years — through parole applications, advocacy, litigation, assistance for people representing themselves in court, and habeas petitions. A habeas petition asks the federal court to order the release of someone in immigration detention who has been wrongfully detained. While thousands who deserve justice remain left behind, the ACLU of Louisiana is expanding our work to connect them with crucial immigration services and obtain their freedom.

Building immigration work from the ground up in Louisiana

Through years of intentional relationship building, my colleagues and I were able to gain a foothold within this black hole. We now understand how it works in ways we did not a few years back. As the Trump administration has cracked down on immigration and used Louisiana as the center of its mass deportation campaign, our foothold has allowed us to expose injustices from within, while continuing to free wrongfully detained immigrants.

When I joined the ACLU of Louisiana during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I was tasked with building out our immigration practice. A critical first step in my role as legal director was to seek out the people already doing legal support on the ground, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA), and other local advocates.​ While working with these groups, and the current Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation at the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, I quickly learned that local organizations were stretched thin. In fact, when we first began our immigration work at the ACLU of Louisiana, the actual daily population of people detained and the number of detention centers operating in the state was unclear. The incredibly remote locations of most detention facilities in the state, and how often authorities transported people from one detention center to another, only made things harder. I now know it can take at least three hours, and sometimes more than seven, to get to certain facilities depending on traffic and road closures. At this point, I have been to every single detention center in our state multiple times.

To get to this point, it was critical to gain access to all the detention centers operating within our state. To do so, we developed Know Your Rights packets and presentations that we submitted for approval to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That rigorous approval process ultimately provided us with access to all operating detention centers in the state by 2022. By presenting critical legal information to those detained, we learned that there were thousands of individuals detained in Louisiana without representation, a much higher number than we anticipated. This is not suprising considering Louisiana operates ten ICE detention centers, each of which falls within the jurisdiction of the ICE Field Office in New Orleans. The office also oversees detention centers in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Louisiana alone is second only to Texas in detaining the highest number of immigrants in the country.

The state is also home to the only detention center attached to an airport in the country: the Alexandria Staging Facility. Tens of thousands of people get deported from, or pass through, the staging facility annually. Many, if not most, are never to be seen or heard from again. When a person arrives at the staging facility, the government has already deemed them deportable, which means there is little recourse to be had. When ICE sends immigrants there, attorneys and family members struggle to obtain the most basic information about how their client or family member ended up there and, most importantly, how they can get out.

Against this bleak backdrop, we became familiar faces to the wardens and correctional officers in charge of these ICE facilities, and with the individuals heading up the New Orleans ICE Field Office. Having access allowed us to be a resource for detained individuals. While it did not ease the sense of injustice immigrants felt in the detention centers, it helped people detained understand their legal options and pathways to release, if any.

As part of the ACLU of Louisiana’s immigration work, we prioritized visiting clients consistently, staying on site all day, and interacting with facility staff. That type of lasting presence brings people together, as long as all parties are respectful of one another’s work. The Field Office and the facilities came to understand that we would be respectful of their constraints if they could accommodate us. As we conducted Know Your Rights presentations in 2022 and 2023 at every detention center across the state, I was the point person on our team liaising with the facility. For that first year, I was there, every time, constantly conferring with detained individuals, facility staff, and with ICE.

Expanding immigration work despite surging cases under the Trump administration

Prior to the elections in 2024, we published our initial report on the Louisiana immigration system: “Inside the Black Hole.” It outlined the conditions we saw at these detention centers firsthand: abusive and discriminatory treatment; lack of access to basic hygiene and food; denial of care for medical emergencies, and more. Once Trump took office again, detention cases surged and conditions only worsened. Armed with years of relationship building and research, we were prepared. Our team was uniquely positioned to quickly get ahead of the surge and free unjustly detained individuals. This included high-profile cases like Mahmoud Khalil, and lesser-known cases like Juan’s. We have recently updated the report with new research explaining what detention looked like in Louisiana under the first year of the current Trump administration.

We hope our work highlights two crucial lessons for other legal practitioners. Firstly, be prepared for detained immigrants to end up in Louisiana. The Alexandria Staging Facility is the spoke in a wheel of mass detentions and deportations. Secondly, investing early in relationships and infrastructure is crucial for immigration providers, especially to gain access to facilities and get the work done from within. When there’s a crisis, it is often too late to build relationships from scratch.

The detention system in Louisiana may still function like a black hole in many ways, with no information coming in or out. But years of patient relationship building, legal advocacy, and documentation have created a blueprint for how we can pull people out of this opaque system. We are working to take that knowledge to others, through our Justice Lab: Immigration project, a volunteer corps that mobilizes attorneys barred nationwide to provide free legal habeas representation to detained immigrants in Louisiana. Our initiative partners overworked immigration attorneys with trained federal litigators to provide crucial habeas support. To answer the call of thousands in need of legal assistance at this critical point in our nation’s history, we aim to build a bench of at least 50 federally-barred litigators to work on cases in Louisiana, representing individuals from across the country detained within the state.

Our work is far from over, but these strategies can be replicated and expanded to protect more people from disappearing into detention. And while our own work is limited to Louisiana, residents across the country can contact their elected officials and urge them to end DHS abuses and hold ICE accountable. Learn more about our Justice Lab: Immigration project, spread the word, and if you are a fit, consider volunteering. Attorneys interested in volunteering can contact the ACLU of Louisiana.

Published February 10, 2026 at 07:03PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/EyJVgao

ACLU: Cómo una ley de la época de COVID que prohíbe las "noticias falsas" en Puerto Rico acecha a la prensa

Cómo una ley de la época de COVID que prohíbe las "noticias falsas" en Puerto Rico acecha a la prensa

En el punto más crítico de la pandemia de COVID-19, cuando Puerto Rico aprobó una ley que pretendía prohibir las “noticias falsas”, dos periodistas temieron que la prohibición los expusiera a procesos penales por sus reportajes los cuales eran críticos sobre el gobierno, sus funcionarios y sus medidas de respuesta a la emergencia. Según la ley, cualquier persona acusada podía enfrentar hasta tres años de cárcel y miles de dólares en multas.

La ley se dirigía a cualquier persona acusada de dar "una falsa alarma" o difundir información falsa que resultara en un riesgo para la vida, la salud o la propiedad durante una emergencia pública declarada en la isla. ACLU y ACLU de Puerto Rico presentaron una demanda para impugnar la ley en mayo de 2020, representando a Sandra Rodríguez Cotto y Rafelli González Cotto, ambos periodistas de larga trayectoria que han cubierto emergencias públicas. El Tribunal de Apelaciones de EE. UU. para el Primer Circuito, que decidirá sobre la constitucionalidad de la ley, escuchó los argumentos orales del caso en octubre.

"Creí que era esencial seguir adelante con este litigio porque el gobierno había cruzado una línea que amenazaba la esencia misma de la participación democrática", dijo González Cotto. "Cuando el estado se otorga a sí mismo el poder de decidir qué información es verdadera o falsa, especialmente durante una emergencia, abre la puerta a la censura, la intimidación y el amordazamiento del escrutinio legítimo".

En este segmento de Prensa en peligro, examinaremos el desafío de ACLU a esa ley en Puerto Rico y por qué proteger las "noticias falsas" de la regulación gubernamental protege todas las noticias.

Las leyes contra la desinformación pueden limitar la responsabilidad del gobierno

La demanda argumenta que permitir que el gobierno se convierta en el árbitro del debate público viola la Primera Enmienda. En este caso, la ley intenta criminalizar los informes que el gobierno considera peligrosamente falsos, poniendo en riesgo los derechos de cada periodista y poniendo en peligro al público en el proceso. En el 2017, por ejemplo, el secretario de la gobernación acusó públicamente a Rodríguez Cotto de mentir después de que ella revelara que la cifra reportada por el gobierno de los muertos a causa del huracán María estaba muy por debajo a la cifra real. Si la ley en cuestión hubiese estado vigente en ese entonces, podrían haberla procesado penalmente.

Puerto Rico no es el único lugar que ha introducido una ley contra las "noticias falsas", pero si se permite que la ley se mantenga, se encontrará en una compañía preocupante, como señaló la Clínica de la Primera Enmienda de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Georgia en su alegato de amicus curiae en nombre de grupos de libertad de expresión y prensa. Hungría, por ejemplo, prohíbe la cobertura "desequilibrada" y exige que los medios se registren ante el estado. Rusia ha castigado duramente a periodistas por su cobertura del gobierno bajo la apariencia de combatir las "noticias falsas". Egipto ha prohibido medios de comunicación por "publicar noticias falsas" sobre Israel y Gaza.

"Un pueblo libre requiere una prensa libre", dice Brian Hauss, subdirector del Proyecto de Expresión, Privacidad y Tecnología de ACLU y abogado principal del caso. "Si los recientes ataques de la administración Trump a los medios, desde CBS News hasta Jimmy Kimmel, nos han enseñado algo, es que no se puede permitir que el gobierno dicte qué debatimos o cómo lo debatimos. Pero eso es exactamente lo que esta ley intenta hacer".

En 2023, un juez federal estuvo de acuerdo y derogó la ley: "Los tribunales deben estar vigilantes para asegurar que la Primera Enmienda no se debilite durante periodos de emergencias declaradas. La función de vigilancia de la libre expresión nunca es más vital que durante una crisis a gran escala".

¿Puede el gobierno regular las noticias falsas y los engaños?

La ley en Puerto Rico es alarmante precisamente por su lenguaje amplio: podría permitirle al gobierno controlar todo tipo de información durante crisis como una pandemia o un huracán. Un poder de censura tan abarcador y su efecto y el consiguiente efecto inhibidor sobre expresiones que se aparten de la narrativa oficial del gobierno, podría poner en peligro a las personas al limitar sus fuentes de información y disuadir a periodistas e individuos de contradecir a quienes ostentan el poder. Por ejemplo, como describió el Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press en su alegato de amicus curiae (https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/rodriguez-cotto-v-gonzalez-colon/) a nombre de organizaciones de medios, leyes de “noticias falsas” como la de Puerto Rico podrían haber disuadido a reporteros de cuestionar los intentos de la administración de George W. Bush de minimizar la devastación causada por el huracán Katrina.

Aunque Puerto Rico insiste en que su ley de "noticias falsas" es esencial para evitar que las falsas alarmas causen pánicos masivos peligrosos, la regla de la FCC sobre engaños en las transmisiones de la década de 1990 demuestra que es posible redactar una ley que proteja la seguridad pública sin socavar las libertades de prensa. Esa regla se introdujo como una forma de combatir los engaños radiales comunes a partir de los años 70s. Varios programas de radio realizaron montajes falsos al aire con fines promocionales, que iban desde confesiones falsas de crímenes violentos hasta secuestros ficticios de locutores. En un ejemplo muy sonado, el director de la emisora WALE-AM en Rhode Island anunció falsamente que el presentador del programa, Steve White, había recibido un disparo en la cabeza afuera del estudio mientras se tomaba un descanso para fumar.

El anuncio provocó que la policía y los medios acudieran a la estación, desperdiciando recursos públicos y causando pánico entre los oyentes. Después de décadas de engaños similares con diversos grados de respuesta pública, la FCC creó la regla de engaños en transmisiones basada en los comentarios de los radiodifusores y del público. La regulación castiga la transmisión de información falsa sobre un "crimen o catástrofe" si la estación sabe que la información es falsa, es prácticamente seguro que el discurso causará un daño público inmediato y sustancial, y la transmisión, de hecho, crea ese daño.

La mayoría de las estaciones saben que la regla de engaño puede invocarse solo si emitieron, por ejemplo, una amenaza de bomba falsa o una transmisión engañosa sobre un tiroteo masivo. Esto contrasta fuertemente con el lenguaje amplio de la ley de Puerto Rico, que potencialmente criminaliza el discurso sobre cualquier tema durante una emergencia declarada, desde especulaciones sobre el origen de COVID-19 hasta reportajes sobre el resultado de una elección.

Como ha sostenido el Tribunal Supremo, el gobierno no tiene la autoridad para castigar el discurso falso, especialmente en asuntos de interés público, excepto en contextos muy limitados, como prohibir el perjurio o el hacerse pasar por un policía. La ley de Puerto Rico va mucho más allá de esos contextos limitados y viola la Primera Enmienda.

Protegiendo el derecho de libertad de prensa para los puertorriqueños y más allá

Para Puerto Rico, el futuro está en el aire. El gobierno apeló el fallo de 2023 que derogó la ley, y el Primer Circuito escuchó la apelación en octubre. El resultado tendrá implicaciones mucho más allá de los reportajes en la isla.

Para González Cotto, este es el punto: "Para mí, lo que estaba —y sigue estando— en juego es si los puertorriqueños pueden vivir en una sociedad en la que cuestionar al gobierno está protegido, no criminalizado", dijo. "Este caso nunca se trató solo de una ley. Se trataba de establecer un precedente que impidiera que futuras administraciones utilicen leyes vagas como armas para silenciar la disidencia”.

La historia enseña que sin una prensa robustamente libre, el gobierno puede salirse con la suya en abusos de poder con poca oposición. Para González Cotto, los periodistas son un medio a través del cual el público puede ejercer su poder para cuestionar, verificar y responsabilizar a las instituciones. "Una prensa libre asegura que ningún gobierno, corporación o interés poderoso pueda operar sin control", aseveró. "Cuando la prensa es restringida, el público se vuelve vulnerable. Cuando la prensa es libre, el público se vuelve invencible”.

En un momento en el que el gobierno está restringiendo el acceso de la prensa y utilizando a la FCC para castigar a comediantes, mantener esa libertad es más importante que nunca. Permitir que el gobierno decida qué es verdad y qué no lo es, resulta peligroso para todos nosotros. Pero la historia también nos ha enseñado algo más: cuando luchamos por ella, la Primera Enmienda es lo suficientemente fuerte como para capear la tormenta.

TAMBIÉN:

Lea este blog en inglés aquí.

Published February 3, 2026 at 02:42AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/oR6nFxM

ACLU: Cómo una ley de la época de COVID que prohíbe las "noticias falsas" en Puerto Rico acecha a la prensa

Cómo una ley de la época de COVID que prohíbe las "noticias falsas" en Puerto Rico acecha a la prensa

En el punto más crítico de la pandemia de COVID-19, cuando Puerto Rico aprobó una ley que pretendía prohibir las “noticias falsas”, dos periodistas temieron que la prohibición los expusiera a procesos penales por sus reportajes los cuales eran críticos sobre el gobierno, sus funcionarios y sus medidas de respuesta a la emergencia. Según la ley, cualquier persona acusada podía enfrentar hasta tres años de cárcel y miles de dólares en multas.

La ley se dirigía a cualquier persona acusada de dar "una falsa alarma" o difundir información falsa que resultara en un riesgo para la vida, la salud o la propiedad durante una emergencia pública declarada en la isla. ACLU y ACLU de Puerto Rico presentaron una demanda para impugnar la ley en mayo de 2020, representando a Sandra Rodríguez Cotto y Rafelli González Cotto, ambos periodistas de larga trayectoria que han cubierto emergencias públicas. El Tribunal de Apelaciones de EE. UU. para el Primer Circuito, que decidirá sobre la constitucionalidad de la ley, escuchó los argumentos orales del caso en octubre.

"Creí que era esencial seguir adelante con este litigio porque el gobierno había cruzado una línea que amenazaba la esencia misma de la participación democrática", dijo González Cotto. "Cuando el estado se otorga a sí mismo el poder de decidir qué información es verdadera o falsa, especialmente durante una emergencia, abre la puerta a la censura, la intimidación y el amordazamiento del escrutinio legítimo".

En este segmento de Prensa en peligro, examinaremos el desafío de ACLU a esa ley en Puerto Rico y por qué proteger las "noticias falsas" de la regulación gubernamental protege todas las noticias.

Las leyes contra la desinformación pueden limitar la responsabilidad del gobierno

La demanda argumenta que permitir que el gobierno se convierta en el árbitro del debate público viola la Primera Enmienda. En este caso, la ley intenta criminalizar los informes que el gobierno considera peligrosamente falsos, poniendo en riesgo los derechos de cada periodista y poniendo en peligro al público en el proceso. En el 2017, por ejemplo, el secretario de la gobernación acusó públicamente a Rodríguez Cotto de mentir después de que ella revelara que la cifra reportada por el gobierno de los muertos a causa del huracán María estaba muy por debajo a la cifra real. Si la ley en cuestión hubiese estado vigente en ese entonces, podrían haberla procesado penalmente.

Puerto Rico no es el único lugar que ha introducido una ley contra las "noticias falsas", pero si se permite que la ley se mantenga, se encontrará en una compañía preocupante, como señaló la Clínica de la Primera Enmienda de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Georgia en su alegato de amicus curiae en nombre de grupos de libertad de expresión y prensa. Hungría, por ejemplo, prohíbe la cobertura "desequilibrada" y exige que los medios se registren ante el estado. Rusia ha castigado duramente a periodistas por su cobertura del gobierno bajo la apariencia de combatir las "noticias falsas". Egipto ha prohibido medios de comunicación por "publicar noticias falsas" sobre Israel y Gaza.

"Un pueblo libre requiere una prensa libre", dice Brian Hauss, subdirector del Proyecto de Expresión, Privacidad y Tecnología de ACLU y abogado principal del caso. "Si los recientes ataques de la administración Trump a los medios, desde CBS News hasta Jimmy Kimmel, nos han enseñado algo, es que no se puede permitir que el gobierno dicte qué debatimos o cómo lo debatimos. Pero eso es exactamente lo que esta ley intenta hacer".

En 2023, un juez federal estuvo de acuerdo y derogó la ley: "Los tribunales deben estar vigilantes para asegurar que la Primera Enmienda no se debilite durante periodos de emergencias declaradas. La función de vigilancia de la libre expresión nunca es más vital que durante una crisis a gran escala".

¿Puede el gobierno regular las noticias falsas y los engaños?

La ley en Puerto Rico es alarmante precisamente por su lenguaje amplio: podría permitirle al gobierno controlar todo tipo de información durante crisis como una pandemia o un huracán. Un poder de censura tan abarcador y su efecto y el consiguiente efecto inhibidor sobre expresiones que se aparten de la narrativa oficial del gobierno, podría poner en peligro a las personas al limitar sus fuentes de información y disuadir a periodistas e individuos de contradecir a quienes ostentan el poder. Por ejemplo, como describió el Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press en su alegato de amicus curiae (https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/rodriguez-cotto-v-gonzalez-colon/) a nombre de organizaciones de medios, leyes de “noticias falsas” como la de Puerto Rico podrían haber disuadido a reporteros de cuestionar los intentos de la administración de George W. Bush de minimizar la devastación causada por el huracán Katrina.

Aunque Puerto Rico insiste en que su ley de "noticias falsas" es esencial para evitar que las falsas alarmas causen pánicos masivos peligrosos, la regla de la FCC sobre engaños en las transmisiones de la década de 1990 demuestra que es posible redactar una ley que proteja la seguridad pública sin socavar las libertades de prensa. Esa regla se introdujo como una forma de combatir los engaños radiales comunes a partir de los años 70s. Varios programas de radio realizaron montajes falsos al aire con fines promocionales, que iban desde confesiones falsas de crímenes violentos hasta secuestros ficticios de locutores. En un ejemplo muy sonado, el director de la emisora WALE-AM en Rhode Island anunció falsamente que el presentador del programa, Steve White, había recibido un disparo en la cabeza afuera del estudio mientras se tomaba un descanso para fumar.

El anuncio provocó que la policía y los medios acudieran a la estación, desperdiciando recursos públicos y causando pánico entre los oyentes. Después de décadas de engaños similares con diversos grados de respuesta pública, la FCC creó la regla de engaños en transmisiones basada en los comentarios de los radiodifusores y del público. La regulación castiga la transmisión de información falsa sobre un "crimen o catástrofe" si la estación sabe que la información es falsa, es prácticamente seguro que el discurso causará un daño público inmediato y sustancial, y la transmisión, de hecho, crea ese daño.

La mayoría de las estaciones saben que la regla de engaño puede invocarse solo si emitieron, por ejemplo, una amenaza de bomba falsa o una transmisión engañosa sobre un tiroteo masivo. Esto contrasta fuertemente con el lenguaje amplio de la ley de Puerto Rico, que potencialmente criminaliza el discurso sobre cualquier tema durante una emergencia declarada, desde especulaciones sobre el origen de COVID-19 hasta reportajes sobre el resultado de una elección.

Como ha sostenido el Tribunal Supremo, el gobierno no tiene la autoridad para castigar el discurso falso, especialmente en asuntos de interés público, excepto en contextos muy limitados, como prohibir el perjurio o el hacerse pasar por un policía. La ley de Puerto Rico va mucho más allá de esos contextos limitados y viola la Primera Enmienda.

Protegiendo el derecho de libertad de prensa para los puertorriqueños y más allá

Para Puerto Rico, el futuro está en el aire. El gobierno apeló el fallo de 2023 que derogó la ley, y el Primer Circuito escuchó la apelación en octubre. El resultado tendrá implicaciones mucho más allá de los reportajes en la isla.

Para González Cotto, este es el punto: "Para mí, lo que estaba —y sigue estando— en juego es si los puertorriqueños pueden vivir en una sociedad en la que cuestionar al gobierno está protegido, no criminalizado", dijo. "Este caso nunca se trató solo de una ley. Se trataba de establecer un precedente que impidiera que futuras administraciones utilicen leyes vagas como armas para silenciar la disidencia”.

La historia enseña que sin una prensa robustamente libre, el gobierno puede salirse con la suya en abusos de poder con poca oposición. Para González Cotto, los periodistas son un medio a través del cual el público puede ejercer su poder para cuestionar, verificar y responsabilizar a las instituciones. "Una prensa libre asegura que ningún gobierno, corporación o interés poderoso pueda operar sin control", aseveró. "Cuando la prensa es restringida, el público se vuelve vulnerable. Cuando la prensa es libre, el público se vuelve invencible”.

En un momento en el que el gobierno está restringiendo el acceso de la prensa y utilizando a la FCC para castigar a comediantes, mantener esa libertad es más importante que nunca. Permitir que el gobierno decida qué es verdad y qué no lo es, resulta peligroso para todos nosotros. Pero la historia también nos ha enseñado algo más: cuando luchamos por ella, la Primera Enmienda es lo suficientemente fuerte como para capear la tormenta.

TAMBIÉN:

Lea este blog en inglés aquí.

Published February 2, 2026 at 09:12PM
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ACLU: Can It Be a Felony to Possess a Gun if You Smoke Weed?

Can It Be a Felony to Possess a Gun if You Smoke Weed?

On March 2, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in United States v. Hemani, a case that asks: Is it constitutional for the government to charge someone as a felon because they used marijuana and had a gun locked in a safe? For the ACLU, which is co-counsel in this case, the answer is a clear no.

The government charged Ali Hemani under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), which makes it a felony for “unlawful users” of controlled substances or those “addicted to” a controlled substance to possess a firearm. The government argues that Hemani is an “unlawful user” of marijuana, a drug nearly half of all Americans say they have tried at some point in their lives and that is now legal in some form – either for recreational or medical use – in nearly every state in the country.

The problems with this prosecution are many.

Is it constitutional for the government to charge someone as a felon because they used marijuana and had a gun locked in a safe?

First, the law is impermissibly vague. What is an “unlawful user”? The government says it’s a “habitual user.” But the word “habitual” never appears in the statute, and it is unclear what either of these terms even means. Do they mean someone who smoked marijuana last weekend? Six months ago? Consider a medical marijuana patient with a gun locked in a safe? Or a veteran who uses marijuana to manage chronic pain? Someone who smokes four times a month? Or does it have to be two times a week or five days a week? Vague statutes like 922(g)(3) invite arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

Second, under the government’s theory, they don’t have to prove that a person carried a gun at the same time they used marijuana, let alone that they used a gun recklessly in any way. Take, for example, someone who keeps a gun safely secured at home and consumes marijuana a few days a week. According to the government, those facts alone mean that a person could be convicted of a felony and potentially sentenced to prison. Those are not valid grounds to lock someone up.

Third, the government hasn’t met its burden under the Second Amendment to justify this prosecution. The court has explained that it evaluates the constitutionality of laws that regulate gun rights by looking at the country’s “history and tradition” of firearm regulations. Here, history provides no support for the government categorically disarming --and prosecuting-- people based on mere use of marijuana.

Fourth, laws that lack clear boundaries do more than create confusion – they create conditions for unequal treatment. When criminal statutes are vague or open-ended, enforcement decisions are left to discretion. History shows how such discretion operates: Communities of color are more likely to bear the weight of prosecution. As we say in the brief, nobody disputes drugs and guns can be a dangerous combination. But even the most serious societal problems must be addressed by laws that provide fair notice of what they prohibit—especially when they criminalize the exercise of fundamental rights.

Clarity in criminal laws is all the more important when the stakes are so high. Beyond facing a prison sentence, punishment under Section 922(g)(3) means an individual will have a felony conviction that can create lifelong barriers to employment, housing, education, and full democratic participation, consequences that ripple outward to entire families and communities.

We cannot continue to lock people up based on unfounded assumptions – particularly of “dangerousness” – or without fundamental notions of fairness. That’s why we’re in court arguing that the prosecution of Mr. Hemani is unfair and unconstitutional.

Published January 29, 2026 at 12:52AM
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ACLU: Can It Be a Felony to Possess a Gun if You Smoke Weed?

Can It Be a Felony to Possess a Gun if You Smoke Weed?

On March 2, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in United States v. Hemani, a case that asks: Is it constitutional for the government to charge someone as a felon because they used marijuana and had a gun locked in a safe? For the ACLU, which is co-counsel in this case, the answer is a clear no.

The government charged Ali Hemani under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), which makes it a felony for “unlawful users” of controlled substances or those “addicted to” a controlled substance to possess a firearm. The government argues that Hemani is an “unlawful user” of marijuana, a drug nearly half of all Americans say they have tried at some point in their lives and that is now legal in some form – either for recreational or medical use – in nearly every state in the country.

The problems with this prosecution are many.

Is it constitutional for the government to charge someone as a felon because they used marijuana and had a gun locked in a safe?

First, the law is impermissibly vague. What is an “unlawful user”? The government says it’s a “habitual user.” But the word “habitual” never appears in the statute, and it is unclear what either of these terms even means. Do they mean someone who smoked marijuana last weekend? Six months ago? Consider a medical marijuana patient with a gun locked in a safe? Or a veteran who uses marijuana to manage chronic pain? Someone who smokes four times a month? Or does it have to be two times a week or five days a week? Vague statutes like 922(g)(3) invite arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

Second, under the government’s theory, they don’t have to prove that a person carried a gun at the same time they used marijuana, let alone that they used a gun recklessly in any way. Take, for example, someone who keeps a gun safely secured at home and consumes marijuana a few days a week. According to the government, those facts alone mean that a person could be convicted of a felony and potentially sentenced to prison. Those are not valid grounds to lock someone up.

Third, the government hasn’t met its burden under the Second Amendment to justify this prosecution. The court has explained that it evaluates the constitutionality of laws that regulate gun rights by looking at the country’s “history and tradition” of firearm regulations. Here, history provides no support for the government categorically disarming --and prosecuting-- people based on mere use of marijuana.

Fourth, laws that lack clear boundaries do more than create confusion – they create conditions for unequal treatment. When criminal statutes are vague or open-ended, enforcement decisions are left to discretion. History shows how such discretion operates: Communities of color are more likely to bear the weight of prosecution. As we say in the brief, nobody disputes drugs and guns can be a dangerous combination. But even the most serious societal problems must be addressed by laws that provide fair notice of what they prohibit—especially when they criminalize the exercise of fundamental rights.

Clarity in criminal laws is all the more important when the stakes are so high. Beyond facing a prison sentence, punishment under Section 922(g)(3) means an individual will have a felony conviction that can create lifelong barriers to employment, housing, education, and full democratic participation, consequences that ripple outward to entire families and communities.

We cannot continue to lock people up based on unfounded assumptions – particularly of “dangerousness” – or without fundamental notions of fairness. That’s why we’re in court arguing that the prosecution of Mr. Hemani is unfair and unconstitutional.

Published January 28, 2026 at 07:22PM
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ACLU: One Year In: Defending the Constitution Under a Second Trump Administration

One Year In: Defending the Constitution Under a Second Trump Administration

One year ago, President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. Within hours of his inauguration, it was clear that he and his administration would, once again, test the Constitution and the willingness of our nation’s institutions and people to defend it. However, what stood out most to us during the last year has been the volume, pace, and persistence of the second Trump administration’s assault on many of our most fundamental rights and freedoms. There were multiple flashpoints throughout the last year, as the administration’s “shock and awe” strategy yielded a sustained and aggressive assault on civil rights and civil liberties resulting in 225 executive orders signed (as of December).

Near daily efforts to dismantle civil rights and civil liberties protections, intimidate marginalized communities, and upend the rule of law threatened to normalize the previously unthinkable. At the U.S. Supreme Court, blows to trans rights and free speech set dangerous precedents. At the state level, attacks on core protections for reproductive freedom and voting rights persisted.

Although we faced an incredibly bleak landscape for civil rights and civil liberties, the ACLU did not relent because we were ready on day one and able to meet the Trump administration’s shock and awe strategy with an even more shocking and awesome response. Months before the 2024 election, we studied President Trump’s campaign promises and Project 2025, and, in a series of public memos, laid out the civil rights and civil liberties threats a second Trump presidency would pose. We anticipated the renewed attacks on immigrants and other vulnerable communities, expanded domestic use of federal force, and systematic efforts to suppress dissent.

Yet, defending the Constitution in this environment has required more than advance preparation and a sense of urgency. It necessitated an unshakable belief that democratic norms are worth fighting for even when the pressure seems unyielding. That’s why we mobilized our lawyers, advocates, organizers, storytellers, and supporters to delay unconstitutional policies before they took effect, dilute their reach when full blockage wasn’t immediately possible, and defeat them through courts, public pressure, and sustained organizing.

One year in, our work is guided by a simple principle: we are only in a constitutional crisis if we allow ourselves to be.

We Fought — and Won — in Court

Mere hours after taking office, President Trump issued a blitz of executive orders and policy directives that immediately threatened birthright citizenship, trans rights, freedom of speech, and voting rights. Our response reflected a core constitutional principle: rights endure not because leaders respect them, but because people and institutions insist on enforcing them.

• Birthright Citizenship. Two hours after President Trump issued an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship — a constitutional guarantee for more than 150 years — the ACLU sued. When a Supreme Court ruling threatened partial enforcement of the order, we shifted tactics, filing a class-action lawsuit that protected more than 129,000 children from harm. This spring, the ACLU’s National Legal Director, Cecillia Wang, will argue the case before the Court that the administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship violates the 14th Amendment.

• Alien Enemies Act. We also sued the Trump administration over the president’s unlawful and unprecedented invocation of a centuries-old wartime act, the Alien Enemies Act, to accelerate mass deportations. This spring, the ACLU scored a critical legal victory with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. Additionally, in December, a federal judge ruled that the Venezuelan men sent to the CECOT prison in El Salvador were denied due process and ordered the government to facilitate their return or offer hearings compliant with due process.

• Free Speech. The ACLU acted swiftly to secure the release of international students and scholars Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Dr. Badar Khan Suri who were detained by the Trump administration for their pro-Palestinian speech. Claiming their speech threatened U.S. foreign policy, the government sought to intimidate dissent by using immigration enforcement to punish lawful political expression. In addition to securing the students’ release, the ACLU was able to protect them from immediate deportation while their cases move through the courts, reaffirming that political advocacy is not grounds for exile.

• Troop Deployment. We took action when federal troops and National Guard units were sent to cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., under the pretext of controlling protests. Through lawsuits, friend-of-the-court briefs, and aggressive transparency demands, we forced scrutiny of these actions and constrained their scope so that this grave abuse of power will never be normalized. Thanks to a string of court victories prohibiting deployments, including in Illinois v. Trump, as well as sustained political opposition, President Trump announced on New Year’s Eve that he was abandoning efforts to use the National Guard in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland.

• Equal Protection. When President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to withhold funds from medical providers and institutions that provide gender-affirming medical treatments to anyone under 19 years old, we challenged the order. A court then temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing it.

The ACLU's legal docket comprises 239 legal actions and 139 lawsuits. More importantly, a majority (64 percent) of our cases succeeded in delaying, diluting, or defeating the Trump administration's policies. As a result of our’s and other organizations’ efforts, the courts continue to be a check on the power of the presidency, just as our Constitution demanded.

We Mobilized Communities and Built Power

As proud as we are of our work in the courts, we know that we will not be successful unless millions of individuals demand change. Across the country, ACLU affiliates and partners trained more than 84,000 people on their rights and enrolled 180,000 individuals in our People Power activist program. When protests were met with militarized responses, we rapidly expanded Know Your Rights training nationwide, equipping tens of thousands of people to demonstrate safely and lawfully. We also mobilized our supporters and members of Congress to advocate on behalf of immigrants facing neglect and abuse in detention centers.

In what became one of the most visible free-speech confrontations in recent decades, political pressure led ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! after FCC leadership threatened broadcast licenses over a monologue they found objectionable. The ACLU mobilized more than 500 prominent artists and more than 50,000 supporters to sign an open letter criticizing Trump administration’s attempts at censorship. Within hours of our mobilization, the show returned to air — stopping the censorship before it could harden into precedent.

The Road Ahead: 2026 and Beyond

As we enter 2026, the stakes feel as high as ever. In coming months, the courts will make decisions that affect civil rights and civil liberties and determine whether marginalized communities can fully participate in public life for years to come. This year also marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — a moment that reminds us of the centrality of liberty and equality to the founding of our nation.

Having led the ACLU through eight presidential administrations, I’ve learned one thing for certain: progress is never permanent, and setbacks are never inevitable. Yet, our work endures. What the ACLU does over the next three years and how well we do it will play a role in shaping the course of American history.

This is because democracy doesn’t defend itself — people do. And together, we will keep showing up.

Published January 20, 2026 at 06:30PM
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