Statement by Hector Villagra, Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California: "The ACLU of California welcomes the federal comprehensive immigration reform bill announced late Tuesday night by the Senate Gang of 8. This historic bill has the potential to advance the civil rights and liberties of all Californians and put the estimated 2.6 million undocumented immigrants who currently live in our state on the road to citizenship.

(Los Angeles) A panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that immigrants who have experienced prolonged detention have a right to a bond hearing to determine whether or not they should continue to be detained.

On Friday, March 29th, ICE closed the deportation case of Ruth Montaño, the Bakersfield mother who faced deportation following her arrest for having dogs that barked too much.  ICE’s announcement that it would not seek to deport Ruth came just days after the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) and Cuentame, a Latino organization that uses social media to shine the light on social justice issues, released a short video about her case.  The ACLU of Southern California applauds ICE for taking swift action to correct its mistakes, as Ruth never should have been placed in deportation proceedings in the first place.

Update! ICE closes deportation case against Ruth Montaño When Sheriff’s Department officials sought to detain and deport a mother of three because her small dogs were barking too loudly, the ACLU of California intervened, citing her case as a prime example of how racial profiling has crept into local law enforcement practices.  Today, the ACLU of California and Cuéntame, a project of Brave New Foundation, are premiering a video about the case of Ruth Montaño, and concurrently are launching an advocacy campaign asking the public to call for reform at the state and federal level and on ICE to immediately terminate deportation proceedings against her.

“Immigration reform must improve the severe civil liberties problems built into our current system,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, ACLU senior staff attorney, before testifying at a Senate hearing. “Every person in the United States, including all immigrants, has fundamental rights under our Constitution, including the due process right to a fair day in court before being locked away for months in an immigration prison or permanently banished from our country.

ACLU/SC Staff Attorney Lucero Chavez submitted the following letter to Anna Hinken, Non-Governmental Office (NGO) Liaison at U.S Customs and Border Protection. Ms. Hinken, We write to express our strong concern that, in targeting day laborers Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is undermining the stated priorities of the President

Hundreds of immigrants spend months or even years in federal immigration detention centers without being offered a bond hearing, attorneys from the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU/SC) told a panel of judges of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

In response to President Obama's speech today outlining his immigration reform plan, Michael Kaufman, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, issued the following statement: "President Obama has laid out a blueprint for immigration reform that offers a number of significant improvements for our broken system.

In response to an announcement by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) clarifying how agents should issue "detainers," or holds for potential deportation proceedings placed on an immigrant arrested by local law enforcement, Staff Attorney Jennie Pasquarella of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California issued the following statement: