ACLU Defends Court Order Barring Border Patrol's Unlawful Stop-and-Arrest Practices - ACLU of Northern California Plaintiffs in United Farm Workers v. Noem asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the April 2025 preliminary injunction

No one in California should be afraid to go about their daily lives because of how they look or where they work.

Read more here:

Today, we joined @ufw.bsky.social in San Francisco to ask the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the court order barring Border Patrol’s unlawful stop-and-arrest practices in California’s Eastern District.

After targeting Latinos, farmworkers, and day laborers in Kern County last year, Border Patrol vowed to continue dragnet sweeps across the Central Valley. We sued.

On Wednesday, we’ll ask the appeals court to uphold the court order barring the agency’s unlawful stop-and-arrest practices.

We're proud to stand with International Refugee Assistance Project, Muslim Advocates, Van Der Hout LLP, @uclacilp.bsky.social, @ndlon.bsky.social, @aclu.org, our incredible plaintiffs, and so many others to make our case at the highest court in the land.

Mixed status families are also threatened with losing a loved one and/or financial provider, leading to instability.

Together, Trump's cancellations reflect the largest “de-documentation” event in U.S. history — stripping legal status and work authorization from people who are relying on this protection because their countries are unsafe and returning could threaten their lives.

TPS holders cannot safely return to their home countries due to war, natural disaster, or other emergencies, but the Trump administration still wants to immediately — and illegally — cancel their authorization to live and work in the United States.

Mullin v. Dahlia Doe - ACLU of Northern California On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Mullin v. Dahlia Doe, a case challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thou...

On April 29 we will argue at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the 1.3 million recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) threatened by the Trump administration's openly racist mass deportation agenda.

Modesto approves up to $349K to defend ACLU lawsuit over mask ban at protests “I never want to hear that there’s no money ever again,” said one public commenter.

UPDATE: Despite calls to invest in parks, housing, and street repair instead of spending good money on bad policy, the Modesto council voted to commit nearly $350K to defend an ordinance that undermines free speech and endangers reporters.
If the city won't stand up for residents' rights, we will.

California Prisons Ban Community Leader’s Memoir - ACLU of Northern California ACLU NorCal is calling on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to reverse its decision banning Dorsey Nunn’s memoir, “What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly” from state prisons. Nunn, who ...

We're among the many voices calling on California prisons to reverse its absurd ban on Dorsey Nunn's "What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly." The book is precisely the type of reflective and empowering literature that should be available to people in California’s prisons.

Modesto City Council will weigh spending up to $350,000 to fight lawsuit challenging its mask ban Modesto City Council will decide Tuesday if they will spend up to $350,000 to defend its controversial mask ban at protests policy.

🚨TONIGHT: Modesto will consider allocating $250K more to defend an ordinance banning masks and safety gear at protests. The measure stifles free speech and puts reporters at risk.

The city already spent $99,500.

Concerned about this use of public funds? Speak up at the 5: 30 PM council meeting!

Federal judge: continued Border Patrol sweeps violated court order A federal judge ruled that Border Patrol sweeps in California were conducted "without considering or complying with law Congress enacted."

Remember when Border Patrol swarmed a Sacramento Home Depot parking lot last year and arrested day laborers?

A federal judge ruled that the raid violated the court order in our Kern County immigration lawsuit that prohibits stops without reasonable suspicion.

Score one for the Constitution.

We woke up early to hear our colleague Cecillia Wang defend birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court.

ACLU NorCal’s Executive Director Abdi Soltani—a birthright citizen himself—reflects on today’s arguments and the Bay Area roots of a key chapter in the history of birthright citizenship.

Our legal director Cecillia Wang, a daughter of immigrants, is at the Supreme Court defending the bedrock American value of birthright citizenship.

President Trump is no match for the 14th Amendment.

The S.F. immigration court is being dismantled. Charts show how bad it’s gotten for asylum-seekers Staffing of the San Francisco immigration court has been decimated over the past year — and removal orders have spiked.

For years, the SF immigration court gave asylum seekers a fair shot at remaining in the U.S. Not under Trump.
This year, judges are issuing removal orders in 80% of cases.
The SF court is closing soon, but the damage is done. Bay Area immigrants face longer wait times, fewer favorable rulings.

ACLU sues Modesto and its police chief over controversial mask ban at protests Enforcement of the ordinance led to the arrest of five masked demonstrators last June.

Modesto’s ordinance banning face coverings and safety gear at protests is too broad and too vague.

At a time when Trump is trying to crush dissent and muzzle the press, the ordinance undermines free speech rights and forces people to choose between speaking out and staying safe.

We’re suing.

If you must fly, stay safe.

Check out these tips from the Immigrant Defense Project before you go to the airport:

T.S.A. Tipped Off ICE Agents Before Arrests at San Francisco Airport

TSA is alerting ICE about travelers who have been ordered to leave the country.
That’s what happened Sunday at SFO when ICE agents arrested a woman with no criminal history who was flying with her young daughter to Miami.
Like immigration courthouses, airports are now potential deportation traps.

ACLU Sues Modesto Over Unconstitutional Mask Ban - ACLU of Northern California The vague and overbroad prohibition on face coverings and safety gear at protests infringes on the free speech rights of the public and the press

With a No Kings event happening in Modesto on Saturday, today we sued the city over its unconstitutional ordinance banning face coverings and safety gear at protests.

The measure is a hodgepodge of absurd contradictions. A full frog suit is OK, but a bandana worn across the face would be a crime.

Three people being photographed in an event space, holding award plaques.

Last night, the Society of Professional Journalists honored our attorneys Avi Frey and Emi Young and paralegal Kassie Dibble with a prestigious James Madison Freedom of Information Attorney Award for their tenacious work to hold the Vallejo Police Department accountable for its shameful brutality.👏👏

Email Newsletter - ACLU of Northern California The Brief is the monthly email newsletter of the ACLU of Northern California. It offers readers timely updates on our work and opportunities to get involved. And since it's hard to keep up with everyt...

Our latest monthly e-newsletter covers:

• The legal strategy freeing immigrants arrested by ICE;
• California's voter ID scam;
• As feds try to punish online speech, our call to tech giants to protect their users;
• And more!

Read it and sign up at www.aclunorcal.org/newsletters/...

Even agencies trying to comply with state law have failed due to Flock’s sharing policies – including SF, Mountain View, and now Modesto. The only real fix: cancel the automated license plate reader contracts, take down the cameras, and end the dragnet.

ACLU NorCal’s Nick Hidalgo says it plainly: Automated license plate readers "do not make our community safer. All they do is subject us to constant, unblinking surveillance." And Modesto just proved it.

Modesto police find federal agencies had prohibited access to license plate data The issue came to light during a review conducted while preparing a response to a Public Records Act request.

Modesto PD just admitted Border Patrol & other federal agencies had access to its license plate reader data — despite a CA law banning it. Their fix? Updated policies. That's not enough. @nickhidalgo.bsky.social

Your turn, @governor.ca.gov Newsom!

California’s death row is an unjust, broken system riddled with racial bias. Black people are 8.7x more likely to be sentenced to death than other defendants.

Urge Governor Newsom to commute every death row sentence in California before his term ends:

We urge Los Gatos to reconsider restrictions it imposed on a mosque seeking extended hours for evening prayers during Ramadan. The town granted a church less restrictive conditions. Los Gatos must treat all faith communities equally and take seriously religious freedom protections.
Read our letter.

Immigrants in Central Valley are challenging ICE detentions at record-high rates “The Eastern District is taking these cases very seriously,” said a senior staff attorney with ACLU of Northern California.

In California, attorneys are successfully filing emergency petitions to free immigrants from ICE custody.

“ICE doesn’t have to operate this way. It’s clearly in violation of the law. They’re losing cases over and over again.”
— Bree Bernwanger, ACLU NorCal

Garro Pinchi, et al. v. Noem, et al. - ACLU of Northern California When immigrants arrive in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security determines if they are eligible for release from custody based on whether the government concludes they are dangerous o...

A federal district court’s ruling in our lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's policy of unlawfully re-arresting immigrants the government previously deemed safe to release opened the door for many immigrants arrested in the SF ICE Office area to seek release from detention.

Learn more:

In Northern and Central California, many immigrants ICE arrested at courthouses and check-in appointments have been freed through emergency legal petitions.

And, as NBC Bay Area reports, judges are overwhelmingly siding against ICE and “blasting” the federal government in their rulings.

Voter ID appears headed for California's November ballot. What you should know Voter ID appears headed for California's November ballot. What you need to know

California already verifies voter identity at every stage of the process. The voter ID measure isn’t about election security. It's voter suppression pure and simple — part of Trump’s agenda to create chaos in our elections and disenfranchise voters.

Californians are way too smart to fall for it.