News & Commentary

Last Thursday, March 17, Nicole Ramos, a U.S. immigration lawyer, escorted her client M. to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. M. is a Mexican transgender woman who has a disability and PTSD seeking asylum in the United States. U.S. law requires an asylum seeker like M. to appear at the port of entry for a credible fear interview and initial processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Accordingly, M. entered the line for asylum processing at the port.

For the next thirty-four hours, the CBP officers on duty failed to provide M. with any food.

Today, the ACLU of San Diego’s Border Litigation Project sent a complaint letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, protesting CBP’s denial of food to asylum seekers awaiting credible fear interviews at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Justicia penal
SB 443 (Mitchell)–No más vigilancia policial con fines de lucro: SB 443 es un importante proyecto de ley que ratifica y protege los principios estadounidenses de imparcialidad y debido proceso en California. Durante años, las agencias policiales del estado han aprovechado una laguna legal que les permite quitarle dinero y bienes a la gente y quedarse con parte del botín debido a las leyes de decomiso civil. Establecidas durante el apogeo de la guerra contra las drogas, las leyes de decomiso civil fueron creadas para quitarle el botín a los capos de la droga, pero han sido pervertidas hasta convertirse en un ataque continuo sobre los californianos que no tienen dinero para luchar contra el gobierno en los tribunales, carga que afecta excesivamente a las personas de color de bajos recursos. SB 443 frena el abuso evitando que los agentes puedan decomisar permanentemente el dinero o los bienes de alguien que no ha sido encontrado culpable de un delito.

Es sencillo: Si la persona no es declarada culpable, la policía no puede quedarse con sus cosas.

SB 881 (Hertzberg) – No más lic

Criminal Justice
SB 443 (Mitchell) – No More Policing for Profit: SB 443 is an important bill that upholds and protects the American principles of fairness and due process in California. For years, law enforcement agencies in the state have taken advantage of a loophole that lets them take innocent people’s cash and property, and then keep a portion of the loot through civil asset forfeiture laws. Created during the heyday of the war on drugs, asset forfeiture laws were meant to take booty away from drug “kingpins” but have been perverted into an ongoing attack on Californians who can’t afford to fight the government in court, a burden that falls disproportionately on low-income people of color. SB 443 reins in the abuse by preventing cops from permanently taking someone’s money or property if the person hasn’t been convicted of a crime.

It’s simple: if there’s no conviction, then cops can’t keep people’s things.

Districting, and subsequently redistricting,  can be a powerful tool in empowering historically disenfranchised populations by guaranteeing elected official must live in - and therefore understand - their community. The ACLU of California Voting Rights teams has been involved in numerous local districting and redistricting efforts as well as in California’s statewide redistricting process.Over the years, we have created supplemental materials to assist organizations and community members in advocating for a fair and inclusive districting and redistricting process.  These materials  are meant to help in both advocacy to government officials and outreach to the community. Please feel free to use whatever materials are applicable to your work and adapt in anyway you see fit.We owe thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to these materials:

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Click here for a more detailed brochure about your rights.
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The Sheriff is considering buying a powerful and invasive camera-toting drone and he’s leaving the public in the dark. Drones, especially with powerful cameras, are ripe for abuse and must never be able to fly under the public radar. Before this drone idea moves any further, there must be public meetings to ask and answer the right questions about powerful and invasive drones and whether they should be flying in our skies, peeking through our windows, and taking pictures and video of our families.
The San Diego Sheriff wants to purchase a drone, according to a press report. Before this idea moves any further, there must be a robust public debate to ask and answer the right questions about these potentially invasive devices and whether they should be used by law enforcement in San Diego County. Community members must have a voice in this important issue – governm