News

Today’s ruling is reason to celebrate. If the court had granted the Trump administration’s request, U.S. citizens, residents, and their family members here and across the world would have once again been facing chaos and uncertainty. The Trump administration was unable to show the court a real need to immediately reinstitute the Muslim ban. As the Attorneys General for Washington and Minnesot... Read More

Advocates and community members announced today a new bill that would amend California's HIV criminalization laws that were enacted during a time of fear and ignorance about HIV and its transmission. SB 239 will make the law more consistent with other laws involving serious, communicable diseases. Read More

Three students at California universities, along with Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay, filed a lawsuit today against President Donald J. Trump, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for establishing and enforcing an unconstitutional and discriminatory Muslim ban. The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU of Northe... Read More

Community and civil rights groups today welcomed news that the San Francisco Police Department has suspended participation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with its local U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office to expose how Trump administration officials are interpreting and executing the president’s Muslim ban, acting in violation of federal courts that ordered a stay on the ban’s implementation. The filing today is part of a coordinat... Read More

The ACLU of Northern California is asking that people who have been expecting visitors to arrive at SFO, OAK, SJO, or FAT from one of the seven countries in yesterday’s executive order – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen – and have not heard from their visitors or have heard that their visitors have arrived and been detained or denied entry to please contact us at one of our two ... Read More

Today, President Trump and his new administration confirmed the institution of draconian, punitive, and discriminatory immigration policies that ignore the lessons of the last 30 years of immigration policy and betray our most basic values as a state and as a nation. These policies not only signal widespread violation of the rights of immigrants and citizens, but will waste resources, drive fear i... Read More

The ACLU of California condemns the anti-immigrant actions taken this week by President Donald Trump. >> Contact us re: SFO, OAK, SJO, FAT airport arrivals affected by Trump's executive order  On behalf of the ACLU of Northern California, I oppose today’s executive order banning entry to the United States from Muslim-majority and Middle Eastern nations in the strongest possibl... Read More

The ACLU of Northern California stands in support of the Movement for Black Lives. As we prepare to enter the presidency of a man who has called for the adoption of racist policies like Stop-and-Frisk and nominated an opponent of civil rights to run the Department of Justice, it is more important than ever that we actively resist the unrelenting oppression of Black people.We condemn the viole... Read More

In response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s unveiling of his proposed 2017-18 budget, the ACLU of California’s Center for Advocacy and Policy issued the following statement on behalf of its Center Director, Natasha Minsker. Read More

The Richmond City Council last night voted to approve a “Fair Chance Access to Affordable Housing” ordinance to protect the rights of people who are re-entering society and find themselves excluded from housing opportunities because of their criminal record. Read More

A lawsuit filed today by civil rights groups charges the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by confiscating and destroying their property in ongoing sweeps. On multiple occasions, Caltrans has failed to give proper notice before raiding encampments—refusing plaintiffs an opportunity to move their belongings before destroyi... Read More