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American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Civil liberties nonprofit

Appears in 12 stories

Stories

Alien enemies act deportations face legal reckoning

Rule Changes

Lead counsel challenging AEA deportations

The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked only four times in American history—during the War of 1812, World War I, World War II, and now. In March 2025, President Trump became the first president to use the 1798 wartime statute outside of a declared war. He targeted alleged members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and sent 137 men to El Salvador's maximum-security CECOT prison within 24 hours.

Updated 2 days ago

DHS expands biometric surveillance infrastructure

New Capabilities

Litigating against ICE biometric collection

On May 22, ICE awarded a $25.1 million no-bid contract to Plymouth, Massachusetts firm BI2 Technologies for iris-scanning hardware and continuous access to a database of more than five million booking records. The award is roughly five times the size of the $4.5 million contract ICE signed with the same vendor eight months earlier.

Updated 2 days ago

Federal immigration showdown in Minnesota

Force in Play

Lead counsel in Hussen v. Noem class-action lawsuit

The Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis in what it calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Two months in, two U.S. citizens are dead: Renee Good, 37, shot January 7, and Alexander Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse, shot January 24; DHS claims self-defense in both cases, but witness videos contradict that.

Updated 6 days ago

Cold war law revived to deport campus activists

Rule Changes

Lead counsel representing Khalil

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 gave the Secretary of State power to deport noncitizens whose presence threatens U.S. foreign policy. For seven decades, this Cold War-era statute gathered dust until March 8, 2025, when ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil—a Columbia graduate student and green card holder—from his apartment for his role negotiating on behalf of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Updated May 21

Supreme Court takes up transgender sports bans

Rule Changes

Lead counsel for plaintiffs in both cases

The Supreme Court heard more than three hours of oral arguments on January 13, 2026, in two cases that could determine whether states can bar transgender students from sports teams matching their gender identity. The conservative majority signaled strong support for upholding state restrictions, though several justices appeared wary of a broad ruling.

Updated May 20

The five-year journey of Trump's pandemic asylum ban

Rule Changes

Leading legal challenges against Trump asylum restrictions

A Trump-era rule takes effect December 31, 2025, letting immigration officials deny asylum to anyone deemed a security threat based on communicable diseases. The rule was first published in December 2020, delayed five times by Biden's DHS, and now becomes law under Trump, despite no active pandemic.

Updated May 18

Trump's expanding travel ban: from seven countries to thirty-nine

Rule Changes

Challenged travel bans in 2017-2018, active on other Trump immigration policies in 2025

Trump signed his first travel ban seven days into his presidency, blocking entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and igniting protests; courts blocked it within a week. After Supreme Court victories, a Biden reversal, and his return to power, Trump's December 2025 expansion restricts entry from 39 countries—affecting one in eight people worldwide and eliminating exemptions for immediate family.

Updated May 16

The fight over who gets a bond hearing

Rule Changes

Lead litigation counsel challenging detention policy

In July 2025, the Trump administration declared that anyone who crossed the border illegally—even decades ago—is subject to indefinite detention without a bond hearing. The policy affects millions and has kept thousands locked up for months or years while their deportation cases grind through the courts. On December 19 and 26, 2025, federal judges in Massachusetts and California certified classes and ruled the policy unlawful, potentially freeing tens of thousands of detained immigrants to seek release.

Updated May 16

The SEC picks a fight with its own superpower: financial surveillance vs. privacy in crypto

Rule Changes

Provided a civil-liberties critique of expanded financial surveillance

The SEC spent years telling crypto: "We can't see you, so we can't trust you." Now it's hosting a public, recorded forum on the most explosive question in the space: how much visibility regulators should demand—and how much privacy Americans should keep.

Updated May 15

Trump’s birthright citizenship order heads to the Supreme Court

Rule Changes

Lead plaintiff‑side litigator against EO 14160

On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14160, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship." The order denies automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children when the mother is unlawfully present or on a temporary visa and the father is neither a citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. It challenges 125 years of legal consensus (grounded in the 14th Amendment and the Supreme Court's 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark) that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are automatically citizens.

Updated May 10

Supreme Court rules ISPs not liable for subscribers' copyright infringement

Rule Changes

Filed amicus brief supporting Cox; celebrated ruling

For more than a decade, major record labels have tried to make internet service providers pay for their subscribers' music piracy. On March 25, 2026, the Supreme Court shut that door unanimously. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a 9-0 court, held that a company providing internet service cannot be held liable as a copyright infringer simply because it knows some customers will use that service to download music illegally.

Updated Mar 25

Supreme Court tests whether marijuana users can own guns

Rule Changes

Representing Hemani as co-counsel

Since 1968, federal law has barred anyone who uses illegal drugs from owning a firearm. On March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether that ban violates the Second Amendment—a question that could reshape gun rights for the roughly 50 million Americans who use marijuana in states where it is legal under state law but still illegal under federal law.

Updated Mar 2