An article in World Net Daily on 16 September, 2006, described an ACLU-sponsored effort to support Special Order 40 of the Los Angeles Police Department. This Order requires the police in that City to refuse to ask for and act on the illegal status of any alien whom they question or arrest. This is part of the effort of the City Council there to make L.A. a “sanctuary city.”

The national organization, Judicial Watch, has brought the federal case to strike Special Order 40 because it conflicts with a ten- year-old federal law which prohibits “any government entity or official” from communicating to or from the […]

The Associated Press wrote a story published in the Arizona Star on August 24 about a “new civil rights group” which is objecting to certain policies of the US Border Patrol. What the AP failed to report is that this new group (which involves the ACLU) is also affiliated with the Mexican government, and opposes all controls on illegal immigration.

The new group, based in Los Angeles, is called the “Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Its participants include the ACLUs of Arizona, New Mexico, San Diego, and Texas. Other participants include the Border Angels, the American Friends Service Committee, the Mexican American Legal Defense […]

Associated Press – 8/16/2006

The ACLU has sued the town of Hazelton, Pennsylvania over one of the toughest crackdowns on illegal immigrants by a U.S. city. Hazelton officials have passed a law that would fine landlords $1000 for renting to illegals, deny business permits to people who give them jobs, and make English the city’s official language.

Mayor Lou Barietta, who proposed the ordinance after two illegal immigrants were charged with shooting and killing a man, said, “They are attempting to scare the city into backing off. We’re not going to be bullied…(w)er’e confident the ordinance will stand up to judicial scrutiny, and […]

WNBC-TV – 9/1/2006

Americans who do not have young children may not know this, but federal law now requires that parents obtain Social Security numbers for their school-aged children. Many New Jersey schools are asking students to provide their SS numbers when they enroll, to determine whether they are legal residents.

The ACLU of New Jersey has protested, saying, “This type of practice has a chilling effect on immigrant students, both documented and undocumented, who want to attend our public schools.” The ACLU has not explained how this affects documented students, who therefore could obtain SS numbers. Perhaps the ACLU is […]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch – 9/4/2006

One City (Albuquerque, NM) and several states have passed similar laws which require photo ID for voters in their jurisdictions. These laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some the photo IDs are mandatory (and free to the citizens). In others, they are one of several alternatives.

The ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri have filed suit against a new Missouri law that voters must present state-issued photo identification cards at the polls in order to be eligible to vote. The State’s purpose, as with the other states, is to […]