A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked ICE and other government agents from conducting punitive “sweeping” arrests of people seeking asylum and other non-citizens who appear in court for routine immigration hearings. People who are in fact doing what they are legally supposed to do.

Since May, ICE has embraced cruelty and sowed chaos, sweeping up people who did everything our immigration system asked of them. This decision is an important reminder that the government cannot arbitrarily rip people from their lives without reason or explanation.

One year ago, we filed a complaint with California's Commission on Peace Officer’s Standards and Training (POST) to investigate nine Vallejo police officers for decertification — stripping them of their badges for misconduct that caused deaths and serious injury.

A federal district judge has put a stop to ICE’s cruel and unlawful practice of seizing people at courthouses in Northern and Central California when they show up for their immigration hearings. Learn more:

Horrific sexual abuse occurred at the former federal women’s prison in Dublin. And it's riddled with toxic mold and asbestos. It should never be used to house people ever again. Kudos to Dublin residents for standing up and opposing any effort to reopen the prison as an ICE detention center.

“The government surveils you every time you drive through San Jose…It’s an unchecked police power, an end run around judicial oversight and a blatant privacy invasion. It’s also a violation of the California Constitution.” www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/06/o...

ICE is unlawfully re-arresring immigrants at mandatory court hearings and check-ins even though the government had determined they weren't dangerous or a flight risk. People followed the rules, and ICE arrested them with no legal justification. We've asked a federal court to block this new policy.

It’s been quite a year. Here’s a look back at some of the work we’re most proud of in 2025.

We sued the Trump administration for reversing a longstanding policy allowing immigrants whom the government determined were neither dangerous nor a flight risk to remain free during ongoing removal proceedings if they complied with their conditions of release. These arrests are unlawful and unfair.

Birthright citizenship embodies the principle that American citizenship is not defined by race. It is fundamental to our democracy, equality, and fairness. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

What people do in their homes is no one’s business but their own. But in many SF apartment buildings, landlords have forced tenants to accept so-called “smart home” systems that monitor their comings and goings and other behavior.

NEW: Poll reveals Californians’ growing disapproval of mass deportation, showing voters’ strong support for due process, including for people with past records, and equal treatment in the legal system regardless of immigration status: calmatters.org/justice/2025...

People should be able to move about freely without having to worry about the police monitoring their daily activities. Blanket mass surveillance does not improve public safety. In fact, it's dangerous and puts people at risk even when governments put privacy policies into place.

Surveillance is not safety. Yet government agencies deploy untested, invasive surveillance—like automated license plate readers—without considering proven, non-surveillance alternatives first. Mass surveillance should never be the first approach to public safety. www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/l...

VICTORY: DHS has withdrawn its subpoena demanding the identities of anonymous Instagram users who posted about ICE raids in LA. The First Amendment protects your right to record police, to share those recordings, and do so anonymously.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @snowjake.bsky.social @aclu.org

The ACLU has filed over 100 lawsuits to defend our civil rights from a ceaseless barrage of undemocratic attacks by the Trump administration. Tune in @kqedforum.bsky.social 9-10 am Tues. Nov. 25 for a conversation with Alexis Madrigal and ACLU National Legal Director Cecilia Wang to learn more.

VICTORY: Hundreds showed up in Oakland last night to oppose expanding the city's surveillance network.

San Jose Police deployed nearly 500 license plate readers that collect millions of records monthly on people’s movements—and store that data for an entire year! This allows police to track residents and visitors as they go to work, medical appointments, or protests. www.kqed.org/news/1206458...

Oakland is fast-tracking a $2.25M contract with Flock Safety to buy more surveillance cameras and software that would tap into private security systems like doorbell cameras and feed the livestreams into OPD’s network of automated license plate readers.

Today @aclu-norcal.bsky.social and @eff.org filed a lawsuit on behalf of non-profit advocacy groups challenging San Jose’s warrantless searches as violating the California Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches and right to privacy. www.aclunc.org/news/lawsuit...

Once again, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has sounded the alarm. This time after her fellow justices gave Trump the go ahead to enforce a discriminatory rule that forces transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people to carry passports bearing the sex they were assigned at birth.

The second Trump administration is building a mass surveillance state to persecute immigrants and police online speech. We’ve already reached the point where if you step out of line or post disfavored opinions on the Internet, you could lose your job, your family, and even your freedom.

Sami Hamdi is still in ICE detention.

It's Election Day and there are many ways to cast your ballot! You can vote in person at your local polling place, vote center, or county elections office, or take your mail-in ballot to a secure drop-box or county elections office.

Es posible que haya escuchado que la Administración Trump está enviando agentes federales a algunos condados de California para supervisar las elecciones de la Proposición 50. Quede claro. Es ilegal que alguien intente impedirle ejercer su derecho constitucional al voto.

You may have heard that the Trump Administration is sending federal agents to a few California counties to monitor the Prop 50 election. Let us be clear. It is illegal for anyone to attempt to stop you from exercising your constitutional right to vote if you are a U.S. citizen.

As we head into the last weekend before Election Day, our legal director Shilpi Agarwal has some final tips for voters. Our Know Your Rights guide has the facts on who can vote, registering to vote (it’s not too late!), where and when to cast your ballot, and more: www.aclunc.org/ca-voting-rights

The Trump administration continues to abuse its power by attempting to silence anyone who criticizes the role of Israel in Gaza. The detention of British journalist Sami Hamdi is an attack on the constitutional right to free speech which protects everyone regardless of their citizenship status.

If DHS concludes immigrants aren’t dangerous or a flight risk, they can remain free while their immigration case proceeds if they comply with their conditions of release. For decades, this was how the system worked. In May, ICE abruptly began arresting people without legal justification. We sued.

It's been reported that President Trump will not send the National Guard to SF or anywhere else in the Bay Area as he had been threatening to do. That is welcome news. But we can't get complacent. Know your rights around protest, federal agents and law enforcement, and more: www.aclunc.org/kyr

Join the Hands Off the Bay rally today at 5pm at Embarcadero Plaza in downtown SF: www.bayresistance.org/get-ready Let's speak out for an America where people are safe in their neighborhoods, free to speak their minds, and can live without fear of government retaliation.

The surge of federal immigration agents to the Bay Area and threats to send the National Guard to SF are flagrant abuses of power intended to instill fear, target political opponents, and chill dissent. We all have constitutional rights when interacting with federal agents. Know your rights:👇🏾

In California, it's the last day to register to vote online or by mail for the Nov. 4 election. After today — up till the polls close on Election Day — you can register to vote at all county elections offices, polling places, and vote centers.

If you've experienced a low-level traffic stop in San Francisco in the past three years, the Center for Policing Equity wants to hear about it for a study on the effects of traffic stops. Details, including compensation and the link to sign up, in the flyer. 👇🏾

San Francisco sheriff drops mandatory strip searches of people held at the county jail after attorney visits. As we wrote in a letter to the sheriff, to avoid invasive searches, people were declining to meet with their attorneys, which delayed hearings and added to the court’s backlog.

As you prepare for this weekend’s nationwide day of protest, make sure you know how to protect the personal information on your phone from prying eyes. You can also find a detailed surveillance self-defense guide from @eff.org at ssd.eff.org/module/atten....

Freedom and power for the Black community to determine their destiny was one of the principles of the Black Panther Party’s ten-point program. Founded in Oakland on this day in 1966, their legacy inspires us to fight against racial oppression and for justice.

Mr. Benioff: Military troops and armed federal agents don’t make our communities safer. Advocating to bring the National Guard to San Francisco is dangerous, and instills fear in people as they go about their daily lives.

Many Californians mistakenly believe
a criminal conviction keeps them from voting. You can vote if you're on probation, parole, community supervision. You can vote if you're serving a jail sentence. Our guide to voting for people with a criminal conviction is online at letmevote.org. Pass it on.

We've posted two new jobs based out of our SF office. The Investigator (a 5-year position) will focus on the rights of unhoused people during encampment clearances: grnh.se/7uugf62g2us The Admin Assistant will support ops, IT, and facilities to ensure smooth office operations: grnh.se/5u4oh0hk2us

Election Day is just four weeks away, on November 4. Our Know Your Rights guide to voting in California, available in English and Spanish, has key information including WHO can vote, HOW to register to vote, WHEN and WHERE you can cast your ballot, and tips on being an informed voter.

We are hopeful that our five-year settlement agreement with the city, which requires San Francisco to strictly follow its existing bag-and-tag policy, will encourage the city to redirect its limited resources away from sweeps and instead invest more in housing.

A federal appeals court today upheld a block on Trump’s executive order that seeks to strip babies born in the United States of their U.S. citizenship. The Constitution is clear — if you are born in the United States, you’re a citizen. Another hard won victory for democracy!

Across California, police disproportionately stop Black drivers. Pre-text stops for minor traffic violations are a tool of racial profiling, like stop-and-frisk for driving. These stops have little impact on public safety but can have fatal outcomes. San Francisco was right to limit them.

On this day in 1962, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the organization that would become the United Farm Workers. We’re proud to partner with @ufw.bsky.social in fighting back against the Trump administration's illegal, racially motivated immigration. ¡Si se puede!

Our lawsuit filed alongside LCCRSF and @carcensf.bsky.social seeks to stop the Trump administration's cruel and unlawful practice of arresting people when they show up for their mandatory hearings in immigration court and holding them for days in inhumane conditions. Art by Neil G. Ballard

ACLU SoCal is hiring! #jobs They are looking for a Senior Staff Attorney or Staff Attorney to work full-time on our Immigrants’ Rights team, with a focus on Kern County. www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.p...

After years of having their belongings destroyed by city workers while homeless in SF, Apple Cronk and her partner fought back through the courts. Their victory now protects ALL unhoused San Franciscans from routine property destruction. Read Apple's story here: www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

It is way past time for Vallejo city officials to do what is right — and legally required: release records from the investigation into officers who allegedly participated in the "macabre tradition" of bending their badges after shooting civilians.

The Coalition on Homelessness has settled a lawsuit challenging San Francisco's practice of throwing away unhoused people’s property during encampment sweeps. The settlement requires SF to follow its bag-and-tag policy and establishes strong accountability and oversight measures.