Court Cases Immigrants’ Rights

MALDEF and Other Civil Rights Groups File Legal Challenge to Arizona Racial Profiling Law

PHOENIX, AZ – MALDEF and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit today in a federal court in Phoenix challenging Arizona’s new law requiring police to demand “papers” from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S. The extreme law, the coalition charged, invites the racial profiling of people of color, violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law.

Costa Mesa Halts Enforcement of Anti-Solicitation Ordinance After Civil Rights Groups Sue

LOS ANGELES, CA – The city of Costa Mesa today halted enforcement of its anti-solicitation ordinance in response to a lawsuit brought by MALDEF, The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The suit was brought on behalf of day laborers represented by the Asociacion de Jornaleros de Costa Mesa and the Colectivo Tonantzin.

MALDEF, ACLU/SC Y NDLON Presentan Demanda Impugnando la Ordenaza de la Ciudad de Cost Mesa Contra Las Personas Que Piden Trabajo

COSTA MESA, CA – Hoy, MALDEF, la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles del Sur de California (ACLU, por sus siglas en inglés) y la Red Nacional para Organizar a los Jornaleros (“Day Laborer’s Organizing Network”, NDLON) anunciaron la radicación de una demanda impugnando la ordenanza de la ciudad de Costa Mesa contra las personas que piden trabajo como inconstitucional.

MALDEF Wins Temporary Injunction Halting DPS Denial of Driver’s Licenses to Legal Immigrants

AUSTIN, TX – Today, the 419th District Court in Travis County issued a temporary injunction blocking the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) from enforcing rules that deny driver’s licenses to legal immigrants living and working in Texas. The lawsuit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) on behalf of five individuals who are authorized to reside and work in the United States and a landscaping business that legally employs foreign workers under the federal H-2B program. The case challenges the recently-adopted illegal and overreaching rules and policies of the Texas DPS that prevent thousands of persons across Texas from receiving standard-issued licenses even though they possess valid immigration documents issued by the federal government.