Based on his campaign rhetoric, playbook and actions from his previous term, we know the harm the Trump administration is capable of inflicting. His agenda seeks to jail and deport immigrants and separate families, criminalize protest, gut resources for people unhoused – and the list goes on.

But even when faced with such emboldened aggression, the ACLU remains resolute in defending California’s values and dismantling systems of oppression to ensure all Californians have opportunities to thrive.

For over a year, the ACLU —in California and across the country — developed a roadmap to defend our civil liberties and rights. When the Trump administration attempts to execute its extreme agenda, we will meet them in Sacramento and in the streets of our communities, prepared and ready.

Protect Immigrant Californians 

California’s diversity is its strength, with more than 10 million immigrants contributing to the state’s cultural and economic success.

While California remains a welcoming place for immigrant families, too many state resources still harm our immigrant neighbors and loved ones.

We fight to keep our families together and our communities whole. We are committed to defending civil rights and liberties for all Californians – no exception.

Our Focus: 

• Strengthening our defense against the administration’s plans for mass detention and deportation by ensuring our sanctuary laws include all state and local agencies.
• Protecting our communities against unconstitutional searches and arrests by federal immigration agents.
• Ensuring California officials are not complicit in unjust federal policies.

Defend Our Privacy

Technology should work for the people and enrich their lives. But we know that the Trump administration seeks to use technology to target and attack our communities.

For the administration’s extreme agenda to succeed, they would need to commandeer city and state resources, including our personal information. While California has strong privacy laws, there are major cracks in our digital defenses that the administration will exploit.

The Trump administration will be able to attack and target migrants for deportation and track people seeking reproductive or gender-affirming care as well as journalists and protesters.

We must safeguard privacy, freedom of expression, and other inalienable constitutional rights guaranteed to all Californians, while defending against unjust government surveillance and invasions of privacy.

Our Focus: 

• Securing California’s defense against sharing local information with other states and the federal government that could endanger immigrants, people seeking reproductive or gender-affirming care or people exercising their right to protest.
• Uncovering and stopping dangerous government surveillance while advocating for greater transparency.
• Ending the stigmatization of impacted minority communities disproportionately targeted by surveillance and invasions of privacy.

Protect People Unhoused 

Everyone deserves a safe, healthy and stable place to call home. Unfortunately, California continues to face a severe housing shortage crisis. The private for-profit housing market has failed our state.

The Trump administration has threatened to criminalize people experiencing houselessness and defund HUD and other critical programs. In response, California’s state leaders must fight this extreme agenda and allocate state resources to long-term access to housing’.

Our Focus:

• Advocating for permanent state investments in houselessness prevention (rental assistance and strategies to protect at-risk renters), houselessness services and affordable housing development.
• Advocating for a permanent state funding source for houselessness prevention (rental assistance and strategies to protect at-risk renters); houselessness services and affordable housing development.
• Demanding systemic reforms to ensure that all people, regardless of their socio-economic status, can thrive and exercise their rights and liberties with dignity.
• Eradicating racialized wealth extraction schemes, ending the criminalization of poverty and guaranteeing all Californians have their basic human needs met, including housing and health care.

Ready to join the fight?

Join our email list to get action alerts on the latest legislation to defend and protect Californians from Trump’s extremist agenda.

As we enter a new year full of new challenges, revisit some of our key moments and cases of 2024 including victories for deported veterans, immigrant communities, and unhoused Inland Region residents and celebrations of advocates and activists who championed the ACLU SoCal's work and fought alongside us to advance civil liberties for all. 

JANUARY

The ACLU SoCal and Physicians for Human Rights release report on police attack dogs 

In collaboration with Physicians for Human Rights, we produced a report titled “Weaponizing Dogs: The Brutal Practice of Police Attack Dogs.” The report outlines how police deploy attack dogs and harm individuals who pose no threat, disproportionately targeting Black and Latine communities. Read the report. 

FEBRUARY

Celebrating the Centennial Bill of Rights Awards 

We concluded our centennial celebrations with our annual Bill of Rights Awards, dedicated to highlighting our achievements over the past century and laying the groundwork for the future. In solidarity with hotel workers, we postponed the celebration and relocated to a venue with unionized workers. We honored actress, producer, and activist Sheryl Lee Ralph; Oscar-winning filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert; and author, poet, and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon. Presenters included Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Martin Sheen, and Stephanie Hsu. Relive the Centennial Bill of Rights Awards. 

MARCH

Protecting our veterans

For years, the ACLU SoCal has worked with veterans and community organizations to bring back deported U.S. veterans and help them stay in the U.S. This year, one such formerly deported veteran, Juan Valenzuela Salazar, became a Lawful Permanent Resident with the support of the ACLU SoCal. In 1994, Juan was deported to Mexico after honorably serving in the U.S. Army as a Medical Specialist. 

To date, over 120 deported veterans have finally returned home to the U.S. However, without pardons from President Biden, most of them continue to be at risk of deportation again. In November 2024, the ACLU SoCal launched a campaign with twenty-seven repatriated veterans to ask President Biden for federal pardons to protect them from deportation and restore a pathway to citizenship.  

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Meet Jose Francisco (“Panchito”) Lopez, a U.S. Army veteran from Texas and the founder of the Deported Veterans Support House in Juarez, Mexico. He was drafted and deployed during the Vietnam War. After being deported for 20 years, he returned to the United States thanks to the efforts of the Seattle Clemency Project. He needs a presidential pardon to obtain the citizenship he earned through his service and be protected from deportation.  

See more stories from deported veterans. 

APRIL 

2024 ACLU California Action Lobby Day in Sacramento 

Twenty ACLU SoCal volunteers and activists, including Youth Liberty Squad members, traveled to Sacramento to lobby for legislation addressing housing rights, education rights, and ending forced labor. During the ACLU California Action Lobby Day, volunteers had the opportunity to connect with activists from across the state and meet with state legislators at their Capitol offices. 

MAY

Kidd v. Mayorkas victory

Victory! On May 15, 2024, a federal judge in California ruled that ICE’s practice of “knock and talks” to conduct home arrests is unlawful and unconstitutional. In 2020, we filed Kidd v. Mayorkas to force ICE agents to stop using the impersonation tactic and other unlawful practices during home arrests.  

“Everyone should feel safe in their own home, regardless of immigration status. Because ICE never has judicial warrants, they primarily rely on ‘knock and talks’ to conduct home arrests,” said Stephanie Padilla, staff attorney at ACLU SoCal. Know your rights.  

JUNE

June is pride month! 

The ACLU SoCal marched in the annual L.A. Pride Parade with actress and trans rights activist Nicole Maines leading the contingent. This year’s theme, “Fight for Trans Futures,” was loud and clear as we chanted “Pride is still protest!” See parade highlights.

We also celebrated the signing into law of the Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act. The SAFETY Act provides a safe learning environment for students regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation by prohibiting forced outing policies, providing resources for parents and students on talking about gender and identity privately, and protecting teachers and school staff from retaliation if they refuse to forcibly out a student. Learn more. 

JULY

Celebrating the 2024 Advocates for Justice Awards 

On July 8, 2024, the ACLU SoCal honored individuals and law firms who have joined us on the road to justice. Among this year’s honorees are historian Kelly Lytle Hernández, human rights activist Bonnie Abaunza, and the Shut Down Adelanto coalition for its work to close the Adelanto ICE Detention Center. Relive the moments.

AUGUST

Free to Learn, Free to Be 

Students have the right to be themselves and feel safe in their schools. Inspired by students’ activism and working with community organizations, the ACLU Foundations of California launched the Free to Learn, Free to Be campaign to protect students’ rights. The campaign offers resources students, parents, and teachers can take so every student feels safe and welcome in their schools. Learn more. 

SEPTEMBER

Victory in Tyson v. San Bernardino. 

One year after filing Tyson v. San Bernardino, the ACLU SoCal reached an agreement with the city to stop forcing unhoused people with disabilities to move themselves and their property with reckless disregard for people’s disability needs for assistance. The $1.2 million settlement protects unhoused people with disabilities by requiring San Bernardino to: not displace people during cleanups unless they offer interim housing; designate an Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator to ensure disability protections during cleanups; and reinvest $600,000 into new city houselessness programs. Read the blog. 

OCTOBER

The ACLU SoCal sues UCLA over First Amendment violations 

On October 22, the ACLU SoCal sued UCLA after education administrators suppressed student and faculty speech that culminated in the violent destruction of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on May 2, 2024. Blair v. Regents of the University of California, aims to protect the first amendment rights of students and faculty. One of the plaintiffs, Salih Can Açıksöz, Associate Professor of Anthropology, shared, “The university has not only failed to protect the rights of pro-Palestinian students, staff, and faculty to freedom of speech and expression but has actively curtailed them.” Lead ACLU SoCal attorney on the case, Mohammad Tajsar sat down with UCLA professors and student plaintiffs and interviewed them on why they decided to take action. Read the interview here.

NOVEMBER

Celebrating the 2024 Bill of Rights Awards 

Days after the election, we gathered for our annual ACLU SoCal Bill of Rights Awards at the Beverly Hilton. It was a night full of activism, storytelling, and stars. Hope filled the room as we heard from our honorees: Brittney and Cherelle Griner, Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Mark Ruffalo. Jason George returned for a third time to emcee the event. We also heard from special guests Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zoe Saldaña, Kerry Washington, and ACLU SoCal clients and activists. Relive the 2024 ACLU SoCal Bill of Rights Awards. 

DECEMBER

Los Angeles officially becomes a sanctuary city

On December 12, 2024, the ACLU SoCal was proud to join community organizations like the Check the Sheriff coalition and elected officials to sign into law a sanctuary ordinance that maximizes City of Los Angeles protections of immigrant Angelenos. 

This victory was years in the making. In 2017, the City of Los Angeles declared itself a “sanctuary” city without any policy to cut ties to ICE. Andrés Kwon, ACLU SoCal Senior Policy Counsel and Senior Organizer, who has worked on the policy for years, said, “This was seven years in the making and a testament to the grassroots power our movement has built since we first advocated for the City of Los Angeles to become a real sanctuary city—not in name only but by law.” 

About 15 years ago, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department transferred more than 10,000 people a year to ICE but since September 2020, our Los Angeles County sanctuary policy has kept families together and communities whole. Along with newly-elected city council members, we celebrate Los Angeles becoming a sanctuary city and will continue to push for policies protecting all Angelenos.  

LOOKING FORWARD

No matter what the new year and what the next administration will bring, know this: the ACLU SoCal is ready to take on whatever challenges come our way. We'll need everyone, especially our state officials and legislators, to work with us to secure our hard-won freedoms and to protect and advance the safety and wellbeing of all Californians. We know the power of community, and we’re not afraid to meet what’s ahead. Join us.      

Be a SoCal Activist and register to volunteer with the ACLU SoCal in 2025.