LOS ANGELES - Exactly one year after hundreds of people were arrested near bus stations and supermarkets for alleged immigration violations, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has obtained more than a thousand pages of documents that may confirm community suspicions that the border patrol targeted people based on race.

The ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit last December seeking Border Patrol records after the agency repeatedly ignored a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act. Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, formerly the Border Patrol, released the last of 1,500 pages detailing raids last summer in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, and San Diego counties.

"Because these raids were so unusual and intrusive, they sparked tremendous fear in the community. People wanted an explanation, so we filed this case to find out the facts about why the raids happened," said Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California. "When people know what their government is up to, there is greater trust in the system as well as greater knowledge of how to improve the system."

The released CBP documents show:

'Agents suspected people of not being U.S. citizens simply because they spoke Spanish.

'Agents stopped and questioned at least 45 people who were citizens or legal residents.

'Although the CBP claimed the raids were based on intelligence from local police, at least one police department denied giving any information to the agency.

'Agents approached pedestrians and people waiting at bus stops and day laborer sites for questioning.

'Agents arrested 423 people altogether, some in cities as far as 250 miles away from the U.S. - Mexico border.

"Although the Border Patrol claimed that the raids were based on specific intelligence, there is nothing in the documents released to support their claims," said Ranjana Natarajan, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.

Documents show that Department of Homeland Security and border patrol officials in Washington, D.C. knew nothing of the raids because there was no prior approval from the headquarters. After the raids, Homeland Security told CBP to focus on law enforcement at the border and let a different agency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, handle enforcement inside the country. Nearly a year after the initial request for documents, the ACLU will negotiate with the CBP for the release of additional documents that the agency has continued to withhold.

LOS ANGELES - What do Yao Ming and Russell Crowe have in common?

They, like Laguna Niguel resident Janice Rooney, can't get a credit card from the Union Bank of California. Despite incredible wealth, or good credit in the case of Rooney, Union Bank won't extend you credit if you are not a U.S. citizen.

In response to its discriminatory policy, Rooney, who is married to a U.S. citizen and was born in the Philippines, filed a lawsuit today in Los Angeles Federal District Court with the ACLU of Southern California and the national ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. Rooney was told last year by Union Bank that her application for a secured credit card was denied simply because she is not a citizen of the United States.

"Denying a credit card to someone because they are a citizen of a different country is discrimination," said Ahilan T. Arulanantham, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.

Rooney, who is a registered nutritionist, entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident. After relocating to the Los Angeles area with her husband, she attempted to establish her own credit by applying for a credit card from Union Bank. The bank denied her application in a form letter that gave the reason: "You are not a citizen of the United States." A second letter from bank legal counsel to Rooney, who eventually received credit at another bank, claimed that the discrimination was legal. The lawsuit seeks to end this policy that potentially could affect the more than 10 million immigrants living here legally as permanent residents.

"If a woman is denied a room at a hotel because of the color of her skin, it's discrimination that must be stopped, even if another hotel takes her in," said ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Ramona Ripston.

Union Bank and at least two other banks, including United First Mortgage of Virginia and First National Bank of Omaha, also appear to follow a policy of denying credit to people who are not U.S. citizens. The bank's prominent advertising campaign, which features large portraits and captions emphasizing that the bank caters to everyone, led Rooney to apply for a credit card there first.

"While my husband was teaching me to drive I saw Union Bank's billboards everywhere. I thought it would be a good bank to choose," said Rooney. "I hope this lawsuit ends this discriminatory policy so that in the future new immigrants aren't treated the way I was."

"Union Bank's policy is as perplexing as it is discriminatory," added Lee Gelernt, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "Credit is essential in our society. In a country with 11 million legal immigrants, it doesn't make any sense to say that you must be a U.S. citizen to have a credit card."

LOS ANGELES - Five students and their parents filed an emergency lawsuit today in Superior Court in Kern County seeking publication in the next two weeks of a series of articles about sexual orientation that was censored by school officials.

Student editors, their sources and their parents said they were shocked at the high school administration's decision to silence them and stop publication of five articles from varying perspectives about gender identity, sexual orientation and students' personal stories. The East Bakersfield High School students are asking that the articles be published in the final edition of the paper, which is slated for print at the end of the month.

"I am really surprised and disappointed by our principal's decision to censor us," said Joel Paramo, a senior and editor-in-chief of The Kernal. "I wish we didn't need to file a lawsuit against the school to publish these stories. We chose to focus on sexual orientation in the paper so that the issues could be talked about in the open, not stuffed back into the closet."

The Kernal editors and the students interviewed for the articles first learned they would not be allowed to publish that portion of the newspaper April 29. The East High paper has been selected for several top awards from the local press club and has been allowed to print articles about sexuality in the past. Additionally, the student editors went to great lengths to ensure their sources and even their sources' parents knew about the articles.

"The East High students took an important step in promoting tolerance and understanding. They picked up where the school did not venture to go," said Christine Sun, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "These students are taking a very courageous step and we take the safety of all students very seriously."

Janet Rangel, a senior at East High, was interviewed for the story with her mother, both are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Rangel said she was shocked to learn the stories would not be published.

"When our principal said the articles on sexual orientation could not be published in The Kernal it made me feel like I'm back where I was - in the closet again, hiding," Rangel said. "I don't want that. It's not ok. I want to be out. I'm out for a reason. I want people to learn from me and not treat me differently just because I'm gay. I went two steps ahead when I came out and now the school is pushing me back. And, now maybe other students who were thinking about coming out won't."

The Gay-Straight Alliance Network, which supports 38 school clubs in central California including GSA clubs at West Bakersfield High, Bakersfield High, South Bakersfield High, Liberty High and Kern Valley High, is also named as a plaintiff in the case.

"The school should provide a safe campus for all students, and protect them from harassment and discrimination, not force them into silence," said Carolyn Laub, the group's executive director. "If the principal has direct evidence that there are safety concerns at school, then his first priorities should not be to curtail free speech rights of students but to take appropriate steps to identify and discipline those students who are making threats and to make clear to the school community that harassment will not be tolerated."