News & Commentary

The biennial budget proposed by Maine Gov. Paul LePage has drawn plenty of notice this session, but one troubling aspect of it has escaped the attention of most and is particularly relevant this Sunshine Week.

Update: The voter ID bill is defeated, and the Legislature passes a law to continue providing assistance to some immigrants in need!

The Academy Awards and civil liberties don’t always go hand in hand, but at last night’s ceremony there were a few surprising moments of synergy between Hollywood and the issues we deal with every day at the ACLU.

This week the Obama administration announced that, yet again, desperately needed immigration reform will be delayed. This is truly terrible news for the thousands of families currently unable to reunite with their loved ones, and the millions of people across our country that have been forced to live in the shadows. In addition to this disappointing news, the New York Times published an editorial this week detailing the failure of the "Secure Communities" program and the deeply harmful impact it has had on communities across the United States.

Last month, the ACLU joined several other groups in filing a nationwide, class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of children, challenging the federal government’s failure to provide them with lawyers in their deportation hearings. Late last week we followed up with a preliminary injunction motion to ask that the proceedings be delayed until several of our plaintiffs – ranging in age from 10 to 17 - are provided with attorneys.

In her native country of Burundi, Suavis Furaha was an office manager at the United Food Programme. She left that job behind - along with her country, her husband, and everyone she knew - when she fled the country with her four children in 2013. She fled because she feared for her life and the life of her children; they are safe now but she still fears for the life of her husband, who remains in Burundi. Now Suavis lives in Westbrook with her school-aged kids. She is studying English in Adult Ed; she also speaks French, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, and Swahili. Her kids all say that they would like to grow up and stay in Maine, and maybe become doctors, lawyers or engineers.

Earlier this year, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services proposed to change the eligibility guidelines for the General Assistance program to exclude many non-citizens (including asylum seekers who came to this country fleeing religious and political persecution). Had the rule gone into effect, hundreds of Mainers would have lost their apartments, access to food vouchers, and other basic human necessities that everyone deserves. For more than 150 years, the Constitution has protected non-citizens from discrimination; laws that discriminate on the basis of alienage are said to be "inherently suspect" and they are subject to the very highest level of judicial review. America is a nation of immigrants, and the promise of equal protection under the law has long embraced a guarantee that everyone subject to the law is entitled to the protection of the law, regardless of citizenship status.

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

Student attorneys at the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic and the Refugee and Human Rights Program at the Maine Law School recently published a guide for immigrant victims of domestic violence. While the guide should not be used as a substitute for legal advice, it does provide invaluable information for individuals whose fear of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may keep them from contacting authorities. The guide is comprehensive. It details different signs of an abusive relationship, lists free community resources available for victims/survivors, and outlines the steps for obtaining a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order. Ideally, obtaining a PFA will not affect a victim's immigration status. The guide also explains for possible immigration options for victims of violence: U-Visas, T-Visas, asylum, and obtaining green cards through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Information provided by an abuser cannot be used against a victim in immigration proceedings. It is important for us all to know that there are laws to protect all victims of domestic violence living in the US, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status.