The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Suffolk County Legislature for rejecting a bill that would have mandated the creation and maintenance of a prepaid cell phone registry in the county. The Legislature rejected the bill, I.R. 1266, Tuesday evening by a bipartisan vote of 7 to 11. The NYCLU’s Suffolk County Chapter had organized a coalition of more than 30 civil rights, immigrants’ rights, labor, social justice, community and interfaith organizations in opposition to the bill.

A coalition of more than 30 civil rights, immigrants’ rights, labor, social justice, community and interfaith organizations today urged members of the Suffolk County Legislature to oppose a bill that would mandate the creation and maintenance of a prepaid cell phone registry in Suffolk County.

Responding to the concerns of advocates and elected officials alike, the Obama administration this afternoon announced minor, and largely meaningless, reforms to the Secure Communities deportation program. By doing so, the Obama administration has turned deaf ears to the objections to Secure Communities voiced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the governors of Illinois and Massachusetts, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and law enforcement officials and civil rights advocates across the country.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today commended the Jackson Town Board for following the law and rescinding a local ordinance requiring all official town business to be conducted exclusively in English. “We welcome the Town Board’s decision to rescind this discriminatory and unconstitutional ordinance,” said Melanie Trimble, director of the NYCLU’s Capital Region Chapter. “The English language is not under assault in Jackson or anyplace else. This decision helps ensure that all residents, regardless of what language they speak, have access to crucial public services.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded Gov. Andrew Cuomo for suspending the federal Secure Communities (S-Comm) deportation program in New York State that tears apart families, threatens civil rights and weakens public safety.

A wide coalition of advocacy groups intensified its demand today that Governor Andrew Cuomo immediately terminate the state’s involvement in Secure Communities (S-Comm), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mass deportation program, in light of mounting evidence of the program’s problems.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today joined immigrants’ rights and civil rights advocates at a rally at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office to call him to withdraw New York from Secure Communities (S-Comm), a federal program that threatens civil rights and weakens public safety by targeting immigrant residents for detention and deportation.

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education have issued guidance to all the nation’s school districts clarifying that schools must not inquire about a child’s immigration status at enrollment. The guidance follows a New York Civil Liberties Union analysis last year that found that at least 20 percent of public school districts across New York State were unlawfully barring or discouraging the enrollment of immigrant students. Civil rights group across the nation conducted similar advocacy on this issue.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today upheld a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of an ordinance in Oyster Bay, Long Island that violates day laborers’ core constitutional right to free speech. As a result of the ruling, day laborers whose livelihoods were threatened because of the ordinance can continue to exercise their First Amendment rights and look for work without being ticketed or fined.

A State Senate committee hearing scheduled on Friday to purportedly examine homeland security issues must not be used as a forum to attack and demonize Muslim and immigrant New Yorkers, New York Neighbors for American Values, a coalition of more than 100 civic, labor and religious organizations, urged today in a letter to state Sen. Gregory R. Ball, R- 40th district, chairman of the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.