2025 Impact Report

Message from the Executive Director

New York is at a pivotal point.

On one hand, we have recently welcomed New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, which brings bright and exciting energy to many New Yorkers. On the other hand, the Trump Administration has been attacking New York’s civil rights and human rights protections relentlessly, as well as coming after immigrants living here.

This administration wants to control women’s bodies, raid our communities, deny life-saving medical care, require schools to teach our children lies, punish those who acknowledge racism, make our police unaccountable, and suppress our vote and voices. Trump’s disdain for our freedom is clear. We fought him before, and we won critical battles, but now we have more allies from the city to the state level offering opportunities to gain more protection for all New Yorkers.

This year also underscored how the Trump administration is exploiting weaknesses in our immigration court system to advance its agenda and to quiet dissent. The case of Mahmoud Khalil demonstrates how immigration courts can be used to bypass constitutional protections and delay meaningful judicial review.

For the NYCLU, Mahmoud’s case is not an outlier; it is a warning. It reflects a broader effort to weaponize immigration enforcement against speech, protest, and political expression. And it makes clear that our fight is not only about individual cases, but about challenging a system that allows this kind of overreach to happen in the first place. The NYCLU and ACLU see the big picture and are ready for anything: As Caroline, NYCLU’s Director of Development, noted: “I find solace knowing the NYCLU has a plan and is working together with the Governor, the Attorney General and other organizations if the National Guard were to be deployed in New York or if there were to be an immigration crackdown.”

There is a reason for hope that we can change the system. Across our state, communities are organizing, speaking out, demanding accountability and preparing strategically for the fights ahead. The same collective power that has secured past victories is still here and growing. With continued partnership and investment, we can find a path to ensuring that New York remains a place where dignity, justice, and freedom are not just ideals, but lived realities for all.

In solidarity,

Donna Lieberman

2025 In Review

In 2025, we powered through the first year of Trump’s second presidency, facing ever increasing threats to civil rights, civil liberties, and democratic institutions across the country. While many of these federal actions have been devastating for communities already facing systemic injustice, the NYCLU has done what it has always done: fight back to make New York a firewall for rights and justice. In this report we provide just a few highlights; check out our website for a fuller picture.

STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY

Mahmoud Khalil’s Immigration Court Challenge

In 2025, the NYCLU, the ACLU, and our partners fiercely challenged the Trump administration’s retaliatory deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder targeted solely for his pro-Palestine organizing and speech. We secured federal court blocks on his detention and removal, exposing how immigration courts were being weaponized to undermine First Amendment protections. Despite intense political pressure, our advocacy has so far protected Mahmoud from deportation and we will continue to fight for his protected constitutional rights despite the Trump Administration’s efforts otherwise.

CUNY Investment Transparency Victory

A court ruled in favor of pro-Palestine student organizers in Southey v. City University of New York (CUNY), forcing CUNY to release investment records under the freedom of information law and upholding free speech on public campuses. The NYCLU’s FOIL litigation pierced administrative stonewalling, empowering students to hold universities accountable for their endowments amid national protests. This transparency triumph strengthened democratic oversight in higher education and protected the right to organize without reprisal.

Student Suspension Reform in Buffalo

The NYCLU, in collaboration with Attorney General Letitia James and Buffalo Public Schools, celebrated an Assurance of Discontinuance (AOD), an agreement to reform the BPS district’s reliance on punitive disciplinary tactics, provide meaningful support to students, and attempt to lower the astronomical student suspension rates that disproportionately harmed Black and Brown students. Our advocacy curbed unjust discipline, restored due process, and ensured fair hearings for thousands of students statewide, preventing permanent academic harm from overly punitive policies.

PROMOTING EQUALITY

Protecting Immigrants’ Free Speech Behind Bars

This year, the NYCLU secured a settlement in PLS v. DHS that affirmed people detained by ICE do not lose their First Amendment rights. NYCLU Director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation Amy Belsher explained, “People trapped in an immigration detention, and lawyers like us, rely on written communications to relay deeply personal information about immigration cases and can be the difference between whether someone returns home to their family or faces deportation. As the Trump administration keeps arresting immigrant New Yorkers en masse and forces more people into these deplorable detention facilities, it’s essential that people’s First Amendment rights are respected and upheld.” Our lawsuit challenged retaliation against detained people who spoke out about conditions, organized collectively, or sought help from lawyers and outside advocates. The settlement guarantees that detained immigrants can file grievances, communicate with the press and legal organizations, and participate in peaceful advocacy without fear of punishment or retribution.

Advancing Health Equity in Albany

The NYCLU helped shape landmark protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care, even as we pushed to fill harmful gaps in state health policy. When Governor Kathy Hochul signed a “shield” law to protect providers and patients from out-of-state attacks on abortion and gender-affirming care, we celebrated a vital safeguard for people seeking essential care in New York. At the same time, the Governor vetoed hospital transparency and health data privacy bills that would have advanced health equity and protected patients from discriminatory or opaque practices. The NYCLU continues to organize, educate, and advocate to ensure that every New Yorker, especially those in marginalized communities, can access care without fear of surveillance, discrimination, or corporate secrecy.

Blocking Nassau County’s Anti-Trans Sports Ban

With an appeals court ruling blocking Nassau County’s attempt to ban trans women and girls from using county-run athletic facilities, the NYCLU and our clients achieved a major victory for trans rights and gender justice. Now, litigation continues to ensure that this harmful and cruel law is struck down for good. The county’s policy is a cruel and baseless attack on trans people, designed to score political points at the expense of athletes’ safety and dignity. Representing the Roller Rebels, a gender-inclusive roller derby team, we demonstrated that the ban likely violates New York’s robust anti-discrimination protections and harms transgender athletes and the teams that support them. The ruling sends a strong signal across the state that New Yorkers will not stand by while politicians try to erase trans people from public life.

PURSUING JUSTICE

Advancing Accountability by Ending Qualified Immunity

The Campaign to End Qualified Immunity in New York launched in 2020 in the wake of the killings by police of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and five years later the urgency remains. We intensified our campaign to the legal shield that too often protects police and public officials from accountability when they violate New Yorkers’ rights. We rallied legislators to advance Senate Bill S176 and Assembly Bill A1402, which would eliminate qualified immunity as a defense in New York State court cases and ensure that victims of excessive force, unlawful searches, brutality, and other government misconduct can seek justice in court. In April 2026, civil rights organizations, legal groups, and advocates convened in Albany to call for passage of these bills and highlight the urgent need for reform. As constitutional protections erode nationally, New York has an opportunity to lead and strengthen accountability for government abuse.

Challenging “Stop-and-Frisk on Wheels” Racial Profiling

The NYCLU, alongside the NAACP and the Bronx Defenders, sued the NYPD over illegal vehicle searches, identifying a pattern of racial profiling targeting Black and Latino drivers with baseless stops and invasive pat-downs. After FOILing police departments, the NYCLU found that across all 78 precincts in NYC, Black and Latino drivers were consistently more likely to be searched after being stopped, with the highest concentration of searches occurring in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods. NYCLU Senior Counsel for Criminal Justice Litigation Daniel Lambright, stated, “Far too many Black and Latino drivers in New York City are treated like criminals when their vehicles are searched during what should be routine traffic stops, merely because of the color of their skin. The NYPD’s targeting of Black and Latino drivers with baseless vehicle searches is nothing more than stop-and-frisk on wheels, and it must come to an end.” Filing in federal court, we seek an end to these practices, damages for victims, and federal oversight to dismantle systemic bias in NYC policing, vindicating the constitutional rights of drivers terrorized by pretextual enforcement.

Landmark NYPD Protest Settlement Enters New Implementation Phase

The second phase of the Payne v. de Blasio settlement involving the NYPD’s policing of protest focuses on putting reform agreements into practice with clear structure and oversight. Building on the policy and training updates from phase one, the NYPD is now required to follow a four-tiered response system that prioritizes de-escalation and minimizes police presence at protests whenever possible. An oversight committee will meet regularly to evaluate compliance, while the New York City Department of Investigation will conduct detailed reviews of two protests every six months and issue public progress reports with recommendations. These reforms are coming after years of mass arrests, brutality, and surveillance during Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and this phase represents meaningful progress toward a broader goal of accountability. Reinforcing limits on practices like kettling, penning, and excessive force, and requiring ongoing monitoring and transparency, helps ensure that these new reforms are carried out. Especially during a time of heightened national tensions and protest activity, these steps move New York closer to more consistent protection of free speech and assembly rights.

PROTECTING PRIVACY & AUTONOMY

Expanding End-of-Life Autonomy with the Medical Aid in Dying Act

After years of advocacy, New York took a historic step toward bodily autonomy with the passage of the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act. The law gives terminally ill New Yorkers, under strict safeguards, the option to request medication they can self-administer to transition peacefully on their own terms. The NYCLU played a key role in shaping and championing the legislation as a civil liberties issue, emphasizing that decisions about when and how to die rest with patients, not politicians or prosecutors. Even as last-minute amendments narrowed some aspects of patient choice, this victory firmly embedded end-of-life decision-making within New York’s framework of fundamental rights and expanded the constellation of options available alongside hospice and palliative care.

By the Numbers

Seek Justice:

In 2025, we filed 41 lawsuits and amicus briefs in support of civil liberties and fielded 1,969 requests for legal assistance, whether for referral or for further investigation. The legal actions included 21 direct cases and 20 amicus briefs. Of those, we partnered with ACLU in 13 total cases in 2025: six direct and seven amicus briefs.

Stand United:

We brought together 96,391 members and 131,657 donors across New York’s 62 counties.

Take Action:

We rallied 292,070 e-activists and social media followers and 11,022 volunteers. We also monitored 104 protests with 321 trained protest monitors.

Financial Statement

FY26: April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026

Support and Revenue – $22,873,470

• $13,772,529 National ACLU
• $7,461,649 Donations, Grants & Membership
• $1,639,292 Bequest & Other Income

Expense – $20,435,806

• $15,015,300 Program
• $4,202,213 Management & General
• $1,218,293 Fundraising

Please Note: These are unaudited financials through 12/31/2025. Our audited financial statements will be made public upon filing at a later date.