12 Latinx/e Changemakers from Maryland. Background is purple. The image has a silhouette of Maryland and has colorful flowers in the left bottom and upper right corners.

12 Latinx/e Changemakers from Maryland

This Latinx/e Heritage Month Hear About these Past and Present Changemakers

By Neydin Milián

Latest Event


Day of Action 2026

Join the ACLU of Maryland, and our partners for a Day of Action on Monday, February 16, to demand justice for our immigrant communities and the safety of ALL Marylanders. At the event you’ll meet other advocates and hear directly from our champions on our shared goals for this legislative session. Then, we’ll head to Lawyers Mall to rally together and amplify our demands for change and action!

This is your chance to raise your concerns and advocate for our urgent priorities, including passing SB 245 the bill to end 287g programs in Maryland. Let’s make sure our lawmakers hear us loud and clear!

Your leadership is crucial here. Be part of the movement to protect civil liberties in Maryland and RSVP today!

Click HERE to Register

Day of Action 2026

More from the Press


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Stay informed on civil rights issues. Discover our latest actions and updates in the Press Release section.

Nehemiah Bester’s 12 Must-Reads of 2021

A collection from the ACLU of Maryland.

By Nehemiah Bester

Nehemiah Bester is a Black man with short hair and a beard, and is wearing a sport jacket, collared shirt, and tie. Image has a burgundy and white gradient map color profile.

Veto Overrides Now: Time to Finally Enact Parole Reform and Protect Immigrants

Our legislators must override Governor Hogan’s vetoes to create a better Maryland for all.

By Neydin Milián

Override Governor Hogan's vetoes. Image is a white outline of the statehouse and burgund background. Text has light blue highlight boxes around it.

Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month 2021

To kick off #LatinxHeritageMonth, ACLU of Maryland staff members shared what makes them proud of their Latinx heritage.

By Lorena Magdalena Diaz

Latinx Heritage Month 2021. Image shows rectangles, a triangle, and squiggly lines, in bright colors.

Racist Rhetoric in Maryland’s Capital

Freedom of speech is one of the most important of our State and federal constitutional rights, which is why the ACLU of Maryland is dedicated to protecting this freedom for all Marylanders.

By Neydin Milián

Maryland State House in Annapolis has a bitmap treatment over it with red and dark navy angled lines.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Highlighting Ying Matties whose efforts helped bring an end to Howard County’s ICE Contract

Ying Matties is a Chinese woman with long dark hair. She is wearing a dark blue top and is sitting down. There is a framed picture on the wall behind her.

What Happened in Atlanta is Not An Isolated Event

We have seen a rise in racist attacks against Asian Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and recently we saw a horrible and heartbreaking reminder of our country’s history of racial discrimination and violence against Asian Americans.

A person is standing at a rally in Columbia, Maryland, in a yellow hooded jacket, holding a yellow and black umbrella. The person is holidng a sign behind their back that says "Stop AAPI Hate". There are many other people in the picture with umbrellas.

Opinion: End Md.’s Partnership With ICE Once and For All

By Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director, ACLU of Maryland; and Gustavo Torres, Executive Director, CASA

By Dana Vickers Shelley

Maryland Matters ICE photo

Everything About My Black and Latina Identity is Beautiful

Often for Cultural Heritage Months, we try to highlight people whose experiences and identities shaped them into the activists they are today. Kristen is one of those phenomenal activists who does amazing work on the ground to push to reimagine policing and dismantle white supremacist structures.

Picture shows Kristen Lundy, a Black Latina, wearing glasses and a plum sleeveless shirt. She is smiling.

Opinion: Maryland police must stop playing ICE

Sara Medrano, a Latina grandmother and Frederick County resident, was driving her daughter and two grandchildren to pick up laundry detergent on her way to work when a Frederick County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over, purportedly for a “broken” taillight — that was working just fine — and detained her. In Medrano’s words: “I was so scared thinking that this stop would be the last moment I would have with my grandchildren and my daughter.”

By Nick Taichi Steiner

A woman signs a banner at a rally in support of immigrants in Frederick in 2019. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)