News & Commentary

With their lives at stake, my family had to move quickly and didn’t even have time to say goodbye to their home, for fear that the military would soon arrive to their village. They left everything they knew behind to stay alive, to be together.  To the comunidad latina, family means everything. And we’d do anything for our family.  The Trump administration’s inhumane immigration policies, from denying asylum claims to Central American migrants to kids in cages to separating families, has unfairly targeted Latinx people. These policies not only psychologically and physically damage individuals, but they aim to dismantle the idea of unity and family. Something that is so central to our Latinx identity.

By the Sanchez Family

For this Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let us take time to remember that the policies of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also affect Asian and Pacific Islanders in America. For one ACLU of Maryland client, ICE’s actions have been downright destructive to his family and his life. Mr. Lin is an undocumented immigrant from China married to a naturalized U.S. citizen, Ms. Lin, and is legally allowed to apply for his Green Card.

On March 29th, protestors gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Baltimore to stand witness and protect Abegninan Amouzou from being deported. Coach Fofo, his most popular nickname, is currently at risk for deportation after one of his regular check-ins with ICE. Unfortunately, Coach Fofo cannot return to Togo, his country of birth, over the fear of retaliation and violence against him for his political beliefs. For the last 20 years, Coach Fofo has been an outstanding resident in the United States.

On March 15, Ms. Hui Fang Dong and her three children— ages 14, 11, and 9 — appeared before Judge George Hazel at the United States District Court in Greenbelt to fight ICE’s cruel “bait and switch” tactic. Her husband, Wanrong Lin, himself could not be present because he was working at their family restaurant in St. Mary’s County, and because he was scared of what might happen if he entered another government building again.

This Valentine’s Day, the ACLU of Maryland is celebrating the love between Mr. Wanrong Lin, and Ms. Hui Fang Dong, a courageous Maryland couple recently reunited by a federal judge after ICE used an unlawful “bait and switch” strategy to lure them into a meeting with ICE officials offering assistance in the immigration process, then switched tracks and threw Mr. Lin into jail and deportation proceedings.  

With the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States, many people are looking for ways to speak out in support of civil rights and liberties.

In case you missed it, Justin Bieber is in trouble with the law -- for late-night drag racing in Miami Beach, Florida. His arrest sparked so much national outrage from his supporters that #FreeBieber began trending on Twitter.