Racial Justice

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, Venezuelans’ TPS will be reinstated on November 6 while the lawsuit proceeds

Dolores Huerta will forever be remembered for her resilience and ability to speak truth to power.

What happens when the government considers America a country club for which they control membership and not a democracy that is supposed to welcome all? Join Emi MacLean, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, in a discussion about the repercussions of a recent Supreme Court ruling and the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform. Each episode of MAKE the CASE takes you behind the scenes of a consequential case or issue making headlines, unpacking what’s at stake, why the ACLU gets involved, and whose rights could be affected. Listen to MAKE the CASE on our website and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Mullin v. Dahlia Doe challenged the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Syrian immigrants living and working legally in the United States while it is unsafe for them to return to their home country. The case was consolidated with Trump v. Miot, a case concerning Haitian TPS holders. The Supreme Court expedited the case for judicial review, granting certiorari before judgment based on a preliminary ruling from the district court. In its Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026 6-3 ruling, the Court allowed the TPS terminations of Syria and Haiti to proceed, resulting in the loss of legal status and the right to work for over 350,000 people. The Supreme Court held that there was no judicial review for the plaintiffs’ statutory claims; and that the constitutional equal protection claim was unlikely to succeed on the merits. TPS is a program established by Congress in 1990 to protect individuals who cannot safely return to their home country due to war, natural disaster, or other emergencies. TPS holders are mothers, fathers, workers, and contributing members of their communities. They rely on this humanitarian protection regime for safety. The Supreme Court’s ruling impacts not only Syrian and Haitian TPS holders but all 1.3 million individuals from 17 countries designated for TPS. At the time the Supreme Court heard this case on April 29, 2026, the Trump administration had terminated TPS for 13 countries—despite ongoing wars and undisputed humanitarian crises. Alongside our co-counsel the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Muslim Advocates, Van Der Hout LLP, and the National ACLU, the ACLU of Northern California represents seven Syrian nationals with TPS or pending applications in Mullin v. Dahlia Doe, a class action lawsuit originally filed in October 2025. Cancelling TPS designation for Syria subjects nearly 6,100 Syrian TPS holders, along with 800 Syrians with pending applications, to immigrant detention and possible deportation to an unsafe country. The Miot case, consolidated with Doe, affects 350,000 Haitian TPS holders. The plaintiffs argued that the DHS Secretary does not have the legal authority to unilaterally override the TPS statute enacted by Congress, and that it is the role of the judiciary to review the government’s legally dubious actions. The Supreme Court adopted the government’s extreme position that even lawless decisions that violated clear statutory mandates were not reviewable.

A habeas petition based on claims brought under the Racial Justice Act, in which our client is challenging his conviction and death sentence. We subsequently filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging four unfounded disciplinary infractions.

Original writ petition challenging California’s death-penalty system under the state constitution’s equal protection provisions.

The ACLU Foundations of Southern and Northern California and co-counsel Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Martínez Aguilasocho Law, Inc. filed a lawsuit today against Kern County and Kern County Superior Court for systematically denying poor misdemeanor defendants their constitutional rights to counsel and due process. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of UFW Foundation and three Kern County residents.