Immigration

Series Highlights Harms of

Immigration Policies, How

Communities Are Fighting Back

    NEW YORK – (ACLU) -- 2/22/2025 – The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a new storytelling series documenting the harms of Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and how communities are fighting back. The multimedia series uplifts the voices of people nationwide – family members of undocumented people, teachers, activists, and more – and elevates the need for balanced and humane immigration policies. The project comes just thirty days after President Trump took office and reiterated his pledge to enact the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history. 

    For weeks, the ACLU has collected stories anonymously from community members across the country to illustrate how peoples’ lives have been impacted by these policies, shaped their daily experiences, their sense of security, and the well-being of their families. “My community is being broken into two parts and we are looking [to] friends, co-workers, and more because we are all going back in time; it’s messing with people’s perceptions of humans and who we are and how far we have come to protect our rights,” one individual shared, while others have highlighted the sense of fear they feel for themselves and their families.

    The blog, photo, and video series will continue to run in the weeks and months ahead with the goal of humanizing immigration issues. The ACLU’s investment in telling human interest stories aims to counter the Trump administration’s widespread effort to amplify misleading and damaging stories painting immigrants with one dehumanizing brush.

    The project also comes on the heels of several legal actions from the ACLU and partners challenging Trump’s unlawful immigration policies. In just four weeks, the organization has filed five lawsuits against measures that would tear apart communities nationwide, from eliminating birthright citizenship, to fast-tracking deportations without due process.

    “As the ACLU and its 54 affiliates nationwide combat the Trump administration’s harmful policies in the courts, in Congress, and in our communities, we know that our fight isn’t just about policy – it's about people,” said Anu Joshi, National Campaigns Director for Immigration at the ACLU. “The individuals and stories at the center of this series are a powerful reminder of what’s at stake in the fight for immigrants’ rights.”

    The full storytelling series is available here: https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/documenting-stories-of-cruelty-fear-and-resilience