News & Commentary

A large-scale immigration raid was conducted in and around O’Neill, Nebraska, the morning of Aug. 8, in relation to an indictment brought by U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods. One hundred thirty-three immigrants were detained.

LINCOLN, Neb. – Yesterday Nebraska joined six other states in filing a lawsuit against the federal government to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The following is a statement from ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad:

The last year was a relentless attack on civil rights and civil liberties emanating from the highest echelons of political power and emboldening state and local leaders to act in ways previously unimaginable.
Nevertheless, we persisted, we resisted, and we achieved important progress.

Students of all colors, races, religions, sexual orientations, genders, and immigration statuses need a quality education.

The ACLU filed public records requests today in 10 states—including Nebraska—that have launched a legal attack on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The requests seek to uncover any coordination by state officials and members of the Trump administration to take down the DACA program.

Maria Marquez Hernandez, who was brought to the U.S. by her parents and raised here as an undocumented child, was an honors student and doing well in college. When Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was introduced in 2012, Maria applied for it and received a Social Security number and a work authorization card. Even with this documentation, Maria was not allowed to receive a driver’s license because of a block put on DACA recipients by Governor Heineman. That’s when Hernandez decided to stand up and speak out. 

At the Unicameral, the ACLU of Nebraska has put together our strongest advocacy team to date to implement our diverse and wide ranging civil rights agenda. Our client is the Constitution and our work impacts our most cherished rights, fundamental freedoms, and the civil liberties of all Nebraskans. We are effective due to our hard work, policy and legal expertise, and the strong voices and unyielding activism of thousands of supporters.

By Danielle Conrad, Executive Director of the ACLU of Nebraska and Mary-Beth Muskin, Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League of Nebraska.

Maria Marquez Hernandez just graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a degree in psychology, but she still can't give her younger sister a ride. That's because she's a Dreamer — brought to the U.S. by her parents and raised undocumented as a child.