Where We Stand: Immigration

Recently, the ACLU of Colorado has received a number of letters and calls about our position on immigration issues. Some have been from members and others have been from concerned non-members. Our mission is to safeguard the civil liberties and civil rights set forth in the Constitution through our educational, legal and advocacy programs.

—Cathy Hazouri
Excutive Director, ACLU of Colorado

Immigrants to the U.S., whether their status is as legal residents, citizens or undocumented persons, all have some protections under the Constitution. These protections vary widely with their status.

• As a sovereign nation, the United States of America has the right to determine who may and may not enter the country. It can control the number of persons admitted, from what countries of origin, under what circumstances and for what reasons. The ACLU recognizes that power and has no position on open borders—it is not a constitutional issue. A constitutional issue arises when immigrants are denied certain rights once they are in this country. Immigrants, with or without documentation, are entitled to some degree of certain Constitutional protections. These include
• The right to a public education
• Due process
• Protection from unreasonable search and seizure

• One of the great things about the U.S. Constitution is that many of the rights it gives apply to everyone here. For example, all children present in the USA are entitled to go to school—from kindergarten through high school—for as long as they are living here. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that the Constitution applies to all children, whether they are here legally or not.

• Thanks to the Constitution, a police officer cannot just pull someone over because the officer does not like someone’s hair color, skin color, or the type of car being driven. The officer must have probable cause to believe that the person has committed a crime or is about to commit one.

• Some people think that it is okay to stop anyone who “looks foreign” because they maybe here illegally. We are all fortunate that “looking foreign” is not a good enough reason to stop someone. I have black hair and dark eyes. Do I look foreign? What about the person of Japanese descent? Let’s remember that we put lots of “foreign looking” American citizens in internment camps during World War II, but let the more “familiar looking” Americans of German descent remain free.

Rumor, mere suspicion, and even "strong reason to suspect" are not equivalent to probable cause. This standard applies to all immigrants, documented and undocumented alike. Everyone in America is entitled to some level of due process according to the U.S. Constitution.

• Citizens have more rights than non-citizens, such as the right to vote. Documented residents have fewer rights: they cannot vote and have fewer due process protections. Undocumented persons have even fewer due process rights, but they still have some rights under our Constitution.

• One of the problems with the new immigration laws is their unintended impact on citizens. The new limitations on acceptable forms of identification documents are but one example of the additional burdens placed on citizens, which include everything from bureaucratic hassles to racial and ethnic profiling.

The ACLU of Colorado is dedicated to protecting all of the rights granted by the U. S. Constitution for whomever is in the country. That is our mission now and it has been our mission since we began. It will continue to be so.

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