1. Aimee Stephens goes to the Supreme Court

In October, the Supreme Court heard its first trans civil rights case ever. The case was brought by our client Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job at a funeral home solely for being transgender. That’s sex discrimination and it violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

We have yet to see whether the Supreme Court will uphold the civil rights of trans people. But no matter what, history has already been made. 

“I’ll never forget the feeling of coming out of the Supreme Court and seeing a crowd of trans people and allies chanting to Aimee,” said Chase Strangio, Deputy Director of Transgender Justice. “It’s a special reminder that it’s not about what happens in court, it’s about how we move forward.” 

https://twitter.com/JamesEsseks/statuses/1181928975720955904

Hear Aimee’s story in her own words — from the brave letter she sent to her boss coming out, to the notice of termination she received in response.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1192977606259273728

At the Emmys this year, actress and LGBTQ activist Laverne Cox used her red carpet moment to raise awareness about Aimee and her historic case.

https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/statuses/1175943124989947905

2. Transgender people’s access to healthcare under attack

This year the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a change to the Affordable Care Act that would restrict healthcare access and insurance coverage for all trans and nonbinary people. It’s part of a coordinated effort to redefine sex discrimination across federal law. Over 20,000 ACLU supporters submitted comments to HHS opposing this rule, and if it goes into effect, we will sue. 

3. Another historic win for Gavin Grimm

Gavin Grimm’s high school denied him access to the boys’ restroom and refused to give him an accurate transcript listing him as a boy. We sued, and in August, a federal court agreed with us and ruled in Gavin’s favor. 

“It is such a relief to achieve this closure and vindication from the court after four years of fighting not just for myself, but for trans youth across America,” said Gavin. “I promise to continue to advocate for as long as it takes for everyone to be able to live their authentic lives freely, in public, and without harassment and discrimination.”

https://twitter.com/JoshABlock/statuses/1159921329023397889

4. The fight against the trans military ban continues

Soon after President Trump came into office, his administration banned transgender people from serving in the military. We sued on behalf of trans service members like Brock Stone, an 11-year Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan. In March this year, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the ban while litigation continues. We’re still fighting for Brock Stone, because transgender people belong in the military — trans people belong everywhere. 

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1154848613920628737

5. The 50th Anniversary of Stonewall

In 1969, trans women of color led riots against police brutality and harassment at the Stonewall Inn, in one of the most important events in the history of LGBTQ activism. Their legacy continues 50 years later as we fight in the Supreme Court to protect transgender people and others from discrimination. Congress can do its part by passing the Equality Act to close the gaps in our civil rights laws and ensure explicit and comprehensive legal protections.

ACLU Trans Justice Campaign Manager LaLa Zannell discussed Stonewall and Pride 2019 on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. 

6. Trans Day of Remembrance

Trans lives are on the line every day — and in 2019 alone, 25 trans women of color were murdered. Tragically, their lives were taken because they lived in this world that too often fails to value black, brown, and gender non-conforming bodies.

In an interview with Democracy Now, LaLa Zannell explained that Trans Day of Remembrance “is a day for trans people across the country to take a moment to celebrate the living while using that moment to honor the ones we have lost in this movement.” 

7. Trans student athletes fight for the right to participate in sports

Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood are following their dreams as track stars at their Connecticut high school, but anti-trans advocates want to keep them out of sports. That’s discrimination. 

Thousands have pledged their support for Terry and Andraya and for all transgender athletes who have the right to live as their authentic selves, including in sports. Girls who are transgender are girls.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1146516964879343618

The ACLU also stopped a bill attacking trans student athletes in South Dakota. We’re already seeing bills like this planned for 2020 state legislative sessions.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1088229141411966977

8. Government greenlights workplace discrimination

Nearly one-quarter of employees in the United States work for an employer that has a contract with the federal government. If the Department of Labor goes through with a new proposed rule, government-contracted employers could soon be able to fire employees for being LGBTQ or belonging to another minority or marginalized group. Over 64,000 ACLU activists submitted comments opposing the proposed rule.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1161655208256184320

9. California court rules against anti-trans discrimination in healthcare

ACLU SoCal won a landmark case protecting the rights of transgender patients trying to access medical care. The plaintiff, Evan Minton, was denied medical care because he is transgender, in what has become an increasing pattern of healthcare providers using religious freedom to discriminate against trans people. Religion should never be a license to discriminate. 

https://twitter.com/EvanMMinton/statuses/1174099759189020672

10. We won an Emmy

Our documentary film Trans in America: Texas Strong won an Emmy Award for best documentary. The film is an intimate portrait of Kimberly and Kai Shappley, a mother and daughter navigating life in a religious community where Kai’s rights as a trans girl have been under attack — including her right to use the girls’ bathroom at school. 

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1176699096473751553

https://twitter.com/chasestrangio/statuses/1202307858752253954

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is deploying secret teams that target, detain, and interrogate innocent travelers. We’re suing to expose their activities.

In November 2018, three CBP officers detained Andreas Gal, a former chief technology officer at Mozilla Corporation and current Apple employee, at San Francisco International Airport after he landed from a business trip to Sweden. Andreas was offered no reason for the detention, except a receipt from a Global Entry kiosk that was marked with the letters “TTRT.”

The officers asked Andreas questions that focused on his First Amendment-protected speech and activism. Andreas is an outspoken proponent of online privacy and has spoken publicly about his opposition to warrantless mass surveillance and views on the current administration’s policies. The officers also repeatedly sought to search Andreas’ electronic devices, which included the contact information of his family and friends, correspondence, and further information about his opinions and views.

Andreas, a U.S. citizen, was eventually allowed to leave. Abdikadir Mohamed, an immigrant, was not so lucky.

Abdi was at JFK International Airport in December 2017. On his way to board a connecting flight to reunite with his pregnant wife and his daughter in Columbus, Ohio, two CBP officers approached him. By that point, Abdi had already cleared immigration and security screenings. Nevertheless, the officers asked to examine Abdi’s stamped documents, and his boarding pass, which he provided. Unsatisfied, they asked him to come to a separate room for additional questioning, and told him to unlock his cell phone.

After 15 hours of interrogation, the officers declared Abdi ‘inadmissible’ and sought to deport him. Abdi chose to contest his deportation and seek asylum, following which he was sent to ICE detention in New Jersey. After 19 months in detention, an immigration judge granted Abdi’s asylum claim and reunited him with his family in the United States.

CBP’s treatment of Andreas and Abdi is disturbing, and they are not isolated incidents. We now know that the officers that targeted Andreas and Abdi are part of a secretive team CBP has deployed to at least 46 airports and other U.S. ports of entry. We also learned during Abdi’s asylum proceeding that these teams are called Tactical Terrorism Response Teams, which we now know explains the acronym, TTRT, printed on Andreas’ Global Entry receipt.

While TTRTs operate largely in secret, we know from public statements by CBP officials that the teams are explicitly targeting individuals who are not on any government watchlist — as flawed as even those are — and who the government has never identified as posing a security risk. Even more concerning, former CBP Commissioner and former acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan has indicated that TTRT officers may rely on their “instincts” or hunches to target travelers.

An officer’s reliance on “instincts” creates the risk that these secretive teams are targeting travelers based on explicit or implicit biases. Such targeting may result in unlawful profiling if officers detain, search, and/or question travelers on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. It may also result in officers detaining and questioning travelers because of their speech or associations, which may be protected by the First Amendment. Finally, these teams’ activities raise due process and fairness concerns when information inappropriately gathered by them results in further government scrutiny, such as placement on a government watchlist. 

In fiscal year 2017 alone, these teams denied entry to over 1,400 individuals with valid travel documents.

There is still a lot that we don’t know about these secret teams, and CBP failed to respond to our request for information. Now, together with the New York Civil Liberties Union, we’re asking a federal court to order the agency to turn over information about these secretive teams.

The public has a right to know how these teams operate, how their officers are trained, and whether the guidelines that govern their activities contain civil liberties and privacy safeguards. We also want to know just how many individuals are subject to detention, questioning, and/or denial of entry into the U.S. by these teams, and the basis for these decisions.

There can be no meaningful accountability if there is no transparency. For too long, the government has acted as if it has carte blanche at the border. It’s time to shed light on the shadowy operations of CBP’s secret teams.

Tarek Ismail, Counsel, CUNY Law School CLEAR Project, CUNY Law School,
& Scarlet Kim, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project

This year has been one filled with outrage over the appalling conditions that asylum seekers face while in the custody of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). We’ve read about children and teenagers dying, people being denied medication, and one hielera — or “icebox” due to its freezing temperatures — where some people were reportedly forced to drink out of a toilet.

Now, that very facility is also where the Trump administration is rolling out its newest attempt to destroy the asylum system. For the first time, it is where vulnerable, exhausted people who’ve fled persecution will face the interviews that will determine whether they’re able to pursue their claim for asylum or protection. The purpose is to make it as hard for them as possible by rushing them through the process in horrible conditions, without meaningful access to lawyers.

At the Border Patrol station, located in El Paso, Texas, the government is piloting a new policy where asylum seekers are held effectively incommunicado throughout the asylum screening process. Asylum seeking families and individuals are prevented from reaching attorneys and others who can help them while they are rushed through a “credible fear” interview and review by an immigration judge over the phone. If they don’t pass, they are sent back to the country they’ve fled. That’s it — the whole process starts and finishes within a few days, and it’s all playing out in a Kafkaesque CBP detention site at the border.

If you haven’t heard about this, you’re not alone: the administration secretly rolled out the policy back in October through two programs — “PACR” (for non-Mexican asylum seekers) and “HARP” (for Mexican asylum seekers).

Like so many of the Trump administration’s policies designed to harm asylum seekers, these programs break with decades of agreement that people fleeing threats and violence should have a fair chance to prove they need protection. Never before have asylum seekers been jailed in CBP custody during the credible fear process. That’s because the conditions in CBP facilities are completely incompatible with what’s needed to ensure that the process is conducted fairly.

These facilities have always been short-term jails used to process people who cross paths with Border Patrol. They have never been adequate even for those short-term stays, and they do not provide people detained in them with access to attorneys, family, or the public. People detained in them can’t meet with a lawyer or make regular phone calls. There aren’t even beds, so they must sleep on aluminum blankets, mats, or directly on cold concrete floors. The agency has even said it has “no obligation to notify family or counsel” that it is holding someone.

Before PACR/HARP was launched, asylum seekers in the El Paso area were typically transferred to ICE jails for their credible fear interviews. Those jails are at least required to facilitate access to attorneys and permit calls to family members — though they often fail to do so. The credible fear interview is intimidating — it involves a detailed discussion of what are often the most traumatic moments people have ever experienced — and newly arrived asylum seekers may not understand the purpose or critical importance of the interview. The government has a legal obligation to let asylum seekers work with attorneys in preparing for and going through the credible fear process. CBP detention makes it impossible.

Because of these new policies, asylum-seekers who deserve protection could be wrongly sent back to the countries they fled. It is all but guaranteed that some of them will die as a result.

So we sued. We intend to stop the Trump administration from implementing PACR and HARP. It’s their latest attempt to eviscerate our most basic asylum protections.

Our plaintiffs include two families who are both now hiding in El Salvador after being rushed through the asylum process with no access to an attorney. CBP held them incommunicado in tents and hieleras without beds for days during their credible fear process. They each had only a single thirty-minute window in which to make phone calls to the outside world. Officials gave them a list of lawyers known as “the list of ghosts,” because no one ever picked up or returned their calls.

Since there was no way for attorneys (or loved ones) to call them back or otherwise reach them while they were in CBP custody, and no other opportunities to make phone calls, they went through their credible fear processes alone. No attorney explained to them what was happening or how an asylum officer would be evaluating their case.

Both families fled after gang members threatened to kill them and the Salvadoran police said they could not protect them. Without an attorney, they did not pass their credible fear interviews. The government put them on a plane back to El Salvador, where they are now hiding in fear from the gangs they fled, afraid to even leave the place in which they are living.

This administration is systematically destroying our longtime commitment to asylum. We must fight back. People seeking safety in the U.S. deserve a meaningful opportunity to plead their case before being sent back to danger and possible death — both the law and our values require it.

Kate Huddleston, Equal Justice Works Fellow, ACLU of Texas