https://www.scmp.com/rss/523594/feed The latest news and top stories on American Civil Liberties Union. A prominent New York City-based non-profit civil rights organisation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is dedicated to defending and preserving individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the US Constitution. Its main areas of focus include litigation, legislative lobbying and public education, covering issues such as free speech, racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality and reproductive freedom. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin China has emerged as a focal point in the debate over US birthright citizenship, as the nation’s Supreme Court appeared sceptical of oral arguments on Wednesday in a landmark case driven by President Donald Trump’s push to restrict the practice. Birthright citizenship “has spawned a sprawling industry of birth tourism”, said Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Trump’s top litigator, in his opening remarks before the highest court in the country. “Uncounted thousands of foreigners from potentially... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348722/china-targeted-birthright-citizenship-debate-supreme-court-justices-sceptical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348722/china-targeted-birthright-citizenship-debate-supreme-court-justices-sceptical?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:21:48 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump ⁠on Saturday threatened to ⁠deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement ⁠agents to US airports if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety. “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one ‌has ever seen before,” Trump wrote in a social media post. Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full pay cheque on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347448/trump-threatens-put-ice-agents-airports-amid-tsa-funding-clash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347448/trump-threatens-put-ice-agents-airports-amid-tsa-funding-clash?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 17:27:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters Four migrants died while in custody of US immigration authorities over the first 10 days of ‍2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under US President Donald Trump. The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from January 3-9, according to US Immigration and ⁠Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Trump administration was aiming to ramp up deportations and has increased the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339823/least-4-migrants-have-died-us-immigration-custody-start-2026?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339823/least-4-migrants-have-died-us-immigration-custody-start-2026?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 04:49:56 +0000 Reuters Reuters Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday urged demonstrators protesting the fatal shooting of a ‍motorist by a US immigration agent to stay peaceful, saying that any unlawful actions would play into US President Donald Trump’s hands. Frey, a Democrat, cautioned them as civil liberties and migrant rights groups prepared nationwide rallies to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday. Minnesota and US officials have offered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339462/minneapolis-ice-shooting-mayor-urges-activists-avoid-trumps-bait?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339462/minneapolis-ice-shooting-mayor-urges-activists-avoid-trumps-bait?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:11:35 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The Japanese government’s plans to tighten espionage and secrecy legislation have been welcomed as a necessary bulwark at a time of deepening national security concerns, although analysts fear that any revisions will be too broad and could be used to stifle free speech and media freedom. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a long-time proponent of tightening rules on espionage and secrecy, was already formulating policies before she took office in October. On November 26, Takaichi told a Diet session... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336322/japans-proposal-speedily-draft-anti-spy-laws-raises-human-rights-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336322/japans-proposal-speedily-draft-anti-spy-laws-raises-human-rights-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 01:30:17 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide the legality of US President Donald Trump’s directive to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States, a contentious part of his efforts to curb immigration and a step that would alter how a 19th-century constitutional provision has long been understood. The justices took up a Justice Department appeal of a lower court’s ruling that blocked Trump’s executive order telling US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3335431/us-supreme-court-weigh-trump-bid-limit-birthright-citizenship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3335431/us-supreme-court-weigh-trump-bid-limit-birthright-citizenship?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Dec 2025 21:47:50 +0000 Bochen Han Bochen Han The fight against a Florida law restricting property purchases by Chinese citizens may hinge on finding new challengers – and on persuading a conservative judiciary unlikely to reverse course, legal experts say. In a 2-1 decision on Tuesday, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld two provisions of the 2023 law – requiring buyers to register their property and attest to their eligibility by affidavit, and ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the right to challenge the main purchasing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3332012/courts-turn-slam-dunk-case-uphill-battle-floridas-chinese-property-ban-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3332012/courts-turn-slam-dunk-case-uphill-battle-floridas-chinese-property-ban-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 20:58:09 +0000 Agencies Agencies Disney said Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to its ABC network line-up on Tuesday, six days after it suspended the talk-show host following threats by the Federal Communications Commission chairman over comments the host had made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. In announcing the decision to bring Kimmel back to the airwaves, ABC’s parent company said it had suspended production of the show “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country”. The Disney... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326447/hundreds-stars-sign-letter-defending-free-speech-after-jimmy-kimmels-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326447/hundreds-stars-sign-letter-defending-free-speech-after-jimmy-kimmels-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 19:40:29 +0000