MALDEF (MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND)

📣 A federal judge has let MALDEF’s clients, @ndlon.bsky.social, intervene in Huntington Beach’s suit attacking CA’s sanctuary law. The city is backed by a group tied to Trump’s ally Stephen Miller. The fight goes beyond politics—this is about defending civil rights. www.maldef.org/ujxw

Border Patrol and ICE Agents Are Arresting U.S. Citizens in Immigration Raids Capital & Main has documented nine Americans who have been held in federal custody after observing or protesting immigration raids.

In an interview with @capitalandmain.bsky.social , MALDEF Western Regional Counsel Ernest Herrera, and our client Job Garcia, a U.S. citizen, speak out about his experience being unlawfully & violently taken into custody. www.maldef.org/o937

Here's how much PED is paying the consultants selected for its remedial plan The New Mexico Public Education Department is spending just under half a million dollars on its contracts with two consultants as part of the court-mandated Yazzie-Martinez remedial plan.

📚 Nearly a decade after MALDEF’s landmark win in Martinez v. New Mexico for underserved Latino and Native American students, the state is now required to act. MALDEF’s Ernest Herrera spoke with @abqjournal.bsky.social about this:
www.maldef.org/xfkl ​

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President & General Counsel, joined civil rights leaders to discuss the Voting Rights Act’s legacy. The briefing marked its 60th anniversary, the 50th of its 1975 expansion, and ongoing efforts to protect voting rights.

DHS is urging DACA recipients to self-deport "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country," said DHS assistant press secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who then encouraged "every person here illegally" to self-deport.

MALDEF President & General Counsel Thomas A. Saenz spoke with @npr.org about the latest efforts by DHS to undermine DACA protections by attempting to get DACA recipients to self-deport. Learn more about this issue here: www.maldef.org/3rbm

Democrats seek to fight fire with fire on redistricting Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing blue-state governors to redraw their House lines in response to a similar push by Texas Republicans, warning it’s the party’s only chance to flip …

MALDEF President & General Counsel Thomas A. Saenz told @thehill.com that Texas’ & other states’ mid-cycle redistricting efforts could violate the Voting Rights Act. He warned MALDEF is ready to sue, stressing that redistricting cannot occur at the expense of civil rights. www.maldef.org/b606

Thank you to our fundraiser sponsors - Hispanic National Bar Association Region XVIII & the Mexican American Bar Association of LA County & host Andrade Gonzalez, LLP, & to all who attended. Your support makes our civil rights advocacy possible. Join us in defending democracy: www.maldef.org

MALDEF V.P. of Litigation, Nina Perales joined Capital Tonight, Spectrum News 1 Texas to discuss the DOJ & Texas Gov. Abbott’s effort to redraw congressional maps, MALDEF’s advocacy for voters of color, and the importance of fair representation. www.maldef.org/acqp ​​

MALDEF is co-sponsoring California SB 627, which bans law enforcement from covering their faces during operations in the state. This is a vital step for transparency and accountability - no one should be arrested by unidentified agents in masks. ​​ www.maldef.org/0yic

YouTube video by Jorge Ramos Lo arrestaron por grabar a ICE: el caso de Job García, ciudadano estadounidense

Ernest Herrera, abogado de MALDEF, y Job Garcia conversaron con @jorgeramosnews sobre la detención y agresión ilegal que sufrió Job a manos de agentes federales de inmigración. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tviP...

Texas leaders have repeatedly claimed the state’s voting maps are race blind. Until the Trump DOJ disagreed. Gov. Greg Abbott has acknowledged DOJ concerns that some districts were drawn “along strict racial lines.” Critics say it’s a political ploy.

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President & General Counsel, spoke with @texastribune.org about Texas’s planned mid-decade redistricting, catalyzed by a letter from the Department of Justice. MALDEF is part of an ongoing challenge to the current maps on behalf of Latino voters. www.maldef.org/72uy

Being brown in Trump’s America is enough to get you arrested by ICE A growing number of U.S. citizens—many of them Latino— say they’ve been detained by immigration agents in what critics are calling blatant racial profiling and overzealous policing. Of course,

@dailykos.com reported on MALDEF’s representation of Job Garcia, a U.S. citizen who was unlawfully detained by immigration agents. The Trump administration is targeting immigration enforcement against the Latino community. www.maldef.org/gc4h

Masked immigration agents are spurring fear and confusion across the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security says federal agents arresting immigrants are hiding their faces for their own safety. Legal advocates say the practice undermines public trust.

🎥 In an interview with @npr.org Ernest Herrera, MALDEF Western Regional Counsel, and his client Job Garcia discuss how masked agents operating without transparency disregard due process and harm communities. www.maldef.org/eaap ​

Documenting ICE Agents’ Brutal Use of Force in LA Immigration Raids Video analysis of reveals how federal agents in Southern California regularly use force against unarmed individuals, many of them U.S. citizens.

Violent immigration raids terrorize communities and violate civil rights, as with our client Job Garcia, a U.S. citizen who was filming a Home Depot raid in LA when agents turned violent. MALDEF is fighting to defend the rights of all Latinos, regardless of citizenship. www.maldef.org/c5lr

📸 Brittany Ochoa (Chicago Kent College of Lawl), Andrea D. Jimenez Flores (Stanford Law School), Eugenio Garza (University of Chicago), Ariel Trejo (University of Chicago), and Dorismar Cruz-Metizo (Notre Dame).

U.S. citizen seeks $1M after arrest, detention for recording immigration raid at Home Depot According to the legal group MALDEF, Ph.D. student Job Garcia was tackled and thrown to the ground by agents, arrested and held for more than 24 hours.

Job Garcia, a U.S. citizen, was racially profiled and unlawfully detained for filming an immigration raid. This is a violation of civil rights - and we’re fighting to protect the rights of everyone regardless of where they were born. Learn more here: www.maldef.org/qoix

Legal Actions in L.A. Highlight Harsh Tactics of Immigration Crackdown

Violently arresting people in Trump’s attack on immigrant communities is unlawful. U.S. citizen Job Garcia’s story is one of many. MALDEF is fighting to hold immigration agents accountable. Learn more about our case: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...

Hello! Please feel free to contact us directly at info@maldef.org, and someone from our team will follow up with you.

We’re asking for damages from the federal gov’t for our client, a U.S. citizen unlawfully detained by ICE after filming a raid in a Hollywood Home Depot ​lot. This admin's disrespect for individual rights has gone too far. Learn more:
www.maldef.org/qg4h

Birthright, sanctuary status and more: What the latest SCOTUS rulings mean for Chicago and beyond The Supreme Court’s latest ruling limits federal judges’ ability to block President Trump’s orders on birthright citizenship, sanctuary city funding and more.

A Supreme Court ruling limits federal judges’ power to block presidential actions - including on birthright citizenship & more. MALDEF Midwest Regional Counsel Susana Sandoval Vargas discusses the legal implications of the proposed changes to birthright citizenship with @wbez.org www.maldef.org/1vcl

📸 Lauren Salaz, Stanford University; 2) Jackie Valadez, Temple Law School; 3) Areli Arauja Ruiz, Pacific Lutheran University; 4) Adams Saenz, Virginia Tech; 5) Macario Ramirez-Moriarty, Columbia Law School; and 6) Ana Hernandez Lozano, University of Georgia School of Law.

MALDEF urges the Washington, D.C. Council to reject the Detainer Amendment Act, which could remove critical immigrant protections. Learn more about how this proposed law could affect immigrant communities in D.C here: www.maldef.org/ht19 ​

📸 Standing: Nicholas Hernandez (Indiana University Law School), Savannah Rodriguez (Stanford Law School), Diana Cruz (Columbia Law School) and Kenna Flores (Northwestern Law School).

📸 Sitting: Mia Patlan (University of Notre Dame), Melissa Inda Ramos (UC Irvine Law School), Jasmine Batancart (Stanford Law School)

MALDEF President & General Counsel Thomas Saenz spoke about the Trump administration's efforts to target day laborers and MALDEF’s role as a key architect of day laborer rights with @nymag.com. Click here to read more: www.maldef.org/wrcr

MALDEF urged the Dept. of Energy to withdraw a proposed rule that would weaken disparate impact protections under Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act and would disproportionately affect the Latino community. Read the letter here: www.maldef.org/amur

🚨A judge is letting our lawsuit against Las Vegas & ICE move forward. The court held that the city’s use of ICE detainers may violate the 4th Amendment ban on prolonged detention without adequate cause. Learn more: www.maldef.org/oatg

📸 Estevan R. Gonzalez (University of Texas Law School), Sarahi E. Rivas (Columbia Law), Julia Aristotelidis (Texas Tech Law), Camila Soler (University of Texas Law School), Alyssa R. Pacheco (Loyola University) and Oscar Lopez (University of Texas Law School).

After Texas, DOJ Targets Kentucky’s In-State Tuition Policy The Justice Department sued Kentucky politicians over in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students, just as Texas students and advocates are pushing back against a lawsuit that killed a similar...

@insidehighered.com reported on MALDEF’s legal action to defend in-state tuition for Texas Dreamers. At a critical moment for educational equity, this could shape countless students' futures. Learn more about why this fight matters here: www.maldef.org/8h2e ​ ​

📸 L-R
Pedro Juan Windsor Jr., Associate Executive Director for the American Bar Association
Thomas A.Saenz, MALDEF President & General Counsel
Charlene Aguilar, Senior Partner at WittKiefer
The Honorable Jesse G. Reyes, Appellate Court Justice for the Illinois Appellate Court, First District