Court Cases

The ACLU of Pennsylvania joined lawyers from the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) to file a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a New York City high school student and asylum seeker who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is currently being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Lopez Contreras, who is from Venezuela, entered the United States legally in 2024 after receiving humanitarian parole. Despite having no criminal record and a pending application for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status which would have put him on a pathway to a green card, Mr. Lopez Contreras was detained at a courthouse by ICE during a routine immigration hearing on May 21, 2025, after ICE moved to dismiss his asylum case. Mr. Lopez Contreras does not speak English and had no attorney at this hearing. As a result, he did not understand that dismissing his case would allow ICE to place him into expedited removal, a summary deportation process with little judicial review or oversight. Mr. Lopez Contreras also suffers from a severe medical condition that doctors were attempting to diagnose before ICE detained him; in detention, he has no access to the specialized care he needs. The ACLU-PA habeas petition challenges Mr. Lopez Contreras' unlawful detention and seeks to prevent him from being moved by ICE to another jurisdiction and to ensure he is given full due process as guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and the National ACLU sued President Donald Trump and other high-level administration officials to stop the potential deportation of A.S.R., a Venezuelan man who has been living in the United States with his wife, his child, and two step-children since 2023.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a Freedom of Information Act request in federal court regarding the detention and deportation proceedings of Sereyrath "One" Van, a longtime lawful permanent resident who resided in Philadelphia prior to his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ACLU-PA and the National Immigration Litigation Alliance filed a Freedom of Information Act seeking the production of records regarding allegations of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has joined an amicus brief with media and free-speech organizations in Salaam v. Trump, a defamation case filed against then-candidate Donald Trump regarding comments he made about the Central Park Five during a Presidential-campaign debate in Philadelphia.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the Souderton Area School District regarding the district's ban of two parents and one former student from school property as retaliation for criticisms leveled at a school board member who posted lewd comments about VP Kamala Harris online.

ACLU-PA sued the Philadelphia Board of Elections on behalf of two registered voters whose timely mail ballots submitted in the September 17 special election for state representative were rejected because they failed to handwrite a date on the outer return envelope.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Luzerne County voters and an advocacy organization, In This Together NEPA, over the county’s removal of mail ballot drop boxes just weeks ahead of the 2024 general election.