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红杏视频 Back-to-School Bookshelf: Our Reading List to Build a More Perfect Union
In our series, 红杏视频 staffers share books that have helped them better understand civil liberties and civil rights, fight for our communities and our Constitution, and increase engagement in creating a more perfect union.
In our series, 红杏视频 staffers share books that have helped them better understand civil liberties and civil rights, fight for our communities and our Constitution, and increase engagement in creating a more perfect union.
For nearly a century, the 红杏视频 has defended the freedom to read鈥攁nd to think鈥攆or every American. As the new school year begins, we鈥檝e curated a list of books that do more than inform; they challenge us to build a more equitable future. Our selection spans social justice, history, contemporary analysis, and personal narratives, including frequently banned titles with newfound relevance.
Since 2021, thousands of book titles have been challenged or removed from school libraries, often targeting BIPOC authors, LGBTQ+ creators, and other marginalized voices. These efforts to ban books and restrict discussions鈥攅specially on race, gender, sexuality, and systemic injustice鈥攁re both unlawful and a serious threat to our right to learn.
The 红杏视频 and our partners are fighting back. We鈥檙e challenging censorship in military schools, and in classrooms across the country. We鈥檙e also supporting legislative solutions like the Fight Book Bans Act, which would provide funding to school districts defending against censorship attempts and reaffirm that banning books is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Our series, 鈥満煨邮悠� Bookshelf,鈥� lets you join our fight and pick up the texts, novels, nonfiction stories, essays and more that help us form a more perfect union 鈥� one page at a time.
So you want to read...
Learn More 红杏视频 the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseFeb 2026
Free Speech
New Filings Detail Harrowing Accounts Of Ice And Border Patrol Violence And Intimidation Against Minnesotans. Explore Press Release.New Filings Detail Harrowing Accounts of ICE and Border Patrol Violence and Intimidation Against Minnesotans
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� Today, the 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Minnesota, and pro bono partners filed an amended complaint and over 80 declarations with the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota further exposing the harm Minnesotans are experiencing daily at the hands of federal agents. These filings show that federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, are continuing to violate the rights of people observing, documenting, and protesting ICE activity in their neighborhoods. 鈥淭he dozens of stories we shared with the court today only represent a small percentage of the Minnesotans whose constitutional rights were violated by federal agents since December,鈥� said Alicia Granse, staff attorney with 红杏视频 of Minnesota. 鈥淢any of our plaintiffs and declarants said they were afraid for their safety after their encounters with federal agents. Despite that understandable fear, they are boldly sharing their stories to demand accountability from the federal government.鈥� The amended complaint adds five new plaintiffs, including TNG-CWA, the largest labor union representing journalists and media professionals, and independent news outlet Status Coup News. It also alleges a policy and pattern of retaliation against people for gathering information about, recording, and protesting federal immigration agents鈥� activity in public, including through the use of chemical agents, excessive force, unlawful arrest, and surveillance and intimidation. 鈥淭he First Amendment unequivocally protects the right to gather information about, record, and peacefully protest federal agents carrying out their duties in public view,鈥� said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with 红杏视频鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淒HS has engaged in a relentless campaign to trample these rights in order to silence and cow those who expose their brutal immigration enforcement tactics. We will use every legal means available to seek accountability for these abuses and to defend the right to document and criticize government lawlessness without fear or intimidation.鈥� The declarations, filed by a diverse group of over 80 community members, recall government intimidation, aggression, and even violence against people documenting, protesting, and witnessing ICE activity. Examples include: 鈥淭he ICE agent did not say anything to me. Instead, he lowered his window, and pepper sprayed me directly in the face at extremely close range. At no point did ICE give any kind of warning, order, or instruction鈥攏ot even a verbal 鈥渂ack up鈥濃�攂efore pepper spraying me. Had the agent issued even the simplest verbal instruction, I would have complied immediately.鈥� (S.I.) 鈥淥n the ride over, the agents berated us, telling us that we had interrupted a secret operation to arrest a child abuser. They told me that I deserved what I got for interrupting their operation. I told them that they had been seen knocking on door after door. They did not respond. I told them that they were not treating people with dignity. They did not respond. They asked why I had gone out to observe their operation. I told them that I had seen videos of them mistreating people by tearing families apart and that I wanted to stand up to that. One of the agents admitted to me that it did break his heart to see families torn apart but added that it did not matter.鈥� (J.D.) 鈥淚 began to turn to leave the area. Next thing I knew, I was being body-slammed into a hard surface. I felt very afraid... With the agents on top of me, I could not breathe... I felt like George Floyd. One of the agents told me to 鈥淪hut the fuck up.鈥� I then felt someone place the nozzle of a pepper spray can behind my glasses... I felt searing pain, some of the most intense pain I have felt in my life. I had only been in the area for a few minutes. I had not done anything wrong.鈥� (C.K.) 鈥淎 woman wearing a gaiter-style mask then leaned out of the front passenger side window of the SUV. She yelled, 鈥楨mily, Emily, we're going to take you home.鈥� She then repeated my name again and repeated that they would take me home. She then said my address. She repeated, in a mocking tone, that they were going to escort me home. I was freaked out. I did not care that they had my name, but I was scared for my family. The agents had told me, in effect, that they knew where I lived and could come and get me and my family at any time.鈥� (E.B.) Tincher v. Noem was initially filed by the 红杏视频 of Minnesota and pro bono partners on Dec. 17, 2025, on behalf of six Minnesota residents whose constitutional rights were violated by ICE and other federal agents. -
Press ReleaseFeb 2026
Free Speech
Landmark Settlement Announced In Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Questioning Of Journalists At The Border. Explore Press Release.Landmark Settlement Announced in Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Questioning of Journalists at the Border
NEW YORK 鈥� In a win for freedom of the press, the 红杏视频, the New York Civil Liberties Union, 红杏视频 of San Diego, and Covington & Burling LLP announced a settlement today in a federal lawsuit challenging the unlawful targeting and questioning of five photojournalists at the U.S.-Mexico border. The lawsuit, filed in November 2019 in federal court in the Eastern District of New York against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claimed that border officials violated the journalists鈥� First Amendment rights. The journalists claimed that they were unconstitutionally targeted for secondary inspection, detention, and questioning by U.S. border officials on the basis of their reporting near the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 and 2019. In March 2021, the district court denied the government鈥檚 motion to dismiss the case, holding that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that border officials violated their First Amendment rights. The case was settled in January 2026. 鈥淭he future of our democracy depends on the freedom of the press, now more than ever,鈥� said plaintiff Bing Guan. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear the government鈥檚 actions were meant to instill fear in journalists like me, to cow us into standing down from reporting what is happening on the ground. After being targeted for doing just that, I am grateful for what our lawsuit has achieved in defending the rights of journalists to report free from government officials鈥� scrutiny.鈥� 鈥淭his settlement confirms what we already knew: what happened to us was wrong,鈥� said plaintiff Kitra Cahana. 鈥淕overnment officials should never put journalists on secret lists, interfere with our ability to work and travel, or pressure us for information at border crossings. My biggest fear is that other journalists may have avoided important stories out of fear of being targeted themselves. Press freedom is not a partisan issue. Everyone should be alarmed when journalists are targeted.鈥� The plaintiffs, journalists Bing Guan, Go Nakamura, Mark Abramson, Kitra Cahana, and Ariana Drehsler, are all U.S. citizen professional photojournalists who 鈥� between November 2018 and January 2019 鈥� traveled to Mexico to document people traveling north from Central America by caravan to reach the U.S.-Mexico border. Following their reporting on conditions at the border, these five photojournalists were detained and interrogated by U.S. border officers, who sought information about their sources and observations as journalists. Shortly after, government database information leaked to NBC San Diego in March 2019 revealed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had engaged in wide-ranging intelligence collection targeting activists, lawyers, and journalists 鈥� including these five journalists. 鈥淭he First Amendment applies at the border to protect freedom of the press,鈥� said Esha Bhandari, director of the 红杏视频 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淲e are thankful to have secured redress for these journalists, to allow them to do their jobs reporting on the news free from unjustified government scrutiny.鈥� As part of the settlement, CBP must issue guidance to certain CBP units regarding the First Amendment and Privacy Act protections that apply when questioning journalists at the border. CBP must also take certain steps to ensure that the journalists鈥� past reporting at the U.S.-Mexico border should not serve as a basis for future border questioning. The settlement also includes an amount for costs and attorneys鈥� fees. -
Press ReleaseFeb 2026
Free Speech
Department Of Homeland Security Withdraws Subpoena Targeting Man Who Criticized Them. Explore Press Release.Department of Homeland Security Withdraws Subpoena Targeting Man Who Criticized Them
SAN FRANCISCO 鈥� In a win for free speech and privacy rights, the Department of Homeland Security withdrew an administrative subpoena it had sent to Google seeking personal information about Jon Doe, a Philadelphia-area man who sent an email to a DHS official asking them to 鈥渁pply principles of common sense and decency鈥� in the government鈥檚 treatment of a man seeking asylum from Afghanistan. Doe sent the email after reading about the case in the Washington Post. Just four hours after Doe sent the email, DHS issued an administrative subpoena to Google seeking a variety of information about Doe and his Gmail account. 红杏视频 two weeks after he was notified about the subpoena, two DHS agents and a local police officer showed up to his home to interrogate him about the email. Doe challenged the subpoena, arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights and was issued in violation of federal law. 鈥淨uestioning the government without fear of retaliation is a sign of a healthy democracy,鈥� said Jon Doe. 鈥淎gents requesting information from your email provider and showing up to your door after you express your opinion is not. I am grateful that I am no longer under investigation, and I am glad to have shined a light on this abusive tactic before they target someone else.鈥� Administrative subpoenas like the one sent to Google about Doe are not self-enforcing and not signed by a judge. They are often issued silently, without the person they target knowing about them unless notified by the recipient, such as an Internet company, school, or employer. DHS has used them previously to try to unmask anonymous social media users who posted about ICE raids and to pressure Columbia University into sharing information about a student who had participated in pro-Palestinian protests. After the 红杏视频 of Northern California and 红杏视频 of Pennsylvania filed motions challenging some of these subpoenas targeting Instagram and Facebook users, DHS withdrew the subpoenas. 鈥淭his is a resounding win for our First Amendment rights," Stephen A. Loney, 红杏视频-PA senior supervising attorney. "Administrative subpoenas like this one are abusive tactics intended to chill speech and punish us for disagreeing with the government. By standing up to their bullying tactics, we鈥檙e sending a message too: you can stand up for your rights, and you can win.鈥� The motion to quash the subpoena was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by the 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Northern California, and the 红杏视频 of Pennsylvania. 鈥淐ompanies like Google know a lot about us, and we shouldn鈥檛 have to worry that the government is going to strongarm them for our information if we say something it doesn鈥檛 like,鈥� said Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the 红杏视频鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淎dministrative subpoenas like this one are insidious -- we challenge this abusive tactic whenever we can because it is our First Amendment rights on the line.鈥� The notice of dismissal can be viewed here. -
Press ReleaseFeb 2026
Free Speech
Immigration Judge Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Child Development Scholar R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk. Explore Press Release.Immigration Judge Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Child Development Scholar R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk
NEW YORK 鈥� Attorneys for R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk submitted documents in federal court today announcing that removal proceedings against the Tufts University Ph.D. student have been terminated by an immigration judge. 鈥淭oday, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system鈥檚 flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government" said R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk. "Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all. I grieve for the many human beings who do not get to see the mistreatment they have faced brought into the light. When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.鈥� On March 25, 2025, Ms. 脰zt眉rk was detained by plainclothes ICE agents in Somerville, Massachusetts in retaliation for an op-ed she co-authored in the鈥疶ufts Daily. Her legal team filed a petition and complaint with the federal court in the District of Massachusetts challenging her unconstitutional detention by ICE and arguing that it violated the First and Fifth Amendments. Without informing the court or her counsel, ICE had shuttled her across state lines to Vermont鈥攚here she was at the time of her habeas petition being filed, resulting in the case ultimately being transferred to the District of Vermont鈥攁nd eventually to a detention facility in Louisiana. On May 9, six weeks after her arrest, a Vermont district court judge ordered Ms. 脰zt眉rk鈥檚 release from detention on bail on May 9. The government appealed the District Court鈥檚 transfer order to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel on September 30, 2025, and a decision is still pending. 鈥淭he Trump administration has weaponized our immigration system to target valued members of our communities, including scholars like R眉meysa,鈥� said Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law. 鈥淚t has manipulated immigration laws to silence people who advocate for Palestinian human rights and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Secretly revoking the visa of someone who has maintained their lawful immigration status as an excuse to detain them and place them into deportation proceedings, on the basis of free speech, is Kafkaesque. With this ruling, Judge Patel has delivered justice for R眉meysa; now, I hope that other immigration judges will follow her lead and decline to rubber stamp the president鈥檚 cruel deportation agenda.鈥� 鈥淭his decision underscores the importance of allowing federal courts to review challenges to immigration detention鈥� said Jessie Rossman, legal director at the 红杏视频 of Massachusetts. 鈥淲ithout federal court jurisdiction, the government could punitively and unlawfully detain any noncitizen for months based solely on their speech so long as it simultaneously began removal proceedings, even where, as here, an Immigration Judge ultimately agrees that there is no lawful basis for removal. It is for this reason that habeas proceedings have been and remain a fundamental bulwark against the unconstitutional loss of liberty." On December 5, 2025 a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that Ms. 脰zt眉rk鈥檚 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record was wrongfully terminated and must be reinstated, allowing her to fully participate in her educational and training program once more. While the government filed a notice of appeal of this decision on February 6, 2026, her SEVIS record remains reinstated. On January 22, 2026, another federal judge in Massachusetts determined in AAUP v. Rubio that the government鈥檚 policy of arresting and detaining scholars like Ms. 脰zt眉rk violated the First Amendment, and documents released as part of the case confirmed that the government targeted her solely on the basis of the op-ed. Ms. 脰zt眉rk鈥痠s represented by the 红杏视频, 红杏视频 of Massachusetts, 红杏视频 of Vermont, CLEAR, Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP, Mahsa Khanbabai, and Kerry Doyle. A copy of the 28J letter filed in federal court is available here.