Immigrants' Rights

In recent years, government-sanctioned attacks on immigrants’ civil rights and liberties have increased in number and intensity. Immigrants face violence, discrimination, detention, and deportation, often without due process. When immigrants are denied equal protection under the law, the constitutional values upon which this country was founded are degraded.

protect immigrants

The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to expanding and protecting the rights of immigrants in this state, regardless of their citizenship status. We use litigation, advocacy, public outreach, and education to work to lessen the hostility immigrants face on a daily basis on the state and local levels.

Our legal department has successfully petitioned jails in Kansas to stop illegally detaining people for unreasonable amounts of time at the request of federal immigration authorities. Most recently we helped to foil a bill that would have made it impossible for immigrant students raised in Kansas to receive in-state tuition to public universities in Kansas. Through the Know Your Rights project, we’re also working to educate immigrants in Kansas about their rights and supporting the community.

RESOURCES

The Latest

Publication
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Municipal ID Cards

Municipal ID cards are a form of photo identification issued by a city or county government, rather than by the state (as with a driver’s license) or the federal government (as with a passport).
News & Commentary
ku students

Halo Act: Kansas law bars approaching local, federal officers within 25 feet

The Kansas American Civil Liberties Union stressed in a social media post last week that bystanders would only be able to record interactions by law enforcement outside of the 25-foot buffer zone.
News & Commentary
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Kansas 'Halo Act' law restricts how close ICE, local law enforcement can be videotaped

But opponents like the ACLU of Kansas say it infringes on First Amendment rights.
News & Commentary
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Fallout from detentions and deportations echoes across Kansas families, businesses and communities

ICE currently holds more than 60,000 detainees nationally. President Trump and ICE administrators say deportation policy mostly removes those who committed crimes, but media investigations of federal data, and the American Immigration Council and the ACLU say the vast majority of detainees were never accused of crimes.

Cases, Campaigns & Legislation

Court Case
Jul 2, 2026

Motion to Intervene: U.S. v. Kansas (In-state tuition)

On July 1, 2026, MALDEF and the ACLU of Kansas filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Kansas on behalf of students without lawful immigration status in Kansas who would be irreparably harmed by the elimination of regular tuition. The DOJ sued the state of Kansas for providing in-state tuition to college students without lawful immigration status. Rather than defend the laws of the state he serves, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach immediately joined the DOJ in asking the court to overturn the law that has been in place since 2004.