Together, We the People will persevere.
Beginning Monday, March 16, the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU-SDIC) implemented a work from home protocol for all staff in our San Diego and El Centro offices to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Even so, we remain vigilant and responsive in protecting the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all by the U.S. Constitution. We are determined to ensure our governments’ emergency response plans are grounded in science and safeguard the rights and well-being of people most likely to be impacted by the pandemic. And we will fight against unlawful discrimination, whether public or private.
Recently, we sent letters to various officials who oversee jails, prisons and juvenile halls** in our region urging them to develop a comprehensive emergency plan for the prevention and management of potential COVID-19 cases in their facilities. Together with the Southern California and Northern California ACLU affiliates, we sent similar letters to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding immigration detention centers across the state. And we joined with elected officials and advocacy groups to reassure immigrants and refugees that it is safe to access health services without fear of immigration enforcement activities. **Link will open a PDF download.
But ACLU-SDIC is not stopping there – we are determined to combat the spread of COVID-19 related injustice, racism and xenophobia too. To read more about our advocacy efforts, please visit our COVID-19 local updates page. Our national organization has shared equivalent information here.
Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. Please do check in with extended family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and classmates. Follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and practice social distancing to keep yourself and others safe.
Please stay tuned for updates from your ACLU as well - via email, text, our website, and our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Because of civic engagement challenges associated with COVID-19, finding new ways to stay connected is essential to advancing our critically important work. In the coming weeks, you will hear from us about virtual events, new ways to advocate for our values, and new strategies for building and strengthening relationships with fellow activists.
Thank you for staying involved with us during these extraordinary times and for your own efforts to expand the circle of human concern to include everyone. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
We are in this together.
