The JACL celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Trump v. Barbara, which reaffirms the fundamental constitutional principle that every child born in the United States has a claim to citizenship, regardless of their parent’s immigration status. Even during the profound constitutional failure inflicted upon Japanese Americans in World War II, birthright citizenship remained a critical safeguard. The Fourteenth Amendment protected the citizenship of children born

The words engraved on the Statue of Liberty state, “ Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” Today’s Supreme Court decisions have contradicted this engraved promise, an iconic and eternal symbol of the American people that has come to define our kindness and acceptance of others. Instead, it has created conditions around acceptance and allowed outright denial to those seeking safety and refuge. J

JACL joins 541 Organizations in sending a letter expressing our disappointment at the newly announced interagency agreements (IAAs) transferring the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The transfer of these two departments away from the Department of Education marks an unprecedented disruption to the protection of

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The JACL applauds the inclusion of the Tule Lake Segregation Center on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places List. Other historic sites listed include Angel Island Immigration Station, Ben Moore Hotel, and Stonewall National Monument. This recognition in May, celebrating both Historic Preservation and Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage, serves as an important reminder that sites that preserve our community’

On May 18th, 2026, two gunmen attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three people. Among those killed were Amin Abdullah, a security guard for the center and father of eight; Mansour Kaziha, a former security guard, store manager, and handyman for the center; and Nadir Awad, a teacher and dedicated community member who lived across the street from the center. Abdullah, Kaziha, and Awad are all credited for confronting the attackers and drawing their fire away from

On April 29th, the Supreme Court released its opinion in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, limiting the application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and striking down a congressional district map that would be used in upcoming Louisiana elections. Section 2 of the VRA prohibits voting laws, practices, and district maps that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or language minority. Under the decision, voters’ power to challenge discriminatory district maps and

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) categorically denounces the Department of Justice’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The Trump Administration’s decision to attack the SPLC represents an attack on civil rights work as a whole and the progress that has been made to protect the rights of all Americans. Attacks such as these, and the precedent they set for our nation’s future, cannot be tolerated if we are to preserve our democracy. Civil rights

80 years ago, on March 20th, the Tule Lake Segregation Center, the last War Relocation Authority (WRA) camp, came to a close. This closure marked the end of the WRA’s mass incarceration camps that imprisoned more than 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry. Despite the war in the Pacific Theater coming to a close in September of 1945, Tule Lake would remain open and continue to imprison people for an additional seven months. Of all of the WRA camps, Tule Lake would be open for