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Fact check: What are the most significant cases the ACLU has won against the current administration?

Checked on August 28, 2025

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, the ACLU has achieved several significant legal victories against the Trump administration across multiple civil rights areas:

Immigration Rights:

  • Successfully blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans [1]
  • Won cases protecting immigrants from detention and deportation without due process [1]
  • Secured preliminary relief in cases related to the Alien Enemies Act [1]
  • Filed a class action lawsuit challenging policies that strip immigrants' bond eligibility [2]

Constitutional Rights:

  • Blocked the administration's attempt to dismantle the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship [1]
  • Secured a preliminary injunction against the executive order requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration [1]

LGBTQ+ Rights:

  • Won challenges to Trump's executive orders targeting transgender Americans [1]
  • Blocked his attempt to enforce a nationwide ban on essential health care for transgender people [1]

Educational Rights:

  • Successfully challenged the administration's attacks on international students [1]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The analyses reveal several important contextual elements not addressed in the original question:

Mixed Supreme Court Record:

The ACLU has faced significant losses at the Supreme Court level, including in Skrmetti v. United States, which upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents [3]. However, they have achieved important victories in lower-profile cases and benefited from the court's role in checking executive power through its emergency docket [3].

Broader Legal Strategy:

The ACLU has been involved in more than half of the cases that the Supreme Court will decide, indicating their extensive engagement beyond just winning cases [4]. They also file friend-of-the-court briefs in cases like Powers v. McDonough and NOW-NYC v. Department of Defense to support civil rights claims [5].

Historical Context:

The analyses reference the ACLU's nearly century-long history of defending civil rights, including landmark victories like Obergefell v. Hodges [6], providing perspective on their current efforts against the Trump administration.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself does not contain misinformation, as it simply asks for factual information about ACLU victories. However, there are potential framing considerations:

Selective Focus:

The question focuses exclusively on victories without acknowledging the ACLU's losses, which could create an incomplete picture of their overall legal performance against the administration [3].

Temporal Specificity:

The question asks about the "current administration" without specifying which cases are most recent or ongoing, potentially obscuring the timeline of these legal battles and their current status [2] [5].

Institutional Perspective:

The analyses come directly from ACLU sources, which naturally present their work in the most favorable light possible, potentially emphasizing successes while downplaying setbacks or the broader challenges they face in the current legal landscape.

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