News & Commentary

Ten immigrant justice, human rights, and criminal justice groups based in Montana sent a letter today urging Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to end Immigration and Customs Enforcement  (ICE) collaboration programs, including the 287(g) program, Secure Communities and ICE detainers. 

Yesterday, we learned that Attorney General Austin Knudsen decided to use the Office’s time and resources to join an Arizona lawsuit to stop new guidance from DHS that would redirect where and how the agency pursues deportation.

About six months after the Ballot Interference Prevention Act (BIPA)  --  a law that made it harder for Indigenous people living on rural reservations to vote -- was struck down as unconstitutional, lawmakers are set to debate a similarbill that would, once again, infringe on numerous fundamental rights.  Not one, but two district courts have already ruled that restrictions on ballot collection violate the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to due process. 

My father came to this country when he was 15 years old; my mother arrived when she was 19 years old. I value and love my diverse family. I am full of such pride in the ways that my parents served this country.

Instead of concerning themselves with jobs, the economy, access to healthcare, and other issues of concern to Montanans, Republicans are spending their time focusing on unconstitutional attempts to ban abortion. Nearly twenty anti-abortion bills have been filed this session, and four have already passed second reading in the House. Republicans are moving these bills forward at breakneck speed without concern for whether they benefit Montanans. The broad array of measures, from attempts to limit access to medication abortions early in pregnancy to bans on abortions later in pregnancy, make plain the goal: to make abortion completely unavailable in Montana. These bills represent the worst kind of government overreach, placing the government between patients and the medical care they need and deserve, criminalizing medical professionals, and attempting to scare and intimidate patients with outrageous misinformation. This interference is not only morally wrong; it is in flagrant violation of the Montana Constitution.

If passed into law, HB 112 and HB 113 will cause irrevocable harm to trans youth. We’re disappointed to see that the House Judiciary Committee is more interested in passing hateful laws than supporting trans youth in Montana.  As these bills move to the floor of the House, we hope lawmakers listen to Montana business leaders, medical professionals and associations, religious leaders, parents, and trans youth and oppose these harmful bills.  If these discriminatory bills pass -- we will sue, and we will win.  Trying to defend laws in court that stigmatize and target trans youth doesn’t seem like a good use of taxpayer dollars to us.  

Voting is a fundamental right and the cornerstone of our democracy.  Yet, we know that too many populations in Montana, including Indigenous communities, have historically been -- and continue to be -- disenfranchised. Montana lawmakers should be working to expand access to the ballot. Instead some are introducing legislation like HB 176 that attacks voting rights by making it harder for people to access the ballot. Knowing that Montanans overwhelmingly rejected these same voter restrictions in 2014 is another reason lawmakers should oppose this bill. Caitlin Borgmann, Executive Director, ACLU of Montana