Welcome to the November issue of The Brief, the monthly email newsletter of the ACLU of Northern California. Seven million people joined in peaceful protest across the country on October 18, making it the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history. The ACLU will never give up on our rights, and we draw strength from knowing you stand with us in this fight.

The Government Is Spying On You

The Trump administration is weaponizing technology to build a mass-surveillance state. The Department of Homeland Security is tapping into the nationwide network of automated license plate readers and investing millions of tax dollars in invasive surveillance tools – including phone location tracking software and facial recognition – to find and deport immigrants, monitor online speech, and pry into our personal lives.

They're gleefully trampling the Constitution, but we're not backing down. We'll continue to defend free speech, push for stronger privacy protections, and hold the government accountable to the law.

Video: Free Speech Is Under Attack.

The Trump administration is targeting international students, college faculty, and visitors who express support for Palestine or criticize Israel's war on Gaza. Learn more on YouTube.

Keep Your Guard Up

Last month, the Bay Area braced for a surge of National Guard soldiers and federal immigration agents. Although Trump ultimately called off the troops, in the short time Border Patrol officers were here, they fired flash-bang grenades at peaceful community members and shot a pastor in the face with a pepper ball. The unprovoked violence was a chilling glimpse of how future immigration raids could unfold here. That's why we can't become complacent.

Be prepared and know your rights in case federal agents show up anywhere in our region:

• Know Your Rights: Encountering Law Enforcement and Military Troops
• Know Your Rights: Taking Video or Photos of Law Enforcement
• Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations
• Know Your Rights: If ICE Confronts You

SF Sheriff Ends Mandatory Jail Strip Searches

Following backlash from the legal community, the San Francisco County Jail has stopped strip-searching people held at the facility after visits with their attorneys. Instead, sheriff's deputies will be allowed to put people through a full-body scanner to search for contraband, such as drugs and weapons. When we learned that people were declining to meet with their lawyers to avoid invasive searches, we called on the sheriff to end the blanket policy.

While we share the sheriff's concern about overdose deaths in the jail, we urged him to consider less harmful alternatives. Strip searches are dehumanizing and can be traumatizing for sexual abuse survivors. People shouldn't have to surrender their bodily autonomy to exercise their right to counsel and participate fully in their defense.

Video: We Sued to Stop ICE's Unlawful Arrests.

For decades, people the government concluded were neither dangerous nor a flight risk were allowed to remain free while their immigration case proceeded if they complied with the conditions of their release. In May, ICE abruptly began arresting people without warning or legal justification. Learn more on YouTube.

It's A Great Time to Visit Angel Island State Park

Beginning in 1910, thousands of mostly Chinese immigrants arriving on the West Coast were interrogated and detained in harsh conditions at the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island. At a time when the Trump administration is deporting as many people of color as possible and scrubbing mentions of slavery and discrimination from national parks, museums, and historic sites, a visit to the Angel Island Immigration Museum provides a timely reminder of the government's shameful previous treatment of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

We must confront our past honestly and ensure that American history, no matter how ugly and painful, is not whitewashed or erased.

Final thoughts:

• We're representing the League of Women Voters of California in its bid to prevent the Trump administration from accessing and misusing California voters' personal information, including addresses, dates of birth, and drivers' license numbers.
• We urged the Salinas City Council not to approve a $100,000 retroactive sponsorship for an overtly religious Fourth of July event put on by a local church. Giving tax dollars to a church would violate the California Constitution. Read our letter.
• We've called on the Antioch City Council to reject proposed changes that would weaken the police oversight commission and threaten its independence. Read more. Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, eastbaytimes.com.

Thanks for reading The Brief! We'll see you back here next month.