The American Civil Liberties Union is opening a Bakersfield office to focus on immigrant rights and policing issues in Kern County.
According to the ACLU Southern California branch, this new office reflects the union's concerns "with allegations local law enforcement oversteps legal bounds and that immigrants require greater legal protection."
The office is set to open on October 1. The office will eventually be staffed with four lawyers. An address for the new office has not yet been released. This will be the third office for the ACLU Southern California branch.
The ACLU has previously been involved with immigrant rights and policing in Kern County. In January, the ACLU filed suit against the Bakersfield Police Department on behalf of a Bakersfield man. The union also released a report in November 2017 surrounding excessive force by the Kern County Sheriff's Office and BPD and sent a letter in 2013 calling on ICE to stop arrests at the Kern County Courthouse.
