Firewall for Freedom: Protecting Rhode Island

We will continue to help protect our immigrant neighbors across Rhode Island, as the presidential administration continues to threaten the rights and liberties of immigrants.

LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THREATS:

We’re strongly supporting legislation to protect immigrants’ rights. Click the bill number to be taken to a page with more information and to read our written testimony. Check out our Legislative Dashboard for specific steps on how to take action to support these bills.

• 364 Day Misdemeanor Bill (H 5502, S 63) This bill would refine the definitions of felony and misdemeanor to protect immigrants — including lawful permanent residents — from deportation for minor offenses. This bill has passed the Senate. To become law, it still needs to pass the House Judiciary Committee, the full House, and be signed by Governor McKee.
  
  Take action to protect immigrants' rights
   
• Prohibiting Landlords From Asking About Immigration Status (H 5674, S 274) This bill would bar landlords from asking about a tenant or prospective tenant's immigration or citizenship status.
• Prohibiting Healthcare Personnel from Asking Immigration Status (H 6244, S 487) This bill would prohibit healthcare personnel from asking the legal immigration status of any patient.
• Preventing Civil Arrests in Court (H 6121, S 291) This bill would generally bar the civil arrest of individuals while they are in a courthouse to attend a court proceeding.
• Wyatt Facility Contracts (H 5724, S 295) This bill would prohibit the state or any municipality from entering into contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house and detain individuals for civil immigration violations.

RESPONSE TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS:

• Lawsuit on Behalf of Venezuelan National We filed an emergency lawsuit with the National ACLU to prevent the removal of a Venezuelan national from the country under President Trump’s recent proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), a 1798 law designed for use during wartime. U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose issued an order barring the government from moving the petitioner outside Rhode Island without at least 72-hours’ notice to the court and the ACLU’s attorneys.
   

• Lawsuit Challenging Rhode Island Students’ Terminated Immigration Status Four ACLU affiliates and law firm Shaheen & Gordon filed a federal class action lawsuit seeking to represent over 100 students in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico who had their F-1 student immigration status unlawfully and abruptly terminated with no specified reason as to why. Shortly after the suit was filed, the students’ status was reinstated.
   

• Letter to Rhode Island Colleges and Universities We shared a detailed letter from the National ACLU that outlines higher education institutions’ responsibilities and rights when dealing with ICE investigations and enforcement actions. The letter also outlines a legal framework for responding to administrative subpoenas from ICE. In consultation with legal counsel, universities generally maintain the right to not respond to administrative subpoenas unless and until ICE obtains an enforcement order from a judge. Universities also have the right to publicize the subpoenas or alert students if their information has been targeted by an ICE subpoena.
  
   Read the full letter to colleges and universities here
   
• Letter to the Chief Justice of the R.I. Supreme Court Working with the Immigrant Coalition of Rhode Island, we sent a letter asking the Chief Justice to take steps to keep ICE agents out of state courtrooms in light of their presence’s chilling effect on the willingness of immigrants — including victims of and witnesses to crime — to make use of the court system.
   
• Letter to RI Municipalities In response to the various Orders signed by Trump that expand and expedite federal immigration agencies' work to deport immigrants, we sent a letter to all city and town councils, mayors, and police chiefs urging them to adopt measures that protect their communities from federal immigration tactics. The letter points out that public safety suffers when residents — both immigrants and U.S. citizens with immigrant friends and family — are fearful of going to police to report crimes or act as witnesses. Additionally, municipalities can face legal liability for working with immigration when not backed by judicial authority or mandated by federal law. Central Falls, Providence, and South Kingstown have already adopted some relevant measures, when we urged similar action in 2017.
  
  Read the full letter to municipalities here
   
• It’s Imperative to Know Your Rights Everyone in the United States has constitutional rights — regardless of your immigration status. Learning your rights, learning what types of warrants police and ICE agents need to legally enter your home or your workplace, and practicing what you can say if you encounter immigration officers are more important than ever.

Read our Know Your Rights materials

As actions are taken by the federal government, the National ACLU and ACLU Affiliates will continue to take legal action against unconstitutional conduct and unlawful Executive Orders.

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• A 2022 law called Driver’s Licenses for All makes it possible for undocumented individuals to obtain a driver’s license and drive legally.
• Rhode Island allows undocumented immigrant students who have lived in Rhode Island the right to qualify for in-state tuition at state schools. The state’s Rite Track program also ensures that all lower-income children, regardless of immigration status, qualify for health insurance.

• As a result of ACLU litigation, limits have been imposed on the ability of immigration officials to order state and municipal officials to turn individuals over to them without a warrant.

Be informed: Learn about what to do if you’re stopped by police, immigration, or the FBI and learn more generally about immigrants’ rights here!

Free speech and expression are critical rights, especially in a time when we expect to be calling out injustices in the years ahead. While Rhode Islanders already have some protections from retaliatory government practices, the current presidential administration is aggressively trying to censor perspectives and opinions that they do not agree with. We want to ensure our state has as many defenses as possible in place to protect our First Amendment rights — to free speech and expression, of the press, to assembly, to choose whether and how you practice religion, and to petition the government.

LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THREATS:

Click the bill number to be taken to a page with more information and to read our written testimony. Check out our Legislative Dashboard for specific steps on how to take action to support these bills.

• Freedom to Read Bill (H 5726, S 238A) This legislation would explicitly make it state policy to support and protect the freedom of libraries and librarians from censorship attempts. This bill has passed the Senate. To become law, it still needs to pass the House State Government and Elections Committee, the full House, and be signed by Governor McKee.
   
• Updates to Access to Public Records Laws (H 5457, S 909) While not directly related to free speech, this bill would update and strengthen the state's Access to Public Records Act (APRA), increasing government transparency — including for police incident reports — and reducing costs for requesting records, making it easier for journalists, among others, to keep our government institutions transparent and accountable.  

RESPONSE TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS:

• Lawsuit on Behalf of Arts Organizations We filed a lawsuit with the National ACLU on behalf of four arts organizations, including Rhode Island Latino Arts, challenging the National Endowment for the Arts’ implementation of an executive order that directs federal agencies to cease spending federal funds on what the government calls “gender ideology.” The latest update to the case: As an immediate result of the suit, the NEA halted its requirement that applicants had to certify compliance with the “gender ideology” prohibition in order to apply for a grant. We filed an amended complaint in mid-May seeking clarity on whether the NEA will nonetheless continue to exclude grantees based on ideological measures, rather than simply artistic merit. 
  
  Read the latest case update

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• Rhode Island already has strong protections against SLAPP suits (“Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation”) which are used to chill freedom of speech. The Rhode Island law gives “conditional immunity” to the exercise of the right of petition or free speech so, for example, efforts to sue you for defamation for comments you make against government officials or in public forums can be quickly dismissed.

• Know Your Rights You have First Amendment rights to express yourself, to petition the government, and to the right to assembly. If you go to a protest, learn about your rights before you go and share with others!

Know your protest rights

We're not alone in this fight: We’ve collaborated with the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA) and Rhode Island Authors Against Book Bans, who are working to protect librarians and the freedom to read. Additionally, we’re a part of ACCESS/RI, a freedom of information coalition dedicated to improving citizen access to the records and processes of government in Rhode Island.

As seen by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the continuous attacks against transgender peoples’ rights across the country, the freedom to be ourselves and make our own heath care decisions is at risk. Here in Rhode Island, we already have a set of state laws protecting fundamental LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive healthcare, and gender affirming healthcare. We are looking to shore up privacy laws to protect from disclosure reproductive health data that could be at risk.

LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THREATS:

• Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care Data Privacy Act (H 5857, S 824) We are supporting a bill that would provide privacy protections for electronically-generated reproductive and gender-affirming health data, including requiring explicit consent by users if third parties want to collect, use, and share your data.

Send a message now in support of this bill!

RESPONSE TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS:

• The President’s Executive Order about gender does not, as far as we know, currently affect Rhode Island’s Medicaid rules that cover gender affirming care. Additionally, our state laws still protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.

While we only function in Rhode Island, the National ACLU is advocating against the recent reconciliation bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is headed to the U.S. Senate. This bill would include massive cuts to Medicaid, removing health care services from millions of people, including no longer covering gender-affirming care for adults or kids.

Use this form to contact your U.S. Senators

• Rhode Island still allows you to get an “X” gender marker on your personal identifying documents. However, there has been uncertainty and confusion for those who are renewing passports with the “X” gender marker — according to our national office, anyone who now submits an application for a change runs the risk of losing access to their passport and documents while their application is being processed. We will update this page when there is any additional information available.

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• Last year, Rhode Island legislators passed the Healthcare Provider Shield Act, which lowers the risk that Rhode Island medical providers will be penalized if they treat a patient coming from a state that has banned access to established, standard-of-care reproductive and transgender health care.

• The right to abortion has been codified in Rhode Island law since 2019, when the Reproductive Privacy Act was passed. Medicaid funding for the procedure was enshrined in state law in 2023.

• Protections for LGBTQ+ folks have been a part of Rhode Island law since 1995, when a law was passed to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. That law was strengthened to include protections for gender identity and expression in 2001.

• Marriage equality has been codified in Rhode Island law since 2013.
• Rhode Island Medicaid rules protect and cover trans and non-binary individuals for the majority of the care they need.

Whether you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, take a few minutes to read our Know Your Rights materials about LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace, trans rights, and LGBTQ+ students' rights so you can be prepared to identify injustices.

Help fund our work to protect civil liberties:

• Donate
  to the ACLU Foundation of RI to support our work in the courts and the community. A donation to the ACLU Foundation IS tax-deductible.
• Become an ACLU of RI member
  to support our lobbying work. A membership to the ACLU is NOT tax-deductible.

Learn more about the difference between the ACLU Foundation and the Union here.

Volunteer your time:

• Fill out a form and send it to us to sign up to be a volunteer to help us with community outreach and other work or to share a particular expertise you have.

• Monitor what’s happening in your community and take action, like tuning into your city or town council meetings and calling your legislators about issues and bills that matter to you.
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Stay informed about what’s happening in our state:

• Fill out this form to join our email list to get updates about upcoming events and the upcoming legislative session! (You can also edit your communication preferences here.)
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• Attend upcoming events, which will be posted on our events page.

Find time to rest, and sustainably resist:

Protecting civil liberties has always been a marathon, not a sprint.

In the face of a presidential administration that is intentionally trying to overwhelm advocates in these early days of the administration, we encourage you to find what level of engagement is sustainable for you. Maybe that’s attending your local city/town council meetings, tracking one or two bills through the legislative session and submitting testimony, or regularly donating money to help us shoulder the work.

As these various fights for our rights continue, take time to care for your mental, physical, emotional wellbeing, in whatever ways that work for you. Find time to check in and gather with your community. Take a break from the grueling news cycle or be intentional about what sources you tune into and how frequently you’re receiving updates. Resting when you need to ensures you can step back up to help us again, instead of getting burnt out and giving up. We need all hands on deck for the years ahead — not just the first few months.