Under the pretext of homeland security, individuals in the US are being targeted and detained without due process by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), often based solely on their perceived race or ethnicity. The draconian measures deployed by the Trump Administration have led to unconstitutional detentions and grave civil liberties violations.

ICE DETENTION CENTERS VIOLATE CIVIL LIBERTIES 
The use of racial profiling in ICE operations has led to the unconstitutional detention of individuals, including U.S. citizens. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $45 billion for ICE detention, including new facilities to jail families (O’Herron, 2025). Since the second Trump Administration began, ICE has detained people in 605 facilities—an increase from the 457 facilities used during the last quarter of the Biden administration (Vera, 2025). Despite the Trump Administration's claim of targeting "the worst of the worst," recent evidence tells another story. ICE’s targets have included non-criminals, U.S. citizens, and children. According to data provided by the Department of Justice, 97% of the 614 immigrants detained in Chicago during the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Midway Blitz had no prior criminal record (Meisner et al., 2025). ICE Book-In Data* from June 2025 found 72% of ICE detainees nationwide had no criminal record (Goldin, 2025). In a May 2025 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, six in ten lawful immigrants (61%) reported worrying they or a family member would be detained or deported by ICE; this figure has almost doubled since Trump’s second administration began, up from 33% in 2023 (Schumacher et al., 2025). ProPublica reports that at least 170 U.S. citizens, including 20 children, have been detained by ICE (Foy & Maney, 2025). Some of those citizens had proof of citizenship available, but their attempts to provide ID were ignored (Florido, 2025). These statistics shine a light on the grave injustice and misuse of power by ICE, which jeopardizes the freedom and rights of all individuals in the U.S.

*ICE Book-In data only reports the number of people formally booked into an ICE detention facility. It does not report the total number of detainees, including those held in temporary detention facilities awaiting processing nor detainees held in facilities run by other agencies, like U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (Pinto, 2024).

OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES NEED TO BE PROTECTED 
While eight in ten Americans support (31%) or strongly support (49%) the deportation of immigrants without permanent legal status who have been convicted of a violent crime, the Marist Poll found that a majority of Americans believe ICE actions have gone too far (54%) and that six in ten say current deportation policies are either making the country less safe (33%) or not impacting national security (24%) (Marist Poll, 2025). A Pew Research Center survey of 3589 U.S. adults found that the majority say many groups in the U.S. face some or a lot of discrimination based on immigration status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors (Nadeem, 2025).

During WWII, our country made the shameful mistake of imprisoning U.S. citizens in internment camps simply because they had Japanese ancestry (National Archives, n.d.). Over 120,000 Americans were deemed national security risks and forcibly imprisoned without due process (Niiya, 2021). Today, in its zeal to deport 1 million immigrants per year, the Trump Administration is repeating this dark chapter in history—a record high of over 59,000 are currently being held in ICE detention centers (Vera, 2025).

THE KOREMATSU-TAKAI CIVIL LIBERTIES PROTECTION ACT OF 2025 PROVIDES PROTECTION
To address this urgent issue, we call on the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2025 (S.634). This bill would establish a clear legal prohibition against un-American policies that seek to imprison individuals solely based on race, religion, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. Introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and co-sponsored by Ranking Member Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, this bill will safeguard the civil liberties of every individual residing in the U.S. against arbitrary imprisonment or detention with no due process, as happened to Japanese Americans during World War II. (Duckworth, 2025).

WHAT WILL THIS BILL DO?

• Strengthen legal protection against arbitrary imprisonment or detention with no due process
• Prevent atrocities like Race-Based Detention from happening (again) in the U.S. 

The Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2025 prohibits the detention or imprisonment of an individual based solely on an actual or perceived protected characteristic of the individual. This bill would amend U.S. Code Title 18 § 4001 to include a list of protected characteristics, including: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and any additional characteristic that the Department of Justice determines to be a protected characteristic. These protections against detention would be expanded to cover any individual in the U.S., including non-citizens. View this infographic to learn more about this bill.

This bill was introduced to the Senate in February 2025 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Without greater public support, GovTrack estimates this bill has only a 2% chance of passing. I urge you to sign this petition and make your voice heard. Your support can prompt legislative action and bring us closer to achieving a future where everyone in America is treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their racial or ethnic background, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

By advancing this legislation to the Senate floor for a vote, the Members of the Judiciary Committee will take a significant step toward ending unjust detention practices and restoring the values upon which this nation is built—liberty, justice, and equality for all. It's time to stand together for a just cause and shield our communities from unnecessary fear and discrimination. 

OUR PETITION 
We, the signatories of this petition, express our support for the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2025 (S.634). We believe that protecting the civil liberties of all Americans is a matter of paramount importance. 

We urge decision-makers at the state and federal levels to: 

• Advance S.634 (Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Act of 2025) to the Senate floor 
• Support and advance the corresponding House of Representatives bill (H.R.1439) 
• Vote to pass these bills protecting the civil liberties of all individuals in the U.S. 

Sign this petition today to voice your support for the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2025. Want to do more? Contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support this bill.