ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties

What ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties does

ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU-SDIC) is a nonprofit civil liberties organization that has served San Diego and Imperial Counties since its founding in the Imperial Valley in 1933, with a 90-year legacy rooted in supporting farmworkers during the early 20th century agricultural boom. The organization operates through two affiliated nonprofit entities — a 501(c)(4) Union and a 501(c)(3) Foundation — and is an independent affiliate of the national ACLU network. ACLU-SDIC delivers civil liberties defense through four primary functions: impact litigation (e.g., Sanchez v. County of San Diego, UFW v. Noem, Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, Lagleva v. Doyle), policy advocacy before local government bodies, community organizing and civic engagement campaigns, and public education.

The organization's core products include EmpowerEd (a three-track public education series on policing, education and housing equity, and immigration launched January 2026), civic engagement toolkits (Meet Your School Board Members, Meet Your Board of Supervisors for both counties), an Immigrants' Rights Resource Hub, Know Your Rights educational programming, and Federal Law Enforcement Abuse Reporting Hotlines. Its technology infrastructure consists of a digital advocacy platform supporting multi-channel engagement including email, social media, event registration, petition delivery, and online legal intake forms. The organization maintains bilingual (English/Spanish) content delivery and distributes services through in-person events, public testimony before government bodies, downloadable toolkits, and its website (aclu-sdic.org).

ACLU-SDIC's business model is nonprofit, funded entirely through individual donations, recurring memberships, and foundation grants, with services provided free of charge. The organization does not charge for legal assistance, educational programs, or advocacy support. Its go-to-market motion is community-led, centered on grassroots mobilization, coalition building, and civic engagement to drive membership, donations, and constituent participation in local government processes. Recent strategic outcomes include passage of the Due Process and Safety Ordinance (City of San Diego, October 2025) and the CLEAR Ordinance (San Diego County, January 2026), both addressing federal-local law enforcement collaboration.

Name

ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties

Legal name

American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Inc. and ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Inc.

Website

https://aclu-sdic.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1933

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties is a 501(c)(3)/(c)(4) civil liberties nonprofit founded in 1933 that serves residents of San Diego and Imperial Counties through impact litigation, policy advocacy, community organizing, and public education on immigrants' rights, police accountability, education equity, and racial justice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Rights Advocacy and Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Legal Literacy & Public Legal Education (Know Your Rights) (EDAAAFAI), Consumer Rights & Public Interest Advocacy (BPAGAFAK)

Keywords

• Civil liberties advocacy
• Civil rights litigation
• Community organizing
• Civic engagement
• Immigrants rights advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: The organization relies on individual donations and membership contributions from supporters. The privacy statement references processing donations, membership status tracking, and donor engagement activities as core operational functions.
2. Foundation Grants: Nonprofit funding from foundations and grant-making organizations to support advocacy, litigation, and community organizing programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties provides free civil liberties advocacy and legal services through impact litigation, policy advocacy, community organizing, and public education. Its core offerings include Know Your Rights training, the EmpowerEd three-track public education series, civic engagement toolkits for engaging local Boards of Supervisors and school boards, the Immigrants' Rights Resource Hub, federal law enforcement abuse reporting hotlines, and class-action lawsuits challenging unconstitutional policing, immigration enforcement, and surveillance practices in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Product overview

ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties is a civil liberties nonprofit organization offering advocacy programs, civic engagement campaigns, and educational resources rather than a technology product platform. The organization's main offerings include EmpowerEd (a three-track education series), civic engagement campaigns (Meet Your School Board Members, Meet Your Board of Supervisors for San Diego and Imperial Counties), the Immigrants' Rights Resource Hub, Know Your Rights programs, and legal assistance services. These programs focus on defending constitutional rights, promoting racial justice, advancing immigrants' rights, and ensuring privacy protections in the San Diego and Imperial Counties region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• EmpowerEd A three-track public education series covering policing, education and housing equity, and immigration policies and practices. Each track includes four sessions exploring foundational rights knowledge and deeper analysis of how power operates and how it can be challenged. Free for community members.
• Meet Your School Board Members Multi-media civic engagement campaign empowering San Diego County and Imperial County residents to advocate at the local level for school board decisions that impact students' quality of learning. Includes a downloadable toolkit in English and Spanish.
• Meet Your Board of Supervisors - San Diego County Civic engagement campaign and toolkit explaining the San Diego County Board of Supervisors' powers, how to schedule and run meetings with local elected officials, and how to advocate for community values. Distributed in English and Spanish.
• Meet Your Board of Supervisors - Imperial County Civic engagement campaign and toolkit for Imperial County residents to understand and engage with their Board of Supervisors, tied to ACLU-SDIC's 90-year legacy of organizing in the Imperial Valley.
• Immigrants' Rights Resource Hub Online resource hub providing information about constitutional rights as an immigrant, regardless of immigration status, and how to express those rights during encounters with immigration authorities.
• Know Your Rights Program Educational resources and workshops informing community members about their constitutional rights during police encounters, in education settings, and during immigration interactions. Includes downloadable guides in English and Spanish.
• Federal Law Enforcement Abuse Reporting Hotlines Online intake hotlines established to track and investigate unlawful conduct by federal immigration agents in response to civil rights violations occurring nationwide, enabling affected individuals to report abuse.

Quantifiable outcome

• CLEAR Ordinance passed 3-1 by San Diego County Board of Supervisors (January 2026)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Western Center on Law and PovertycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in Sanchez v. County of San Diego class action lawsuit challenging Project 100% welfare searches. The partnership involves shared litigation strategy and legal expertise in welfare rights and privacy cases.
• San Diego Volunteer Lawyer ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel partnership in Sanchez v. County of San Diego litigation, providing pro bono legal support and volunteer lawyer coordination for the case.
• ACLU of Northern CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in Lagleva et al. v. Doyle case challenging Marin County Sheriff's ALPR data sharing with ICE and CBP. Partnership involves litigation across multiple ACLU California affiliates.
• ACLU of Southern CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in Lagleva et al. v. Doyle and other statewide litigation matters. Collaborative legal strategy for privacy and immigrants' rights cases.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in Lagleva et al. v. Doyle case challenging automated license plate reader surveillance. Partnership combines ACLU's civil liberties expertise with EFF's digital rights focus.
• United Farm WorkerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlaintiff organization in United Farm Workers, et al. v. Noem, et al. federal lawsuit challenging Border Patrol's unconstitutional stopping and arresting practices in Kern County.
• UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal partner in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem class action lawsuit challenging ICE immigration raids and unlawful arrests in Los Angeles area.
• Public CounselcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal partner in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem class action litigation, providing pro bono legal services for immigration enforcement challenges.
• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal and advocacy partner in immigration litigation and advocacy efforts, representing worker centers and day laborers affected by enforcement actions.
• Coalition PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVarious coalition partnerships referenced in privacy statement for advocacy, organizing, and litigation purposes. Specific partner names not individually listed in source material.
• ACLU California ActioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-level lobbying and legislative advocacy partnership working with local partners to advance public policy in priority focus areas including immigrants' rights, advancing justice, and racial/economic justice.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): Nationally prominent civil rights organization combining impact litigation, policy advocacy, and education on a far broader (national) scale than ACLU-SDIC. Operates a wider portfolio that includes hate group monitoring but shares the litigation-and-advocacy model and overlapping issue areas.
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF): National Latino civil rights organization focused on litigation, advocacy, and education across voting rights, education equity, and immigration. Operates at national scale with overlapping issue focus on immigrants' rights and education equity that ACLU-SDIC also prioritizes.
• National Immigration Law Center (NILC): National advocacy organization dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of low-income immigrants. Shares ACLU-SDIC's immigrants' rights litigation and policy orientation but operates at national scale with a broader policy and litigation mandate.

Direct peers

• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): National nonprofit focused on digital privacy, free expression, and civil liberties in the technology domain. Co-counsel with ACLU-SDIC in Lagleva v. Doyle challenging ALPR surveillance data sharing, sharing an overlapping client base and litigation strategy.
• Western Center on Law and Poverty: California-based legal aid and policy organization focused on poverty law, housing, and welfare rights. Co-counsel with ACLU-SDIC in Sanchez v. County of San Diego challenging Project 100% welfare searches, sharing a privacy-and-civil-rights litigation orientation.
• ACLU of Southern California: Sister ACLU California affiliate covering the greater Los Angeles region, engaged in nearly identical civil liberties, immigrants' rights, and police accountability work. Co-counsel partner in Lagleva v. Doyle and statewide litigation matters, making it a near-perfect structural peer.
• ACLU of Northern California: Another large ACLU California affiliate operating in the Bay Area with a similar mix of impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community organizing on civil liberties. Direct co-counsel partner in Lagleva v. Doyle and United Farm Workers v. Noem, making it one of the closest functional and structural peers to ACLU-SDIC.
• Immigrant Defenders Law Center: Southern California-based immigration legal services and advocacy nonprofit. Co-plaintiff with ACLU-SDIC in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem challenging unlawful immigration arrests, making it a tight functional peer on immigrants' rights litigation and policy.
• Public Counsel: Largest pro bono legal services provider in Southern California, with practice areas spanning immigrants' rights, civil rights, and education equity. Legal partner with ACLU-SDIC in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, sharing clients and advocacy priorities.
• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON): National network advocating for day laborers and immigrant workers, with strong roots in Southern California. Legal and advocacy partner with ACLU-SDIC on immigration enforcement challenges, sharing an immigrant-rights and worker-rights focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sdicaclu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aclu-sdic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties