Ahilan Arulanantham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ahilan Arulanantham
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Arulanantham speaking at the Knight First Amendment Institute in 2024
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
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Ahilan Arulanantham is an American lawyer who works to protect the rights of immigrants. He is especially known for helping people who might be deported from the United States. He has worked for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and taught at law schools. In 2016, he received a special award called the MacArthur Fellowship, often called a "Genius Grant."
Contents
About Ahilan Arulanantham
Early Life and Education
Ahilan Arulanantham grew up in Lancaster, California. His parents were immigrants from Sri Lanka. Many of his relatives also came to live in Southern California to escape a war in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.
He went to Georgetown University and earned a degree in 1994. Later, he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford in England. In 1999, he finished his law degree at Yale Law School. He was also a special student called a Marshall Scholar.
Working as a Lawyer
After law school, Arulanantham worked for a judge and then for the ACLU. He also spent two years helping people as a public defender in El Paso, Texas. After that, he joined the ACLU in Los Angeles.
As a lawyer for the ACLU, he has worked on important cases. These cases helped to create new rights for people who were facing deportation. Deportation means being sent back to your home country.
Important Cases
In 2006, Arulanantham helped challenge the government's practice of holding immigrants for a very long time. This was in a case called Nadarajah v Gonzales.
He was also part of the Rodriguez v Robbins case in 2013. In this case, the court decided that immigrants held for six months or more could ask for a hearing. This hearing would let them try to be released on bond to be with their families. This helped hundreds of immigrants. This case later went to the highest court, the United States Supreme Court. Arulanantham argued the case there two times.
Another important case he led was Franco-Gonzalez v Holder. This case made sure that immigrants with mental disabilities had the right to a lawyer.
Work During the Trump Presidency
When Donald Trump was president, Arulanantham worked hard on cases about immigration rules. He was described as being "on the front line for civil rights." For example, he worked on the Ramos v. Nielsen case. This case fought against attempts to end a program called temporary protected status. This program allows people from certain countries to stay in the U.S. safely.
Teaching Law
Besides being a lawyer, Arulanantham has also taught law. He has been a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and the University of California, Irvine School of Law.
Awards and Recognition
Ahilan Arulanantham has received several awards for his work.
In 2010, he received the Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award. This award came from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In 2014, he and his team received the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award. This was for their work on the Franco-Gonzalez v Holder case. He has also been named one of the "top 100 lawyers in California" many times.
In 2016, he was given a MacArthur Fellowship. This is a very special award, sometimes called a "Genius Grant." He received it for his work to protect the rights of immigrants. The award recognized his efforts to ensure fair legal processes for non-citizens.
