ADVERTISEMENTs
Chandra Bhatnagar to lead American Civil Liberties Union SoCal
Bhatnagar, who assumed the role in July 2025, is only the third person to lead the affiliate in more than 50 years.
-
1749497506.png)
Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 10, Sep 2025
- 15:39 EDT
- 15
Chandra Bhatnagar / aclusocal.org
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) appointed Indian American civil rights lawyer Chandra S. Bhatnagar as its new executive director.
Bhatnagar, who assumed the role in July 2025, is only the third person to lead the affiliate in more than 50 years. He succeeds Hector Villagra, who had served as executive director since 2011.
Also Read: Frisco teen Tejasvi Manoj named TIME’s 2025 kid of the year
“I am deeply honored to return to the ACLU as the Southern California affiliate’s next executive director,” Bhatnagar said in a statement. “As our region and country confront the greatest threat to our constitutional rights of this generation, we will remain on the frontline of the struggle to protect and advance the dignity and well-being of all our communities.”
Carlos Amador, president of ACLU SoCal and chair of the ACLU Foundation SoCal, called Bhatnagar “a proven fighter for the people,” pointing to his work as both an organizer and a movement lawyer.
Bhatnagar brings over two decades of experience as a lawyer, policy advisor, and civil rights leader. He began his career as a staff attorney and Skadden Fellow with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where he directed the South Asian Workers’ Project for Human Rights in New York City. Launched in the aftermath of 9/11, the project provided legal services to low-wage South Asian immigrant workers.
He later served more than a decade as senior staff attorney in the Human Rights Program at the national ACLU, leading litigation and advocacy on racial justice and immigrants’ rights. Among his cases, he worked with a legal team that represented more than 500 Indian H-2B guest workers exploited in a labor trafficking scheme in Mississippi and Texas. That case earned the 2015 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award.
During the Obama administration, Bhatnagar was senior legal and policy advisor to the chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). His portfolio included labor trafficking, policing, protections for vulnerable workers, and advancing diversity in law enforcement.
In 2017, he joined UCLA as its inaugural assistant vice chancellor for civil rights, where he established and led the Civil Rights Office. The office consolidated enforcement functions from the Title IX Office, the Discrimination Prevention Office, and other compliance units to oversee discrimination and harassment cases across the campus and the UCLA Health System. He also served as the university’s Equal Employment Opportunity Officer and Affirmative Action Officer.
Bhatnagar succeeds Villagra, who expanded ACLU SoCal’s reach into the Inland Region and Kern County. Before Villagra, civil rights leader Ramona Ripston led the affiliate from 1972 to 2011.
Founded in 1923, ACLU SoCal was the first affiliate of the national ACLU, which today has 53 affiliates across the United States. The Southern California office continues to play a central role in defending constitutional rights and civil liberties.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
ADVERTISEMENT
.jpg)
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login