For nearly 100 years, The American Civil Liberties Union has been at the center of challenges to civil rights and liberties, racial and social justice. Now the Jersey-born lawyer who’s led state advocacy campaigns to address wrongful convictions nationwide at the Innocence Project has just taken over leadership of the state ACLU. Amol Sinha joins Correspondent Lyndsay Christian.

Christian: Amol, congratulations on your new appointment as the executive director of the ACLU New Jersey.

Sinha: Thank you.

Christian: You’re welcome. So, I understand in the first 100 days you want to spend them traveling across the state to talk to the people. What do you anticipate they’ll say are some of the major issues that need addressing?

Sinha: I think right now we’re living in a time of serious anxiety. I think people who once thought their rights were secure, don’t feel that way anymore and I think this is happening around immigrants’ rights, around criminal justice, around LGBT rights issues and I anticipate hearing a lot of that across the state. What we can do as New Jerseyans to protect one another is going to be at a forefront of that conversation.

Christian: I know you are very passionate about advocacy and advocating for the people, so let’s talk further about immigration issues, which have taken a center stage on the national level under the Trump administration, DACA being a prime example. What are the key concerns as it relates to immigration in New Jersey?

Sinha: Well, you mentioned DACA. So, in New Jersey, we have 22,000 of our neighbors who are DACA recipients. They are our teachers, our nurses, our lawyers, our doctors, our students and they are under serious risk of deportation. They are sticking to a promise that the government engaged with them saying that they will not have to worry about deportation as long as they have this work authorization. A lot of people relied on that. They started their lives, they started their careers, they started families and what we are at real risk of here is tearing families apart.

Christian: Speaking of family, I know that you are a child of Indian immigrants. So how have your experiences growing up here in New Jersey really shaped your career?

Sinha: In a lot of ways. My New Jersey experience growing up was wonderful. I grew up in a community that was very diverse, increasingly so throughout the years. But, regardless there were moments in my childhood were I felt as though I was somebody other and it felt alienated at times and isolating at times. And, when I was growing up I really didn’t have the words for it. But, it took an education in law school and a career to really articulate what those feeling were, articulate that injustice, but also articulate the solutions to that injustice. And New Jersey was really the starting point for me, and my family was really the starting point for me.

Christian: So, I know you’ll leverage those experiences and really serve as the voice to those who are voiceless. Is that correct?

Sinha: That’s right, that’s what we hope to do. The ACLU is a voice for everybody. We protect everybody’s constitutional rights regardless of your identity. And it’s really important that the community in New Jersey knows that.

Christian: What do you think will be your biggest challenge as the new director of the ACLU?

Sinha: What I think is the biggest challenge and probably the most exciting challenge is that we want to touch as many lives as possible. I want to make sure that everybody across New Jersey knows that regardless of the community that they’re in, they are protected, their rights are protected, that we will stand up for them and that we are there for them as a resource.

Christian: How will you execute that and, in what ways as part of your vision as the executive director? How will you execute that and touch these lives and impact people?

Sinha: That’s a good question. I think we have a lot of listening to do. One of the things that I want to do in the first several months is, as you mentioned, go on a sort of a listening tour of New Jersey’s communities. I want to understand the diversity more so than I already do. I want to know the community groups. I want to know the government actors. I want to know everybody. What I want to do, and what I hope to do, and what I hope the ACLU can do nationally, is build a sense of unity even though we are living in somewhat divided times.

Christian: Major job ahead. Thank you so much for joining us, Amol.

Sinha: Thank you for having me.