Headshot of Brittney Nystrom, Executive Director for the ACLU of Utah.

Leadership

Brittney Nystrom

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Executive Director

Bio

Brittney Nystrom joined the ACLU of Utah as Executive Director in August 2016.

Previously, beginning in 2012, Brittney served as Director for Advocacy at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) in Washington, D.C. where she advocated on behalf of refugees, unaccompanied children, immigrants in detention, and other vulnerable populations.

Before LIRS, Brittney was the Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at the National Immigration Forum, where her advocacy focused on due process concerns and overdue reforms to the immigration system. Earlier in her career, she represented detained individuals facing deportation and advocated for humane detention conditions as the Legal Director at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. She spent several years in private practice, as well, as part of the litigation team at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobsen, LLP, also in Washington, D.C.

Through her extensive work on immigration and refugee issues, Brittney has become a recognized national expert and has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Born on Hill Air Force Base, Brittney is a graduate from Bonneville High School in Ogden. Brittney holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University School of Law, and is admitted to the bar in D.C. and Illinois.

Brittney, and her family, are excited to have returned to Utah to live near such beautiful natural diversity and take advantage the of the skiing and hiking opportunities available.

Featured Work

News & Commentary
We the People means all the people graphic for the aclu of utah's 2024 annual report.

Read Today: Our 2024 Annual Report

Look at what WE achieved this year together!
News & Commentary
A birth certificate in front of an American flag.
  • Deportation and Due Process|
  • +1 Issue

If You Care About the Rule of Law, You Should Be Appalled by Gov. Cox’s Immigration Proposal

Governor Spencer Cox’s recent proposal to facilitate a mass deportation agenda in Utah is deeply troubling—it undermines the rule of law. If you care about due process, civil rights, and the U.S. Constitution, you should be deeply concerned by this misguided approach.