Immigration at the Border

Trump’s Presidency Begins and Ends With Demonizing Immigrants
Five years ago, Donald Trump descended an elevator and declared that Mexico was sending rapists and “bringing crime” across the border. Now, while America still reels from the deadly insurrectionist attack on the Capitol building, Trump is set to travel to Texas on January 12 to boast about the… Read More

Immigrant Rights Advocates Ask Court to Block Trump Administration Attempt to Thwart Court Order
Immigrant rights advocates moved for a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s latest attempt to circumvent an earlier court order prohibiting the government from applying an asylum ban to people whom U.S. Customs and Border Protection had previously turned away from ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. Read More

How Biden Can Reform Immigration Enforcement and Detention
This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. When the Biden administration takes office on January 20, it will have both the opportunity and responsibility to begin the difficult work of reforming immigration… Read More

Increase in Indefinite ICE Detention Without Foreseeable Removal Dates During COVID-19 Pandemic
Every year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deports tens of thousands of noncitizens who have final orders of removal. These removals require the cooperation of foreign governments in receiving deportation flights, providing travel documents or other verification of citizenship for the… Read More

Comment on CBP Proposed Rule To Drastically Expand the Use of Facial Recognition Technology
The Proposed Rule would drastically expand the use of unproven facial recognition technology at ports of entry throughout the United States. Read More

District Court Orders Immigration Agencies to Produce Immigration Case Files in First of Its Kind Class Action
Judge William H. Orrick granted summary judgment in favor of two nationwide classes suing DHS, USCIS, and ICE for failing to timely produce the class members’ immigration files (A-Files). The court ordered the agencies to clear their backlogs by responding to the more than 40,000 thousand cases outstanding within 60 days. Read More

Discriminatory Treatment of Haitians Throughout History Informs Current Policy at the US-Mexico Border
For years, the Trump administration has argued that limited capacity at ports of entry led to its policy of turning back asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border (the “turnback policy”). But a recent amicus—or “friend of the court”—brief filed in a lawsuit challenging this policy argues that the true… Read More

Trump Administration Wants to Deny Work Permits to Some People Released From ICE Detention
The Trump administration announced on November 17 that it plans to start denying work permits to people who have been ordered deported, but who have been released from immigration custody because they cannot—or should not—be deported. A stated purpose of this new rule, published by the Department of Homeland… Read More

Council Files FOIA Lawsuit to Expose Immigration Enforcement in Federal Prisons
The American Immigration Council filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of the University of California (UCLA) School of Law Professor Ingrid Eagly seeking to uncover the scope and operation of immigration… Read More

Council Files Amicus Brief on Opportunity for Detained Migrants with Prior Removal Orders Seeking Humanitarian Protection to be Released on Bond
The amicus brief in Pham v. Guzman Chavez urges the Supreme Court to find that the pre-final order detention statute applies to detained noncitizens with prior removal orders who have meritorious claims for a form of humanitarian protection known as withholding of removal. Read More
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