Immigration at the Border
FOIA Lawsuit Demands Information About CBP Officers’ Role in Credible Fear Interview Process
This lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the government’s troubling new practice of employing U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers to screen asylum seekers. Read More
Lawsuit Demands Information on the Expansion of CBP’s Role in the Screening of Asylum Seekers
The American Immigration Council and Tahirih Justice Center filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court to compel the government to release records about the Trump administration’s troubling new practice of allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to screen individuals seeking asylum in the United States. The lawsuit seeks these documents to shed light on changes to the asylum screening process, CBP’s role in conducting interviews and making determinations regarding an asylum seeker’s “credible fear” of persecution, and the measures taken by CBP, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Homeland Security to implement this new practice. Read More
Federal Judge Blocks the Expansion of Fast-Track Deportation Program, Expedited Removal
A federal judge blocked the expansion of a fast-track deportation program, known as “expedited removal,” minutes before the government said it would begin implementing its expansion on September 28, 2019. Expedited removal allows the government to deport certain people without basic legal protections. Those who are… Read More
Federal Court Blocks Trump Fast-Track Deportation Policy
A federal court has blocked a Trump administration policy that sought to massively expand fast-track deportations without a fair legal process such as a court hearing or access to an attorney. The American Immigration Council, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP sought the preliminary injunction, which was granted close to midnight on Friday by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Read More
After SCOTUS Ruling, Asylum Seekers Ask Court for Protection
Immigrant rights attorneys moved to block the Trump administration’s Asylum Ban from affecting tens of thousands of migrants who have already attempted to access the U.S. asylum process before the ban was implemented. With limited exceptions, the Asylum Ban prohibits anyone who traveled through a third country and did not seek protection there from obtaining asylum here. The request filed today is in the ongoing case challenging the Trump administration’s policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the “metering” policy. Read More
State Governments Should Step In to Provide Oversight of Detention Facilities
Immigration enforcement may be a federal responsibility, but state governments have a great deal of power over the conditions under which immigrants are detained. At a time when over-crowded detention facilities are failing to meet even the minimum standards of humane treatment, states must step up and exercise their authority to improve a situation that has become truly dire. Read More
Deporting Immigrants Does Not Lower Crime, According to Study
The mass deportation of immigrants from the United States under the Secure Communities program has had no appreciable impact on local crime rates. Why? Because most of the immigrants being deported do not have serious criminal records. That is the simple yet powerful conclusion of a recent study… Read More
Statement for the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, & Accountability “Hearing on Oversight of ICE Detention Facilities: Is DHS Doing Enough?”
This statement shares our knowledge about these problems and inform the Subcommittee of these systemic human rights and due process violations. We hope that our perspective provides insight context for this important hearing. Read More
The National Park Service Warns Border Wall Construction Could Destroy 22 Archaeological Sites
In the Trump administration’s rush to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, 22 archaeological sites could be damaged or entirely destroyed. This warning comes from an internal National Park Service report that details how new border fencing, bulldozers, excavators, and Border Patrol four-wheelers could irrevocably harm ancient… Read More
‘Don’t Let Them Take Me Away Again.’ Mothers and Children Sue Trump for Harm Inflicted by Zero Tolerance Policy
Five mothers and their children sued the U.S. government on Thursday for forcibly separating them in 2018. The five families are among the thousands of parents and young children who were split apart for months under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. The lawsuit demands accountability and compensation for… Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
