Immigration Enforcement
Biden’s Reviving Phone-Booth Asylum. Here’s Why It Was a Disaster
The Biden administration is yet again turning to the Trump playbook as it tries to slap together a border crackdown to succeed the end of the Title 42 “public health” order next month. The latest revived Trump-era idea: keeping asylum seekers in Border Patrol custody for longer, and conducting asylum… Read More
Opposition to Proposed Asylum Transit Ban Rule Across U.S.
Members of Congress, Faith Leaders, and Pediatricians Join Tens of Thousands of People Demanding Rescission of Biden Asylum Transit Ban. Read More
DHS Publishes Privacy Document About ATDs and the Data They Collect – Two Decades Late
Written by Raul Pinto and Rebekah Wolf of the American Immigration Council The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) implementation of Alternative to Detention Programs (ATD) on March 17. ATD programs provide noncitizens in removal… Read More
Deadly Detention Center Fire Is a Reminder: Both the US and Mexico Are Failing Migrants
On Monday night, 39 migrants died, and another 27 were seriously injured, in a fire in a Mexican detention center in Ciudad Juarez. The migrants—most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela—were being held for deportation by the Mexican immigration enforcement agency INM, after a sweep to pick… Read More
Where the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols’ Stand, Four Years After Going Into Effect
Last week, a federal court in California issued a decision allowing asylum seekers and other plaintiffs to continue their legal challenge to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, officially (and in true Orwellian fashion) called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The program—which forced migrants to wait indefinitely in… Read More
Three Years of Title 42
In March 2020, the world came to an unfamiliar halt. The COVID-19 pandemic was no longer a looming and distant concern. Events rapidly fell off calendars, schools shuttered, and those who could sheltered in place. Our hopes that the impact of the pandemic would be short lived were shattered with… Read More
States Lead the Way in Banning Immigration Detention Centers
State governments are leading the way on eliminating a blemish from their communities—immigration detention centers. As some state governments begin their legislative sessions, bills attempting to ban certain immigration detention centers have been introduced in multiple states. Following the lead of states like New Jersey and Illinois, New… Read More
6 Firsthand Stories That Reveal the Problem with Family Detention
Written by Atenas Burrola, Pro Bono Manager and Crystal Massey, National Pro Bono Coordinator for the Afghan Project at the American Immigration Council The Biden administration is reportedly considering reopening family detention. This is horrific news—news that left us in tears. Between the two of us, we dedicated countless… Read More
This Is Pretty Simple, Mr. President: Don’t Restart Family Detention
The Biden administration is reportedly planning to detain large numbers of immigrant families again this spring. This is part of the administration’s plan to replace Title 42 with a new policy that will make it very difficult for the majority of migrants crossing the border to qualify for asylum… Read More
Florida Doubles Down with New Law Designed to Spend Millions to Relocate Migrants
Florida made headlines last year as it passed a law allowing Governor Ron DeSantis to spend up to 12 million dollars to transport migrants out of Florida. DeSantis used over $1 million of that funding to fly 50 unwitting migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard and plan a second… Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone