Immigration at the Border

Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Asylum Seekers’ Rights to Present at POEs
Ports of entry along our borders are supposed to be where people in need of protection can come to seek humanitarian relief. But since 2016, every presidential administration has used different tactics to turn people away from ports of entry (POEs) along the U.S.-Mexico border before they even get there. Read More

What Is the ‘Bipartisan Border Bill’ and How Would It Change the US Immigration System?
The “bipartisan border bill” has been front and center in the presidential election, but it is often presented to the public without clarity on what the bill would actually do. In May, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced S. 4361, the Border Act of 2024. This bill includes nearly identical… Read More

FOIA Documents Show Troubling Gaps in Transparency at Torrance County Detention Facility
The Torrance County Detention Facility, located in the remote deserts of New Mexico, is notorious for its mistreatment of migrants. The facility’s issues are compounded by the fact that Torrance has largely operated in secrecy. However, documents and data uncovered through a FOIA request have provided a glimpse into ICE… Read More

The Current State of the Border: Crossings Remain Low While Pressure Builds in Southern Mexico
It was only 10 months ago when the U.S. set record highs at the border, with roughly 250,000 migrants taken into Border Patrol custody in December 2023. But today, border apprehensions are running steady at their lowest level in four years, with just 54,000 Border Patrol migrant encounters in… Read More

New Report Shows the Devastating Costs of Mass Deportation
As politicians debate the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants living in communities across the country, a new report details the devastating costs mass deportations would inflict on the United States and its economy. The report from the American Immigration Council finds that an effort to arrest, detain, process,… Read More

Council and BAJI Highlight Their Efforts on Government Transparency to Audience in South Africa
This past week, the Council, alongside the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), had the privilege to present the report the organizations co-authored on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) deployment during protests demanding racial justice after the murder of George Floyd at the Sixth World Conference on Remedies… Read More

What Project 2025 Says About Immigration
The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide analysis regarding the implications of the election on the U.S. immigration system. What would a second Donald Trump presidency mean for immigrants? It’s often hard to answer these questions using politicians’ own words… Read More

ICE’s Faulty Detention Data Undercounts the Number of People in Its Custody
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears to be severely undercounting the number of people it has in immigration detention. A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—a congressional oversight agency—published last week found that ICE’s data contained glaring mistakes, leading to a significant undercount of people in… Read More

Kamala Harris’ Opportunity to Reframe the Immigration Conversation
The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide analysis regarding the implications of the election on the U.S. immigration system. As the country continues to dissect the ramifications from President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race, the… Read More

Why Are Border Crossings at Their Lowest Level in Four Years?
Border crossings are at their lowest in four years. Is the Biden administration’s executive action working as intended—or is there another factor at play? Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border spiked to a record 250,000 in December 2023, but they’ve been falling since then. Beginning in January 2024, a crackdown by… Read More
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