South Carolina, District 7
Judge Says “Poppycock!” to Trump Program That Let Border Patrol Screen Asylum Applicants
A federal court on Monday halted a secretive program started under the Trump administration that allowed Border Patrol agents to be harsh gatekeepers to the asylum process. The court rejected the government’s defense of the program as “poppycock.” In spring 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly began… Read More
Where Does Trump Get the Money to Build the Border Wall? Not From Steve Bannon
Over 250,000 Americans donated a total of $25 million to the “We Build the Wall” campaign, a crowdfunding effort led in part by former White House Adviser Steve Bannon. The campaign alleged that all funds collected would go directly toward erecting a wall on the U.S.-Mexico… Read More
Cuccinelli and Wolf Were Found Ineligible to Serve at DHS. What Happens Next?
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) top two officials are under scrutiny once again after a congressional oversight office found they were unlawfully appointed to their positions. The independent nonpartisan agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), released a report that determined that Chad Wolf and Ken… Read More
Asylum Seekers Face a Dangerous Journey—and United States Interference
For many people planning to seek asylum in the United States, enforcement starts in Panama, over 3,000 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. immigration agencies collaborate with Panama’s National Border Service, also known as SENAFRONT, to register and track people as they pass through Central America. The United States… Read More
The Stories From Immigration Nation ICE Didn’t Want You to See
Immigration Nation, a six-episode docuseries that provides a rare view of the internal workings of immigration enforcement—and its impact on individuals and families—began streaming on Netflix in August. The series provides a unique, up-close look at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) operations in communities from 2017 to 2020 and… Read More
Legal Victory Brings Hope to Asylum Seekers Turned Away at the Border
Asylum seekers got a major win in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) illegal policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry. In Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a federal judge decided that the case may proceed as a class action. This decision means… Read More
Deaths in Immigration Detention Are at a Record High. ICE Can Prevent the Next One.
Three men died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on within a week of each other. Two of the men died in hospitals after being diagnosed with COVID-19, while the other died in his cell of a massive intercranial hemorrhage. These tragedies increased the total deaths in ICE… Read More
Border Patrol Raids Camp in Retaliation Against Humanitarian Aid Workers
The United States Border Patrol raided a humanitarian aid camp in Arizona on July 31, detaining volunteers and over 30 people receiving care. The camp—known as Byrd Camp—is run by No More Deaths (NMD), an organization that works to end the death and suffering of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Read More
Government Secretly Held Asylum-Seeking Children in Hotels
The Trump administration has been detaining immigrant children in hotels along the Texas-Mexico border and in Arizona. Some of the children are just a year old and are held in the hotels for weeks before being expelled from the United States. A group of immigrant children who were held in… Read More
Trump Deployed a Federal Agency With a History of Excessive Force to Police Racial Justice Protests
The May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers rightly sparked public outrage and protests throughout the United States. In response, the Trump administration deployed federal forces from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—which houses federal immigration enforcement agencies including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—to different… Read More
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