Department of Homeland Security
States Advance ICE Masking Bans, Data Protections, and Immigration Enforcement Guardrails in 2026
Written by: Julian Montes-Sharp. State and Local Initiatives Intern Midway through the year, with over 30 state legislatures adjourned, emerging trends show how some states are taking up policies to protect immigrant communities. Having seen nearly 18 months of the second Trump administration’s immigration agenda, many state… Read More
‘Metering’ of Asylum Seekers Is Bad Policy, Bad Law, and Bad for the Border
For years, the federal government had one, clear message for migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border: go to a port of entry and do not cross the border illegally. This message was bipartisan. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen declared in June 2018: “If you… Read More
The Supreme Court Hears Asylum Turnback Case: What You Need to Know
The opportunity to ask for asylum is a right protected under both U.S. and international law. Yet, during the first Trump administration, border officials physically blocked hundreds of thousands of migrants from accessing ports of entry to seek asylum. Under the government’s “turnback policy” (which the government calls… Read More
More Sunshine Is Needed on Immigration Agencies
Legal filings recently revealed that the federal agency that runs immigration courts has just two attorneys responsible for processing complex public records requests. Two lawyers to handle requests for information about a system that decides the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year. This revelation… Read More
What A DHS Funding Deal Should Include
As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown stretches into its 40th day, the pressure to reach a funding agreement is intensifying. Airport security lines are growing longer and thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel have missed paychecks. With new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin stepping in… Read More
ICE’s Warehouse Purchases Herald New Model for Immigration Detention
ICE is rapidly reshaping the U.S. immigration detention system by purchasing and converting commercial warehouses into large-scale detention facilities. Backed by an unprecedented $45 billion funding boost, this new “reengineered” model aims to dramatically expand capacity and centralize operations—raising significant concerns about mass detention, oversight, and the future of immigration enforcement. Read More
Mission Creep: AI Surveillance at DHS Crosses Dangerous Line Into Tracking Americans
The artificial intelligence (AI) tools built to guard America’s borders are now extending their policing powers into America’s neighborhoods. What began as AI-powered immigration enforcement confined primarily to our southern border is rapidly becoming something else: a quiet expansion of government surveillance into everyday life. Facial recognition, biometric… Read More
Immigration Enforcement Could Come to Your Town. Here’s What You Can Do to Prepare.
Minneapolis has been the latest battleground for the Trump administration in its ongoing campaign of aggressive immigration enforcement across the country. In the year since resuming office, President Trump directed a surge of immigration enforcement officers into several localities, including Los Angeles; Chicago; New Orleans; Portland, Oregon; Charlotte, North… Read More
New Report Details ICE’s Expanding and Increasingly Unaccountable Detention System
When President Trump took office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was holding roughly 40,000 people in a national network of detention centers on any given day. In just one year, this number has increased by over 75%, with a record 73,000 people being held in detention as… Read More
ICE Uses a Growing Web of AI Services to Power Its Immigration Enforcement and Surveillance
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an updated version of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Case Inventory this summer. At first glance, the changes seemed routine—some AI software programs were marked “inactive,” and a new one was added. But upon closer examination, the removal of the AI… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
