Enforcement
New Memo on Detained Transgender Immigrants Does Not Go Far Enough
U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) will shift its policies regarding transgender adult detainees in its custody according to a memo released last week. While the changes seem positive, they still fall short according to LGBTI and immigration advocates. Read More
Why More Immigration Judges Are Needed
If there is any aspect of immigration reform over which there should be no partisan disagreement, it is the dire need to increase the number of immigration judges. As most Republicans and Democrats can probably agree, immigration judges are essential for the functioning of immigration enforcement (removing people who shouldn’t… Read More
Commissioner Kerlikowske Offers Vision of Change at CBP
On Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske answered questions from the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee regarding CBP’s budget, and more generally his first year on the job. Kerlikowske’s seeming rationality, and openness to administrative changes, provided an alternative to the enforcement-first strategy that… Read More
Private Prison Industry Lobbies for Detention of Immigrants
Since 2009, Congress has instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to maintain 34,000 beds in immigrant detention facilities across the country, a policy known as “the bed mandate.” This mandate costs the American taxpayer $5.05 million per day–or $159 a day per immigrant detainee. A new… Read More
Why Immigration Enforcement Effectiveness Should Be Measured
For decades, the United States has been pursuing an “enforcement-first” approach to immigration control, spending more on immigration enforcement than all other law enforcement combined, but failing to address our dysfunctional immigration system. A new report by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC’s) Immigration Task Force, called “… Read More
ICE Director Saldaña Faces Critics in Congress
On Tuesday, new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldaña, responsible for immigration enforcement inside the United States, testified for the first time to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee. Saldaña defended ICE’s implementation of its new enforcement priorities, promised to convince local jurisdictions to… Read More
Effectiveness of DHS’ “Consequences Delivery System” Questioned
Despite billions of tax-payer dollars spent by the government on border security and immigration enforcement each year, the effectiveness of such an onerous expense has been long questioned. In an effort to shed light on the impact of current immigration enforcement policies, a new study by researchers from… Read More
ICE Sweeps Up Minor Offenders with Families, Using Heavy-Handed Approach
On Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it had arrested over 2,000 immigrants with criminal convictions, by re-instituting a periodic sweep ICE calls “Operation Cross Check.” ICE’s head called those arrested the “worst of the worst.” But reality does not match the rhetoric. Rather, ICE’s… Read More
How Immigrant Women Contribute to the U.S. Economy
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, it is worthwhile to keep in mind the depth and breadth of the contributions that immigrant women workers make to the U.S. economy. More and more, immigrant women are coming to the United States not as the dependent relatives of immigrant men,… Read More
DHS Funding Controversy Over, But Enforcement-First Approach Remains
Over five months into fiscal year 2015, the President on Wednesday finally signed the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) appropriations bill, after Congress twice narrowly averted shutting down the agency. Congressional members called it a “clean” bill, without House Republicans’ efforts to repeal President Obama’s recent executive actions (well within the President’s authority). But the debate over executive action has prevented a meaningful debate over the funding bill’s provisions, which support and expand DHS’ failed “enforcement first” approach to immigration policy. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
