Enforcement

The United States has long-been a beacon of hope for individuals around the world seeking protection and refuge. Our immigration policies must continue to protect those who need it. Learn more about how America can continue to provide humanitarian protection to those in times of crisis.

Recent Features

  • Litigation

Stopping Policies Endangering Immigration Attorneys, Clients, and the Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Council filed a lawsuit to close the immigration courts and ensure due process.

  • Fact Sheet

U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement

Deportations of parents and family members have serious consequences that affect children and extend to communities and the country as a whole.

  • Fact Sheet

A Primer on Expedited Removal

Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation. 

  • Special Report

Detained, Deceived, and Deported: Experiences of Recently Deported Central American Families

First-hand accounts from Central American women and their family members reveal the dangerous and bleak circumstances of life these women and their children faced upon return to their home countries, as well as serious problems in the deportation process. 

All Enforcement Content

  • Fact Sheet

Secure Communities: A Fact Sheet

November 29, 2011
The Secure Communities Program, which launched in March 2008, has been held out as a simplified model for state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. This fact sheet lays out...
  • Special Report

The Secure Communities Program: Unanswered Questions and Continuing Concerns

November 29, 2011
This paper describes the Secure Communities program, identifies concerns about the program’s design and implementation, and makes recommendations for the future of the program.
  • Fact Sheet

Bad for Business: How Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Law Stifles State Economy

November 9, 2011
Although key provisions of Alabama’s HB 56 are on hold while its constitutionality is being tested in the courts, evidence is mounting of the growing fiscal and economic impact of the new law. State...
  • Fact Sheet

Checklist for Estimating the Costs of SB 1070-Style Legislation

November 8, 2011
(Updated November 2011) - Arizona’s infamous anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, has spawned many imitators. In a growing number of state houses around the country, bills have been passed or...
  • Special Report

Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction Provisions in Alabama's Immigration Law Make Life Harder

November 1, 2011
Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction...
  • Fact Sheet

Fiscally Irresponsible: Immigration Enforcement without Reform Wastes Taxpayer Dollars

October 19, 2011
Many political pundits, GOP presidential aspirants, and Members of Congress want to have it both ways when it comes to federal spending on immigration. On the one hand, there is much talk about the...
  • Special Report

Locked Up Without End: Indefinite Detention of Immigrants Will Not Make America Safer

October 6, 2011
One of the ugliest myths in the immigration debate is that immigrants are more likely to commit crime or pose a danger to society. Although studies repeatedly have shown that immigrants are less...
  • Research and Analysis

Guns, Drugs, and Money: Tackling the Real Threats to Border Security

September 12, 2011
The external borders of the United States matter to security, but how and in what ways is neither automatic nor obvious. The current assumption is that borders defend the national interior against...
  • Special Report

How to Fix a Broken Border: A Three Part Series

September 1, 2011
If the United States wants effective border security, then more effective law‐enforcement measures must be taken.
  • Special Report

The Morton Memo and Prosecutorial Discretion: An Overview

July 20, 2011
On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued two significant memoranda on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration matters. Prosecutorial...
  • Litigation

Challenging ICE Interference with Legal Representation at Dilley

This case stems from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) decision to bar Caroline Perris, a full-time legal assistant with the Dilley Pro Bono Project (DPBP), from entering the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
  • Advocacy

Petition for Rulemaking Requests New Regulations Governing Access to Counsel

May 25, 2017
This petition, jointly filed by the Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, seeks to provide access to legal counsel for the following individuals.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the Senate Judiciary Committee on “Building America’s Trust Through Border Security: Progress on the Southern Border”

May 23, 2017
The statement shares our analysis of infrastructure and personnel investments already made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as our reporting on improvements needed at its border enforcement agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to ensure integrity of operations along the Southern Border.
  • Amicus Briefs

Ferino-Sanchez v. Sessions — Fourth Circuit

March 27, 2017
This amicus brief arguing that any Fourth Amendment violation by state and local law enforcement officers — not just egregious Fourth Amendments violations — should require the suppression of evidence in immigration court proceedings, which is the same standard that applies in the criminal justice arena.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the House Homeland Security Committee on "Ending the Crisis: America's Borders and the Path to Security"

February 7, 2017
The statement shares our analysis and research regarding an unnecessary border wall and the already massive investment that has been made along the Southwest border.
  • Litigation

Immigrant Rights Groups File Class Action Suit Challenging Trump Administration’s “Muslim Ban”

This intervention is needed to protect the integrity of the United States’ immigrant visa process and the families diligently seeking to reunite with their loved ones.
  • Advocacy

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Systemic Denial of Entry to Asylum Seekers at Ports of Entry on U.S.-Mexico Border

January 13, 2017
A coalition of immigrant and civil rights groups filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on behalf of numerous adult men and women, families and unaccompanied children who, over the past several months, were denied entry to the United States at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border despite having asserted a fear of returning to their home countries or an intention to seek asylum under U.S. law.
  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure of the CBP Officer’s Reference Tool

The Council and its partners filed suit after CBP failed to respond to a 2013 FOIA After the case was filed, CBP disclosed only a handful of documents—primarily, indices of two ORT chapters without any substantive information—and then moved for summary judgment, claiming that it was not required to search for or produce any additional documents.
  • Amicus Briefs

Jennings v. Rodriguez - Ninth Circuit

October 25, 2016
The American Immigration Council, in collaboration with the American Immigration Law Association, filed an amicus brief in the case Jennings v. Rodriguez, calling for the Court to overturn Demore v. Kim and end mandatory detention.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the House Judiciary Committee on "Oversight of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement"

September 16, 2016
The statement calls to attention our concerns about over-broad enforcement actions and detention of asylum seekers and families.
  • Blog

DHS Reveals New Details of Secretive Asylum Programs PACR and HARP

March 11, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed new information this week about two asylum programs  at the U.S.-Mexico border. These programs are under scrutiny because they make it almost...

  • Blog

How the Coronavirus Is Impacting Immigration

March 9, 2020

Spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, has caused panic across the United States. With the number of confirmed cases on the rise, the coronavirus has started to affect several facets of...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rules Parents of Slain Teenager Can’t Sue Border Patrol Agent Responsible for His Death

March 2, 2020

The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking damages from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a teenager across the U.S.-Mexico border. With this latest decision in the...

  • Blog

Greyhound Has a Long History of Racially Profiling Latino Passengers

February 25, 2020

The Greyhound bus company announced it will no longer allow Border Patrol agents to conduct warrantless checks for people in the country without authorization. This reverses the company’s policy...

  • Blog

Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland

February 21, 2020

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been targeting U.S. citizens’ foreign spouses when they apply for legal immigration status. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland put a...

  • Blog

How Will Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities Change Now That a Judge Has Ruled Them Unconstitutional?

February 20, 2020

A federal court found on Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol may not detain migrants held in its facilities in Arizona’s Tucson Sector longer than 48 hours without providing for their “basic human...

  • Blog

The Fight to Stop ICE From Destroying Records About Deaths and Abuse in Its Custody

February 19, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to destroy thousands of records documenting horrific treatment of immigrants in the agency’s custody. The records contain vital details about...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Is Sending SWAT Teams Into So-Called Sanctuary Jurisdictions

February 18, 2020

The Trump administration is continuing to wage an escalating war on so-called sanctuary jurisdictions across the country. This is part of an ongoing campaign to coerce state and local governments...

  • Blog

Customs and Border Protection Officials Are Allowed Full Anonymity Under FOIA—and That’s a Blow to Government Transparency

February 14, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the largest law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security, with tens of thousands of officers charged with policing our borders—is...

  • Blog

These Humanitarian Aid Workers’ Convictions Were Overturned. Here’s How It Sets Precedent for Future Protection.

February 13, 2020

A federal judge in Arizona reversed convictions of four volunteers of the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths last week. No More Deaths is an Arizona-based group that works to end death and...

  • Press Release

Immigration Justice Campaign and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network Announce New Partnership

January 12, 2018
The Immigration Justice Campaign (Justice Campaign), a joint initiative between the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council), and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), located in Westminster, Colorado, announce their partnership to increase pro bono representation for individuals in immigration detention in Colorado.
  • Press Release

Civil and Human Rights Organizations File Joint Complaint With DHS on Behalf of Families Forcibly Separated in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Custody

December 11, 2017
A complaint on behalf of family members who have been forcibly separated while in custody at the southern border of the United States was filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General and Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council's Statement on President Trump's Immigration Principles

October 8, 2017
The White House released its long anticipated, "Immigration Principles and Policies," which lay out many of the already-stated aspirations of the Trump administration on immigration. The laundry list represents a wholesale attack on immigration and immigrants. It includes not only limits on immigration generally, but enables mass deportations and envisions bypassing necessary procedures that protect children and asylum seekers.
  • Press Release

Civil and Human Rights Organizations File Joint Complaint Against DHS on Behalf of Pregnant Women Detained by ICE

September 26, 2017
The issues addressed in the complaint are of immediate concern given the Trump administration’s executive orders directing ICE to dramatically expand immigration enforcement actions and increase the number of individuals subject to immigration detention.
  • Press Release

ICE Settles Case Challenging Interference with Legal Representation at Dilley

August 16, 2017
The parties in Dilley Pro Bono Project v. ICE have reached a settlement that ensures access to mental health evaluations for certain detained mothers and children seeking asylum.
  • Press Release

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Practice of Turning Away Asylum Seekers at U.S. Southern Border

July 12, 2017

Washington D.C. - Today an immigrant rights group and several asylum seekers filed a class action lawsuit against officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S.

  • Press Release

Court Finds Government Violating Obligations (Again) to Children in Family Detention

June 28, 2017
A U.S. District Court condemned the federal government for continuing to disregard critical protections for children in detention.
  • Press Release

Immigration Justice Campaign Launched to Train Legal Community to Defend Against Ramped-Up Deportation Machine

June 19, 2017
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) are responding to this representation crisis with an Immigration Justice Campaign, a new initiative to prepare more lawyers to be cutting-edge defenders of immigrants facing deportatio
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Challenges Government’s Interference with Legal Representation of Mothers and Children Detained in Dilley, Texas

June 2, 2017
Access to legal counsel is a core American value and is the cornerstone of our justice system. Yet, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has severely limited access to legal assistance for asylum-seeking women and children held in family detention facilities.
  • Press Release

Immigrants’ Access to Counsel Topic of New Rulemaking Petition

May 25, 2017
AILA and the Council have petitioned the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to issue new regulations that will ensure all immigrants have access to legal counsel in secondary and deferred inspection, as well as overseas consular interviews.
  • FOIA

Demanding Records on the Unlawful Detention, Expulsion and Deportation of Migrant Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This request would show whether CBP is violating statutory protections intended for these youth.
  • Blog

ICE Makes It Almost Impossible for People to Make Phone Calls from Detention Centers, Even in a Pandemic

August 27, 2020

Communication with the outside world is crucial for people in jail. This includes individuals facing deportation while detained in immigration detention centers, who do not have the right to court...

  • Press Release

Detained Immigrants Ask Court to Stop ICE Interference to Phone Access in Immigration Detention Centers

August 26, 2020
Individuals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Otero County Processing Center filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop ICE from denying detained individuals the ability to contact their lawyers and the outside world by phone.
  • Blog

Where Does Trump Get the Money to Build the Border Wall? Not From Steve Bannon

August 24, 2020

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...

  • Blog

Cuccinelli and Wolf Were Found Ineligible to Serve at DHS. What Happens Next?

August 20, 2020

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...

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Face a Dangerous Journey—and United States Interference

August 19, 2020

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...

  • Blog

The Stories From Immigration Nation ICE Didn’t Want You to See

August 17, 2020

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...

  • Blog

Legal Victory Brings Hope to Asylum Seekers Turned Away at the Border

August 12, 2020

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...

  • Blog

Deaths in Immigration Detention Are at a Record High. ICE Can Prevent the Next One.

August 10, 2020

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...

  • Amicus Briefs

Stopping the Destruction of ICE's Records on Abuse and Mistreatment of People in Detention

August 7, 2020
In the amicus brief, the Council and partners documented the reliance on these records by researchers and advocates to monitor and expose troubling practices.

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