Enforcement

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

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June 9, 2017

The U.S. Government has deported hundreds of thousands of individuals each year over the past twenty years. Since 2009, the numbers have grown dramatically and hovered right at or above 400,000...

June 7, 2017

The House of Representatives passed The Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization Act  (H.R.2213) on Wednesday evening. The measure—which passed the House by a vote of 282-137, which includes 51 yes...

June 6, 2017

Recent deaths at immigration detention centers in Georgia have made one fact disturbingly clear: detainees’ rights are being violated, with life and death consequences. These tragedies are not...

June 2, 2017

Since the reintroduction of family detention under the Obama administration, abuse of the mothers and children held in these facilities has run rampant. The family detention scheme has grown...

June 1, 2017

As the legislative session in Texas drew to a close on Monday, immigration advocates around the country celebrated the death of the “baby jails” bill—a measure that would have licensed Texas...

May 29, 2017

This Memorial Day, Americans honor U.S. service members who have died while serving their country. Enlisting in the military, and risking one’s life, is considered a powerful demonstration of...

May 26, 2017

For the third time in five years the House Judiciary Committee has passed a draconian interior enforcement immigration bill out of committee on a party line vote. Immigration advocates and...

May 24, 2017

President Trump released his formal budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 this week, which seeks to solidify the harsh proposals laid out in his immigration executive orders.  The...

May 23, 2017

While campaigning for office, then-candidate Trump threatened to punish so-called sanctuary cities by defunding them. Soon after his inauguration, he released an executive order on interior...

May 19, 2017

California is once again taking a lead on protecting and integrating its immigrant communities and standing up to the enforcement policies of the Trump administration. The state’s governor and...

August 1, 2019

There is a disturbing trend in aggressive immigration enforcement that is appearing more and more recently: the detention of U.S. citizens. There are clear indications that U.S. immigration agents...

July 30, 2019
A federal district court has rejected the government’s second attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's unlawful turnbacks of asylum seekers who present themselves at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border – including its attempt to choke off asylum applications through a so-called “metering” process.
July 25, 2019

A federal judge in California blocked the implementation of a new rule yesterday that would have prevented most immigrants who arrive at the U.S. southern land border from qualifying for asylum in...

July 23, 2019

Over 2,000 immigrant children are being detained by the Trump administration at a “temporary emergency” facility in Homestead, Florida. All of the children at the facility have been designated by...

July 22, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday morning that it would vastly expand “expedited removal,” a provision of the law that permits the agency to rapidly deport certain...

July 22, 2019
Expanding expedited removal in this manner will create a 'show me your papers' regime of immigration enforcement where individuals—including any U.S. citizens they encounter—will be forced to prove they should not be deported. The American Immigration Council will not stand by idly as the Trump administration continues its unlawful attacks on our communities. We will see the Trump administration in court
July 19, 2019

Since the mid-1980s, immigration courts have operated the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The program is designed to quickly deport people serving criminal sentences. Despite how long it’s...

July 18, 2019

While members of Congress were struggling to reach a bipartisan deal in February in order to end the government shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly expanded its...

This FOIA lawsuit sought information from the EOIR on the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), which it runs jointly with ICE and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
July 16, 2019

People fleeing persecution who arrive to the United States at the southern land border may no longer be able to seek asylum. As of Tuesday, these asylum seekers will instead be denied protection...

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