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.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a special report this week revealing its findings following an investigation into the Trump administration’s contentious family separation policy. The OIG’s primary finding is that DHS was “not fully prepared to implement the Zero Tolerance Policy.” Further, the OIG found that DHS […]
When government officials conducted a surprise inspection of the immigration detention center in Adelanto, California this May, they were met by many signs of serious neglect and abuse, including the chilling sight of nooses made from twisted bed sheets hanging in multiple cells. This abuse and neglect are highlighted in a new report by the […]
President Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to sign a spending bill that will fund some federal agencies for the entire fiscal year, as well as provide a short-term fix for six others through December 7. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is among those agencies funded only through December. Congressional Republicans had urged […]
The Trump administration is holding a record level of 13,300 migrant children in its custody, forcing the government to shift hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure there is enough money and bed space in Health and Human Services (HHS) facilities. This increase is largely due to the administration’s new policies and not an indication […]
A growing number of communities are reevaluating their role in detaining immigrants on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local officials in Atlanta, Georgia recently decided to stop holding individuals for ICE in the city’s jails. The city was directed to “permanently stop accepting and housing ICE detainees at the Atlanta City Detention […]
For the second time this year, a Border Patrol agent has been charged with murdering multiple people in Texas. Both agents were hired nearly a decade ago amidst a surge in staffing that backfired on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in many ways, resulting in Congress passing an act to improve hiring practices. However, […]
As Hurricane Florence pummels the southeastern United States, newly released Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents show that a total of $200 million—including $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the summer of 2018. This transfer of funds, which allows the agency to have […]
In a tentative partial settlement agreement reached with lawyers representing parents and children who were separated as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the government has agreed to give thousands of parents and children a second chance to seek asylum. Organizations have argued that parents were so traumatized by the separation from […]
The Pentagon recently announced that up to 4,000 National Guard troops will remain deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border through September 2019, following a 12-month extension authorized by Defense Secretary James Mattis. But the nature of the military service members’ work at the border—which is mostly menial labor—will still cost millions. The original deployment order, set […]
The Trump administration is proposing new regulations to indefinitely detain immigrant children at the border and keep them in unsafe conditions, creating a false choice between separating families or detaining children indefinitely. This misguided effort would continue the administration’s pattern of inflicting needless suffering on asylum-seeking children. The Flores Settlement Agreement (“Flores”) is a decades-old […]