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.
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 “Measuring the Metrics: Grading the Government on Immigration Enforcement,” […]
This week, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) became the latest candidate to announce his 2016 presidential bid, which he did from the Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida. Known as the Ellis Island of the South, Freedom Tower served Cuban refugees seeking political asylum from 1962-1974 and his presence there sought to highlight his immigrant roots, his […]
The post Marco Rubio’s Complex History with Immigration Policy appeared first on Immigration Impact.
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 report released this week by Grassroots Leadership […]
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 has marked Congress’ approach to border security. […]
On June 7, 2010, Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, a fifteen-year-old Mexican national, was playing with a group of friends on the Mexican side of the border near the Paso del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas. The boy and his friends were playing a game in which they ran up the incline of a cement […]
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 be here) and for the […]
The post Why More Immigration Judges Are Needed appeared first on Immigration Impact.
Every day, over a thousand individuals are held in Border Patrol detention facilities near the U.S. southern border. These facilities are notorious for freezing cold temperatures, overcrowded conditions and lack of any bedding or beds. In addition, they routinely lack adequate food, water, and medical care. The reality is that these facilities are not designed […]
For years, the Border Patrol program “Operation Streamline” has criminally prosecuted asylum seekers in a terribly misguided effort to discourage them from reentering illegally again. A recent U.S. government report from DHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) said this practice may “violate U.S. treaty obligations.” Specifically, according to the OIG, the “use of Streamline” to […]
Last summer, the flow of Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States—many of them children—reached its height. One of the government’s first responses to the increased numbers was to reinstitute family detention, with the opening of a makeshift facility in Artesia, New Mexico, one year ago tomorrow. Today, the flow at our southern border […]
Some say the wheels of justice turn slowly; however, when justice is finally delivered it is sweet. After more than two years of litigation, the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Leonel Ruiz on behalf of his minor daughter, alleging that in 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained and […]