Abuses

Recent Features

  • Special Report

No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse

One of the most revealing findings of this report concerns the prevailing lack of action taken by CBP officials in response to the complaints received.

All Abuses Content

  • FOIA

Border Patrol Involvement in Translation and 911 Dispatch Activities FOIA

Advocates in states along the northern border of the United States have reported that Border Patrol agents frequently “assist” other law enforcement agencies by serving...

  • Blog

Thousands in ICE Detention Sue Private Prison Company for Forced Labor

December 16, 2019

A recent federal court ruling in California could allow hundreds of thousands of immigrants currently and previously detained by private prison companies to demand compensation and damages for...

  • Blog

Privacy Concerns Grow as Federal Immigration Agencies Use More Surveillance Technology

October 24, 2019

Federal immigration officials are beginning to expand their use of surveillance technology to collect information on immigrants. As officials gather more tools in their arsenal—from DNA collection...

  • Blog

Cameroonian’s Death in ICE Custody Underscores Problems with Immigration Detention

October 7, 2019

Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old man who had recently fled war-torn Cameroon, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Tuesday. His passing—the first of the new fiscal year...

  • Blog

Government Watchdog Says US Officials Were Unprepared to Address Children’s Trauma After Family Separation

September 19, 2019

In summer 2018, the Trump administration attempted to deter asylum-seeking families from coming to the United States by separating children from their parents at the southern border. It was...

  • Blog

US Citizens Caught in Immigration Dragnet As Enforcement Gets More Aggressive

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...

  • Blog

No Freedom, Education, or Privacy: Over 2,000 Immigrant Children Detained at the Homestead Shelter

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...

  • Blog

ICE Quietly Expands Immigration Detention in the Deep South

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...

  • Blog

No Help “Unless We’re Dying.” Immigrants Present Evidence of Inadequate Medical Care in Detention

June 11, 2019

As the Trump administration ramps up efforts to expand immigration detention in the United States, many detained immigrants continue to suffer behind bars due to woefully inadequate medical and...

  • Blog

People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border Patrol Facility

June 4, 2019

The post People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border...

  • Blog

ICE Uses Solitary Confinement on Immigrants Who Are Transgender, Suicidal

May 31, 2019

The post ICE Uses Solitary Confinement on Immigrants Who Are Transgender, Suicidal appeared first on...

  • 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.
  • Blog

Border Patrol Raids Camp in Retaliation Against Humanitarian Aid Workers

August 3, 2020

The United States Border Patrol raided a humanitarian aid camp in Arizona on July 31, detaining volunteers and over 30 people receiving care. The camp—known as Byrd Camp—is run by No More Deaths (...

  • Blog

Government Secretly Held Asylum-Seeking Children in Hotels

July 29, 2020

The Trump administration has been detaining immigrant children in hotels along the Texas-Mexico border and in Arizona. Some of the children are just a year old and are held in the hotels for weeks...

  • Blog

Trump Deployed a Federal Agency With a History of Excessive Force to Police Racial Justice Protests

July 27, 2020

The May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers rightly sparked public outrage and protests throughout the United States. In response, the Trump administration deployed federal...

  • FOIA

Demanding Records on CBP’s Deployment to U.S. Cities During Racial Justice Protests

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demands records regarding all CBP deployments to U.S. cities during the protests of George Floyd's death.
  • Advocacy

Letter Demands Greater Transparency For Cameroonian Immigrants Held in Immigration Detention

July 21, 2020

The American Immigration Council signed on to a letter calling on Congress to demand greater transparency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding Cameroonian and other Black...

  • Advocacy

Letter Demands ICE Release Families Detained During COVID-19 Pandemic

July 17, 2020

The American Immigration Council joined a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calling on the release of all families held at all three Immigration and Customs...

  • Blog

The Jail-to-Deportation Pipeline Turns Deadly for Immigrants in the Pandemic

July 16, 2020

Another man has died in immigration detention from COVID-19. His tragic and avoidable death marks the deadly end to a jail-to-deportation pipeline that disproportionately targets Black and Brown...

  • Blog

ICE Has Been Granted the Same Level of Secrecy as the FBI

July 14, 2020

In a blow to government transparency, the Trump administration has decided to designate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a “security/sensitive agency.” The move further shields ICE from...

  • Litigation

Stopping ICE From Unlawfully Detaining Immigrant Youth

This lawsuit challenged ICE’s practice of transferring unaccompanied minors who turn 18 years old to adult custody in the agency’s contracted jails and prisons, without considering less restrictive placements.

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