Border 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.

Recent Features

TESTIMONY
Providing Perspective on the Application of Immigration Law at the US Southwest Border

The reality at the U.S. southern border is complicated. Dive into the role and authority of the executive branch and immigration enforcement agencies. 

READ MORE

FACT SHEET
Rising Border Encounters in 2021: An Overview and Analysis

For generations, the United States has seen periodic cycles of migration. The arrival of high numbers of asylum seekers is a humanitarian protection management challenge, not a security challenge.

READ MORE

All Border Enforcement Content

  • Blog

5 Ways to Prevent the Next Migrant Caravan

October 23, 2018

Just two weeks ahead of the midterm elections, much attention is being placed on a migrant caravan of Central Americans making their way north through Mexico. Now reported to include more than 7,...

  • Blog

Will the Trump Administration Begin Family Separations Again?

October 22, 2018

The horrifying and tragic legacy of the Trump administration’s family separation policy—which allegedly ended by executive order in June this summer—is far from over. Even with many children still...

  • Blog

What the Government Considers the US Border May Surprise You

October 19, 2018

  When you think of a national border, you probably think of a defined edge—a place where one country ends and another begins. However, when it comes to federal immigration operations, the border...

  • Blog

A Caravan of Migrants Makes Its Way to the US, as Trump Threatens to Close the Border

October 18, 2018

Thousands of migrants—many of whom are mothers, fathers, and children fleeing their homes in violence-stricken areas of Central America—are traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an...

  • Blog

New Court Filing Highlights the Government’s Official “Turnback Policy” for Asylum Seekers

October 16, 2018

Eight new asylum seekers joined a lawsuit last week that challenges U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials’ widespread and well-documented practice of turning back asylum seekers at U....

  • Blog

DHS Secretary Nielsen Makes Laughable Claim That Agency Does Not Detain Children

October 11, 2018

Senators grilled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies, including its practice of detaining migrant children...

  • Blog

A Record 13,300 Migrant Children Are Being Detained by the Trump Administration

September 25, 2018

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...

  • Blog

Two Border Patrol Agents Charged with Murder Highlights the Need for Robust Hiring Standards

September 19, 2018

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...

  • Blog

Government Agrees to Give Some Separated Families A Second Chance to Seek Asylum

September 13, 2018

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...

  • Blog

For $182 Million a Year, the Military Is Being Used at the Border to Shovel Manure and Conduct Other Menial Labor

September 10, 2018

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...

  • Blog

Border Patrol is Going After Humanitarian Aid in the Arizona Desert—Again

October 15, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched another military-style raid on a humanitarian aid station in the Arizona desert, close to the U.S.-Mexico border. On October 5, Border Patrol...

  • FOIA

Investigating Border Patrol’s Militarized Raids on Humanitarian Aid Station

This Freedom of Information Act request seeks to uncover Customs and Border Protection’s actions and further expose its militarized response to the provision of humanitarian aid.
  • Blog

This Immigration Enforcement Agency Wants To Destroy Records on Abuses by Its Own Agents

October 2, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans to destroy thousands of records documenting abuse and misconduct by its agents. The agency has requested that the National Archives and Records...

  • Advocacy

Comments on U.S. Customs and Border Protection Records Destruction Schedule

September 30, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is attempting to permanently destroy records related to civil rights complaints against the agency, administrative and criminal investigations into...

  • Special Report

The Impact of COVID-19 on Noncitizens and Across the U.S. Immigration System

Publication Date: 
September 30, 2020
This report identifies disruptions throughout the immigration system because of the COVID-19 pandemic and makes recommendations for improvements to the federal government’s response.
  • Press Release

Immigrant Rights Advocates Ask Court to Permanently Block Trump Policy Turning Back Asylum Seekers

September 8, 2020
Asylum seekers who have been turned back by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border asked a federal court to permanently stop the Trump administration’s Turnback Policy and declare it unlawful.
  • Blog

Institutional Racism Is Rampant in Immigration Enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico Border

September 2, 2020

A Black former U.S. diplomat recently shared her experience of months of racial profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials while she was stationed at the U.S. Consulate in...

  • Blog

Judge Says “Poppycock!” to Trump Program That Let Border Patrol Screen Asylum Applicants

September 1, 2020

A federal court on Monday halted a secretive program started under the Trump administration that allowed Border Patrol agents to be harsh gatekeepers to the asylum process. The court rejected the...

  • 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

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...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending