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

  • 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.

  • Special Report

Hieleras (Iceboxes) in the Rio Grande Valley Sector

This report sheds light on the dehumanizing conditions of immigration detention facilities.

All Border Enforcement Content

  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the House Homeland Security Committee on "Ending the Crisis: America's Borders and the Path to Security"

February 7, 2017
The statement shares our analysis and research regarding an unnecessary border wall and the already massive investment that has been made along the Southwest border.
  • Blog

Will Congress Fund President Trump’s Executive Order on Border Enforcement?

January 27, 2017

President Donald Trump’s Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements executive order is an attempt to fulfill his campaign pledge to build a wall at the southern border, to provide...

  • Blog

Understanding the Dangerous Implications of President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order

January 26, 2017

On January 25, President Trump signed a pair of immigration-related executive orders, one dealing with border security and the other with immigration enforcement in the interior of the country....

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Illegally Turned Away by Customs and Border Protection

January 17, 2017

For many months, lawyers and advocates have received damning reports from asylum-seeking families, adults, and even unaccompanied minors fleeing Mexico and Central America who have been...

  • Blog

Who Will Pay for Donald Trump’s Border Wall?

January 10, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border took a step forward last week as Congressional Republicans discussed ways to get funding for the structure through...

  • Blog

Lessons to Be Found in DHS’ 2016 Immigration Enforcement Numbers

January 4, 2017

As the Obama Administration comes to an end and its legacy on immigration is solidified, one of the defining characteristics of the President’s eight years in office will be how he enforced...

  • Blog

The Ongoing Mishandling of Migrants’ Possessions by CBP and ICE

December 21, 2016

Each year, tens of thousands of individuals are deported from the United States to Mexico without their personal belongings—including their identifications, money, and cell phones, among other...

  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks Transparency in CBP Admission Procedures

December 21, 2016
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), represented by the American Immigration Council and Foley & Lardner LLP, filed a lawsuit to compel U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and to request release of the CBP Officer's Reference Tool (ORT).
  • Special Report

Deported with No Possessions

Publication Date: 
December 21, 2016
Too often, some or all of a detainee’s belongings are lost, destroyed, or stolen by the immigration-enforcement agents entrusted with their care.
  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure of the CBP Officer’s Reference Tool

The Council and its partners filed suit after CBP failed to respond to a 2013 FOIA After the case was filed, CBP disclosed only a handful of documents—primarily, indices of two ORT chapters without any substantive information—and then moved for summary judgment, claiming that it was not required to search for or produce any additional documents.

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