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.

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

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. 

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

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.

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All Border Enforcement Content

  • Blog

Government Watchdog Finds Hundreds of Parents Separated by Trump Never Given Opportunity to Reunify

May 27, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) recently found that the Trump administration deported as many as 348 parents that had been separated from their children...

  • Blog

It’s Time to End Title 42

May 19, 2021

One policy first created by the Trump administration is responsible for the greatest restriction on access to our immigration system for asylum seekers than any other. It provides no meaningful...

  • Blog

Controversial Practice of Detaining and Interrogating Immigrant Advocates Included Legal Service Providers in El Paso

May 17, 2021

Newly revealed government documents provide details on the extent of the Trump administration’s retaliation against people who provided legal assistance to asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border...

  • Blog

Border Patrol’s New Coordinators Are Meant to Help Process Children, But Concerns Linger

April 13, 2021

A record number of migrant children are arriving to the U.S.-Mexico border alone. In March 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied minors—the most to...

  • Blog

How the Biden Administration Is Responding to Unaccompanied Children, Families, and Adults at the Border

April 8, 2021

Only days after President Biden took office, some people were already declaring that the border was in a state of crisis. But recently released U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics reveal...

  • Blog

Immigration Policies Based on Deterrence Don’t Work

April 2, 2021

Over the last two months, the Biden administration has been pressured to carry out another crackdown at the border as the number of arriving families and children rise. But officials making these...

  • Blog

What’s Not Being Said About the Border

March 23, 2021

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border—including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody—has captured the nation’s attention in recent weeks. Much of the conversation...

  • Blog

The Environmental and Cultural Risks of Resuming Border Wall Construction

March 19, 2021

A pause on border wall construction is set to expire on March 20, without an indication of what will happen next. President Biden signed a proclamation ordering the 60-day pause on his first day...

  • Blog

How the Biden Administration Should Respond to the Arrival of Unaccompanied Children

March 9, 2021

Since 2013, the government has struggled to respond to increasing numbers of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. After disastrous Trump administration policies left...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Process Asylum Seekers Subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols

February 12, 2021

The Trump administration sent over 70,000 people who came to the U.S border seeking asylum back to Mexico to wait for court hearings. This so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (“MPP”) program...

  • Press Release

Statement from the American Immigration Council on Leaked DHS Memo on Border Security

February 17, 2017
The memo calls for the expansion of detentions and deportations, the hiring of more Border Patrol agents, the use of State National Guards, the building of a border wall, and the creation of new barriers for asylum seekers, among other provisions.
  • 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).
  • Press Release

Court Orders Government to Fix Inhumane Conditions in Border Patrol Holding Cells

November 18, 2016
A federal district court found that U.S. Customs and Border Protection is violating the constitutional rights of people detained in holding facilities in Arizona and ordered the government to take steps to improve conditions in these facilities, known as hieleras.
  • Press Release

Groups Settle Lawsuit Challenging Failure of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Timely Respond to FOIA Requests

October 5, 2016
In accordance with a settlement reached by the parties, a federal district court dismissed a class action lawsuit which challenged U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) nationwide practice of failing to timely respond to requests for case information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
  • Press Release

Court Orders Release of Graphic Photos of Arizona Border Patrol Detention Facilities and Damning Expert Witness Testimony

August 18, 2016
Today, groups made public damning evidence, including expert testimony and video stills illustrating the deplorable and unconstitutional conditions detained individuals are subjected to in Border Patrol custody in the agency’s Tucson Sector.
  • Press Release

Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Failures of CBP to Respond to FOIA Requests

July 19, 2016
A class action lawsuit was filed by three immigration attorneys and eleven noncitizens challenging U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s nationwide practice of failing to timely respond to requests for case information under the Freedom of Information Act.
  • Press Release

Court Again Rules Against Federal Government's Efforts to Detain Children

July 7, 2016
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association commented on the decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming that the nearly 20-year-old Flores Settlement Agreement governs the custody and release of all immigrant children, and that the Obama Administration’s family detention practices violate that agreement.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Shed Light on Customs and Border Protection's Complaint Process

July 6, 2016
he American Immigration Council (Immigration Council), represented by Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, today filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the release of additional documents related to the complaints process at United States Customs and Border Protection.
  • Press Release

Court Orders Release of Some Evidence of Arizona Border Patrol Detention Facilities

June 27, 2016
A federal district court unsealed some of the photographs central to ongoing litigation challenging deplorable and unconstitutional conditions in Border Patrol detention facilities in the agency’s Tucson Sector. The court also allowed the Arizona Republic newspaper to intervene in the case to argue for the release of the documents.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Shed Light on Customs and Border Protection's Complaint Process

June 6, 2016

Washington D.C.

  • Blog

Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in ‘Remain in Mexico’ Case

April 26, 2022

Over three years after the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) went into effect, the Supreme Court finally heard oral arguments in a case about the program, also known as the “Remain in Mexico”...

  • Practice Advisories

Arriving Noncitizens and Adjustment of Status

Publication Date: 
April 25, 2022
This practice advisory identifies who falls under the classification of “arriving noncitizens,” discusses the regulations delineating USCIS vs. EOIR jurisdiction over adjustment applications of arriving noncitizens in removal proceedings and suggests strategies to facilitate the adjustment of status of eligible parolees in removal proceedings before they are removed.
  • Blog

Abbott’s Anti-Immigrant Blockade Cost the US Billions in Just a Few Days 

April 22, 2022

Less than a week after the Biden Administration announced the impending end to the COVID-era Title 42 border policy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott escalated his ongoing political fight with the Biden...

  • Blog

What is President Biden’s Plan for Ending Title 42?

April 12, 2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in early April that it would end Title 42, the pandemic border policy that allowed immigration officials to rapidly “expel” migrants...

  • Policy Briefs

Ending Title 42 and Creating an Orderly Asylum System

Publication Date: 
April 6, 2022
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to address the effect of Title 42 on border operations and management and to provide recommendations on creating an orderly humanitarian...
  • Blog

Biden Administration Announces End to Horrific Title 42 Border Policy

April 1, 2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that it will be terminating the Title 42 border policy. The U.S. government has used this policy to turn away asylum seekers and...

  • Press Release

The End of Title 42: A Long-Overdue Step Toward Rebuilding our Asylum System

April 1, 2022
The Biden administration announced today plans to end a border expulsions policy known as Title 42 by May 23. This policy allowed the U.S. government to turn people away at the U.S southern border over 1.7 million times in the past two years under the guise of protecting the country from COVID-19.
  • Blog

Government Must Release Names of Border Patrol Agents Involved in Illegal Pilot Program, Court Orders

March 28, 2022

In a victory for government transparency, earlier this month a federal district court ordered the government to release the names of the Border Patrol agents involved in a program to screen asylum...

  • Blog

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Issues Annual Report—What Does It Really Mean?

March 18, 2022

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released its fiscal year 2021 annual report. In it, the agency reported a significant decrease in both overall deportations and internal...

  • Blog

Dueling Court Orders May Decide Fate of President Biden’s Title 42 Expulsions

March 8, 2022

In just under two years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has carried out over 1.5 million rapid “expulsions” of asylum seekers and migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 42, a...

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