Border Enforcement

The Council Seeks Records on How the Government Interdicts Migrants at Sea

The American Immigration Council filed requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to learn about the process migrants go through after they are interdicted by U.S. Coast Guard personnel.

Border Patrol’s 100th Anniversary Offers Chance to Look Back at Its Disturbing Origins

The U.S. Border Patrol turned 100 years old on May 28. Its troubled origins and history form the backdrop for contemporary concerns about the agency, including impunity for abuses against migrants and citizens alike. The Border Patrol’s centennial provides an opportunity to shed light on the agency’s lack of accountability and to pursue a vision […]

An American Immigration Council Analysis of the President’s 212(f) Proclamation and Interim Final Rule Restricting Asylum

On June 4, the Biden administration issued a presidential proclamation and an Interim Final Rule restricting access to asylum for people crossing into the United States without legal status. The Council analyzes this new Proclamation and Interim Final Rule Restricting Asylum in this factsheet.

Borderland: The Line Within Takes Viewers Through CBP’s Raid on a Humanitarian Aid Camp

Borderland: The Line Within, a documentary directed by Pamela Yates and produced by Skylight Pictures, made its theatrical debut on May 3. Borderland takes viewers through a gripping narrative of how immigration enforcement agencies—from the U.S.-Mexico border to places well within our nation’s interior—have created what the film calls the “border industrial complex,” a system […]

Biden Proposes Rule to Quickly Remove Certain Migrants During Initial Screening Process at the Border

On May 9, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would allow asylum officers to consider and impose certain restrictions or “bars” to the initial asylum screening process at the border. Currently, these bars are considered later in the asylum process at a full hearing before an immigration judge. Comments are being accepted until June […]