Abuses

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

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.

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All Abuses Content

  • Blog

Berks Detention Center Employee Convicted of Sexual Assault of Young Honduran Mother

April 15, 2016

A judge in Pennsylvania this week sentenced Daniel Sharkey, a 41-year-old former counselor at the Berks County Residential Center, to six to twenty three months of jail time. Sharkey previously...

  • Blog

Custom and Border Protection Use–of-Force Data Raises More Questions

April 13, 2016

Use-of-force by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 declined more than 26 percent compared with the previous year, according to statistics released last...

  • Blog

Customs and Border Protection Releases Independent Review of Its Complaints System

March 24, 2016

As part of its announced efforts to become more transparent and accountable, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just released the results of a review of its processes for handling...

  • Blog

Indictment of Border Patrol Agent for Murder Provides Some Much-Needed Accountability

September 30, 2015

Justice was served on September 23, when a federal grand jury indicted Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz for the second-degree murder of 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez in Nogales, Mexico...

  • Blog

New Report Depicts Ongoing Abuses by Border Patrol

September 28, 2015

Related Content: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse Deported migrants suffer a range of abuses at the hands of Custom and Border Patrol agents, according to a new Kino...

  • Blog

Here Are Some of the Stories of Women Held at Artesia

August 27, 2014

The lawsuit filed last week by the American Immigration Council, the ACLU, the National Immigration Project, and the National Immigration Law Center challenging government deportation policies at...

  • Blog

Surprise Government Inspection Finds Nooses in ICE Detention Center, Doctors Refusing to Treat Immigrant Detainees

October 3, 2018

When government officials conducted a surprise inspection of the immigration detention center in Adelanto, California this May, they were met by many signs of serious neglect and abuse, including...

  • 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

Medical Neglect and Abuse Reported at Atlanta Immigration Detention Center

August 30, 2018

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently uses hundreds of detention centers throughout the country to hold individuals in immigration proceedings. Many of these facilities have a...

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Challenge Spending Months Locked Up Without Interviews or Bond Hearings

August 24, 2018

Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched its “zero tolerance” policy, aimed at punishing immigrants, including asylum seekers, who enter the United States without authorization. Among...

  • Blog

Government Coerced Parents into Signing Their Rights Away Before Being Reunited with Their Children

August 23, 2018

In all the chaos of family separation, another disturbing detail has come to light: immigration officials may have coerced vulnerable parents into signing away their right to be reunified with...

  • Press Release

Complaint Details Coercive Tactics Used by Immigration Officials on Separated Parents

August 23, 2018
The complaint points to numerous examples, including that of Mrs. D.P., who was separated from her 9-year-old daughter for 47 days as a result of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' "zero-tolerance" border policy.
  • Advocacy

The Illegal and Systematic Practice of Coercing Separated Families Must Be Investigated

August 23, 2018

The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy led to not only to the forcible separation of thousands of children from their parents, but the extreme duress and coercion of...

  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Seeks Information Regarding CBP Responses to Complaints of Officer Abuse

This lawsuit seeks to compel U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to release records relating to CBP’s complaint process and actions taken in response to complaints made to CBP concerning its agents and officers since January 1, 2012.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on "Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts"

July 31, 2018
The statement shares our analysis and research regarding the nation's asylum system and the obligations of the U.S. government to asylum seekers, as well as our deep concern around the administration's family separation policies and increased prosecution of migrants.
  • Blog

The Family Reunification Deadline Passed. What’s Next for Separated Families?

July 27, 2018

The court-imposed deadline of July 26 for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reunite families separated at the southern border has passed. So far, over 1800 children have been released...

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