Border Enforcement

Recent Features

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

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All Border Enforcement Content

  • Blog

‘We Had a Shortage Last Night of Beds for Babies.’ Congressional Report Reveals Cruelty, Chaos of Family Separation

October 30, 2020

Congress released the “first complete narrative” on the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy on October 30. This hallmark of President Trump’s immigration legacy led to the forcible...

  • Blog

The Government Wants Immigrants to Show Up for Court—But Neglects to Tell Them How to Attend Their Hearings

October 29, 2020

Over 60,000 people at the southern border have been forced to return to Mexico under the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. As...

  • Blog

The Senate Reveals CBP Violated the Law by Rounding Up Migrants — In Guatemala

October 19, 2020

As the Trump administration cracked down on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, it has often invoked the concept of “national sovereignty” to justify drastic policy changes. But a new Senate...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Blog

Cuccinelli and Wolf Were Found Ineligible to Serve at DHS. What Happens Next?

August 20, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) top two officials are under scrutiny once again after a congressional oversight office found they were unlawfully appointed to their positions. The...

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Face a Dangerous Journey—and United States Interference

August 19, 2020

For many people planning to seek asylum in the United States, enforcement starts in Panama, over 3,000 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. immigration agencies collaborate with Panama’s...

  • 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.

  • Press Release

Immigration Groups Seek Information on Customs and Border Protection’s “Translation” Activities in Northern Border States

June 4, 2016
Last week an alliance of immigration advocacy groups represented by the Legal Action Center filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
  • Press Release

Court Rejects Government’s Efforts to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Detention Conditions

January 13, 2016

Washington D.C.—On Monday, a federal district court permitted a class action lawsuit challenging harmful and unconstitutional conditions of confinement by Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

  • Press Release

Border Patrol Agents as Interpreters Along the Northern Border: Unwise Policy, Illegal Practice

September 25, 2015

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

United States Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Alleging Wrongful Deportation

July 2, 2015

Washington D.C. - After more than two years of litigation, the U.S.

  • Press Release

Immigrants’ Rights Groups to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to Detained Families in Texas

March 31, 2015

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

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

March 13, 2015
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, a class action lawsuit was filed by three immigration attorneys and eleven noncitizens challenging 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). FOIA gives an individual the right to access information that the federal government possesses about him or her within 20 business days of making the request.
  • Press Release

HoldCBPAccountable.org Launched to Expose Border-Related Abuse and Litigation

March 26, 2014

An alliance of immigration advocacy groups announces the launch of HoldCBPAccountable.org, a website that catalogues lawsuits and admini

  • Comments

Council and Partners Comment on Changes to Streamlined Asylum Removal Proceedings

Publication Date: 
October 19, 2021
The Council, AILA, and the Immigration Justice Campaign commented on the proposed creation of “Dedicated Docket” in immigration court to complete the claims of asylum-seeking families within 300 days...
  • Blog

Biden Administration Announces Plan for Reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols

October 18, 2021

Two months after a federal court ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (also known as “Remain in Mexico”), the administration announced that it...

  • Press Release

The Reimplementation of MPP is Betrayal of President Biden’s Campaign Promises

October 15, 2021
The Biden administration announced today that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to revive and reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols by mid-November. The Council believes that plans to restart the program is a betrayal of the president’s campaign promises and a sign that this administration is failing to reenvision border management and the way that we treat asylum seekers.
  • Press Release

Citing Factual and Legal Flaws, Groups Urge DHS to Acknowledge Systematic Barriers in Second Memo Terminating MPP

October 14, 2021
The American Immigration Council and 29+ organizations urged DHS—in a letter offering factual and legal recommendations on how to end the Migrant Protection Protocols—to fully and forcefully acknowledge the humanitarian and legal catastrophe caused by MPP.
  • Letters

Council and Partners Offer Guidance to DHS on Terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols

Publication Date: 
October 14, 2021
The Council and 30 other organizations sent a letter to DHS offering an assessment of the factual and legal bases for terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.
  • Letters

Coalition Letter Calls on Biden Administration to End Private and Local Detention Contracts and Take Steps to Dismantle Detention System

Publication Date: 
October 11, 2021
The American Immigration Council joins a coalition letter that calls on the Biden administration to terminate local detention contracts and halt all other efforts to expand the ICE detention system...
  • Blog

Biden Administration Doubles Down On Title 42 As Del Rio Expulsions Draw to A Close

October 8, 2021

In September, nearly 15,000 Haitians arrived near Del Rio, Texas seeking asylum in the United States. But rather than allowing them to seek protection, as is their right under United States law,...

  • Letters

Council and AILA Follow Up with DHS Regarding a Functioning System of Discretionary Release from ICE Detention

Publication Date: 
October 5, 2021
The Council and AILA, through their Immigration Justice Campaign followed up on their March 25, 2021 letter to the DHS and ICE with examples of unfair denials of requests for release at ICE...
  • Blog

With New Florida Lawsuit, States’ Efforts to Dictate Federal Immigration Policy Continue

September 30, 2021

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new lawsuit on Tuesday seeking an order requiring the Biden administration to detain almost all people arriving at the Southwest border. It is the latest...

  • Letters

Coalition Letter Urges Biden Administration to Uphold Commitment to Create a Humane Immigration System

Publication Date: 
September 22, 2021

The American Immigration Council joined 38 other civil rights organizations in urging President Biden to live up to his administration’s commitment to a...

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