Detention

Recent Features

  • Litigation

Uncovering the Government’s Internal Family Separation Policies, Guidance, and Data

This lawsuit seeks to compel government agencies to produce documents regarding family separation policies

  • Fact Sheet

U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement

Deportations of parents and family members have serious consequences that affect children and extend to communities and the country as a whole.

All Detention Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview

July 17, 2019
The Institutional Hearing Program permits immigration judges to conduct removal proceedings for noncitizens serving criminal sentences in certain correctional facilities.
  • Special Report

The Landscape of Immigration Detention in the United States

December 5, 2018
This analysis reveals that individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were commonly held in privately operated and remotely located facilities, far away from basic community...
  • Fact Sheet

Legal Orientation Program Overview

September 6, 2018
The Legal Orientation Program (LOP) offers legal education, as well as referrals for free and low-cost legal counsel, to noncitizens in immigration detention.
  • Special Report

Detaining Families

August 16, 2018
This report presents findings from the first empirical analysis of asylum adjudication in family detention. Drawing on government data from over 18,000 immigration court proceedings initiated between...
  • Fact Sheet

U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement

May 23, 2018
Deportations of parents and family members have serious consequences that affect children and extend to communities and the country as a whole.
  • Fact Sheet

Prosecuting Migrants for Coming to the United States

May 1, 2018
Over the last two decades, the federal government increasingly has utilized the criminal courts to punish people for immigration violations. This overview provides basic information about entry-...
  • Special Report

Deportations in the Dark

September 19, 2017
Mexican migrants suffer a host of violations, abuses, and ill treatment while in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities.
  • Special Report

The Perils of Expedited Removal

May 9, 2017
Detained asylum seekers encounter numerous challenges, including the following problems detailed in this report.
  • Special Report

Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families’ Experiences of Separation

August 31, 2016
This report examines what happens when “family detention” does not actually keep loved ones together and profiles the experiences of five asylum-seeking families who are divided by detention.
  • Special Report

Detained Beyond the Limit

August 18, 2016
This report reveals that individuals are frequently held for days and sometimes even months in holding cells in Border Patrol sectors along the U.S.’ southwest border.
  • Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit Demands Release of Information on the Institutional Hearing Program

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  • Advocacy

Inadequate Medical Care at Colorado Immigration Detention Continues

June 11, 2019
New evidence shows the woefully inadequate medical and mental health care in an immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado. Here are some of the detainees’ experiences we documented:
  • Amicus Briefs

United States v. Hernandez-Becerra - Ninth Circuit

April 19, 2019
In this case, the Federal Defenders of San Diego argue that the court should have conducted a deeper inquiry into the voluntariness of a guilty plea offered by 18-year-old Claudia Hernandez-Becerra because she spent three days detained in an “hielera” before her arraignment for entering the United States without permission.
  • Advocacy

Complaint Urges Immediate Release of Infants from Immigration Detention

February 28, 2019
Numerous babies under the age of one—and some as young as six months old—are being detained in immigration detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
  • Amicus Briefs

ACLU v. DHS - Ninth Circuit

January 10, 2019

The American Immigration Council and the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program and Boston University School of Law filed an amicus brief in ACLU v. DHS, a Freedom of Information...

  • Advocacy

Comments Opposing Proposed Regulation Barring Asylum to Those Entering Between US Ports of Entry

January 7, 2019

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) submitted a joint comment opposing the “Interim Final Rule: Aliens Subject to a Bar on Entry Under...

  • Advocacy

Regulatory Comments Opposing the Indefinite Detention of Children

November 6, 2018
The Trump administration proposed new regulations undermining the 1997 Flores settlement agreement. If the proposed regulations are finalized, they would weaken protections for children and place them at greater risk of trauma and mistreatment.
  • Advocacy

Statement for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing on "The Implications of Reinterpretation of the Flores Settlement for Border Security and Illegal Immigration Incentives"

September 18, 2018

The American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a written statement to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and...

  • Litigation

Challenging Credible Fear Interview and Bond Hearing Delays

This case challenges the punitive practice of keeping asylum seekers in custody for weeks or months without access to credible fear interviews or bond hearings and the lack of basic procedural protections—like hearing transcripts and written decisions—in bond hearings, as well as whether asylum seekers must bear the burden of proof in bond proceedings.
  • 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...

  • Practice Advisories

Federal Court Requires Immigration Courts to Continue to Provide Bond Hearings, Despite Matter of M-S-

July 3, 2019
Immigration courts must continue to provide bond hearings to individuals fleeing persecution who enter the United States without inspection, are placed in expedited removal proceedings, and pass their credible fear interviews.
  • Practice Advisories

Bivens Basics: An Introductory Guide for Immigration Attorneys

August 20, 2018
This practice advisory provides an overview of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bivens, the benefits and risks of bringing a Bivens claim, and practical and legal information about filing a Bivens claim in federal court.
  • Practice Advisories

Expedited Removal: What Has Changed Since Executive Order No. 13767, Border Security And Immigration Enforcement Improvements

February 21, 2017
This Practice Advisory addresses the coming expansion of expedited removal.
  • Practice Advisories

Introduction to Habeas Corpus

June 1, 2008

This Practice Advisory offers a short introduction to habeas corpus, addressing when and how a petitioner may file a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the immigration context.

  • Blog

US Citizens Caught in Immigration Dragnet As Enforcement Gets More Aggressive

August 1, 2019

There is a disturbing trend in aggressive immigration enforcement that is appearing more and more recently: the detention of U.S. citizens. There are clear indications that U.S. immigration agents...

  • Blog

No Freedom, Education, or Privacy: Over 2,000 Immigrant Children Detained at the Homestead Shelter

July 23, 2019

Over 2,000 immigrant children are being detained by the Trump administration at a “temporary emergency” facility in Homestead, Florida. All of the children at the facility have been designated by...

  • Blog

Advocates Seek Information About a Secretive Program That Fast-Tracks Deportations

July 19, 2019

Since the mid-1980s, immigration courts have operated the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The program is designed to quickly deport people serving criminal sentences. Despite how long it’s...

  • Blog

ICE Quietly Expands Immigration Detention in the Deep South

July 18, 2019

While members of Congress were struggling to reach a bipartisan deal in February in order to end the government shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly expanded its...

  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Despite Trump Administration’s Efforts

July 3, 2019

Attorney General William Barr announced in April 2019 plans to eliminate bond hearings for immigrants who pass an asylum screening interview after entering the United States. This would have...

  • Blog

No Help “Unless We’re Dying.” Immigrants Present Evidence of Inadequate Medical Care in Detention

June 11, 2019

As the Trump administration ramps up efforts to expand immigration detention in the United States, many detained immigrants continue to suffer behind bars due to woefully inadequate medical and...

  • Blog

‘What’s Next? Drinking Water?’ Government Cuts English Classes, Recreation for Immigrant Children in Shelters

June 6, 2019

The Trump administration is cutting funds for educational programs, recreation, and legal services for unaccompanied children who are waiting to be placed with a sponsor in the United States. The...

  • Blog

People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border Patrol Facility

June 4, 2019

The post People Forced to Stand on Toilets, Wear Soiled Clothing for Days at Border...

  • Blog

ICE Uses Solitary Confinement on Immigrants Who Are Transgender, Suicidal

May 31, 2019

The post ICE Uses Solitary Confinement on Immigrants Who Are Transgender, Suicidal appeared first on...

  • Blog

Worsening Detention Conditions in Border Patrol Custody Highlighted in New Complaint

May 23, 2019

The post Worsening Detention Conditions in Border...

  • Press Release

Newly Released Documents and Personal Testimonies Provide Evidence of Systematic Family Separations a Year After the End of Zero-Tolerance Policy

June 22, 2019
Newly obtained documents from the Department of Health and Human Services released today by immigrant rights groups and The Houston Chronicle show that migrant children continued to be separated from their parents at the border nearly one year after the end of the “zero tolerance” policy.
  • Press Release

Groups Launch Legal Challenge to Trump Administration Policy on Jailing Asylum Seekers

May 2, 2019
The American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and The American Civil Liberties Union, filed a proposed amended complaint in federal court today in order to challenge the Trump administration’s new policy that categorically denies bond hearings to asylum seekers. The policy, announced April 16 by Attorney General William Barr, targets asylum seekers whom immigration officers previously determined have a “credible fear” of persecution or torture if returned to the places they fled.
  • Press Release

Trump Administration’s Surveillance of Family Separation Protests Follows a Pattern of Harassment

April 29, 2019
Newly released government records reveal that the Department of Homeland Security monitored protest preparations across the United States and internationally in June 2018, as communities organized to oppose the Trump administration’s separation of children and parents at the southern border. The discovery follows other recent revelations that the government has been secretly monitoring activists, journalists, and immigrant rights defenders.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Orders Timely Bond Hearings and Legal Protections for Asylum Seekers

April 5, 2019
In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge in Seattle dealt a blow to the government’s campaign to deter and obstruct asylum seekers applying for protection in the United States. Judge Marsha Pechman ordered the government to provide certain individuals with bona fide asylum claims either a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days of their request or to release them from detention.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Orders that Asylum Seekers Can Move Forward Challenging Delays

December 13, 2018
A federal district court in Seattle, Washington issued an order rejecting the government’s arguments that recent asylum seekers who enter the United States without immigration status are not entitled to constitutional protections.
  • Press Release

Government Data Reveals the Inner Workings of the U.S. Immigration Detention System

December 5, 2018
A report on immigration detention examines the United States’ complex, sprawling network of facilities used to detain immigrants. The report, “The Landscape of Immigration Detention in the United States,” reveals that detained individuals were commonly held in facilities operated by private entities and located in remote areas, far away from basic community support structures and legal advocacy networks.
  • Press Release

Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Timely Bond Hearings and Legal Protections for Asylum Seekers

September 21, 2018
Yesterday, plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s targeted efforts to obstruct asylum seekers filed a motion for preliminary injunction demanding timely bond hearings that comport with due process.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Condemns Administration's Proposal to Indefinitely Detain Children

September 6, 2018
The Trump administration proposed new regulations that could lead to the indefinite detention—and needless suffering—of asylum-seeking children.
  • 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.
  • Press Release

15 Years of Government Data Reveals that Jailing Families in Detention Obstructs a Fair Court Process

August 16, 2018
As government officials and policymakers weigh the potential expansion of family detention, this report reveals how detention impacts asylum-seeking families and their claims for protection.
  • Blog

US Citizens Caught in Immigration Dragnet As Enforcement Gets More Aggressive

August 1, 2019

There is a disturbing trend in aggressive immigration enforcement that is appearing more and more recently: the detention of U.S. citizens. There are clear indications that U.S. immigration agents...

  • Blog

No Freedom, Education, or Privacy: Over 2,000 Immigrant Children Detained at the Homestead Shelter

July 23, 2019

Over 2,000 immigrant children are being detained by the Trump administration at a “temporary emergency” facility in Homestead, Florida. All of the children at the facility have been designated by...

  • Blog

Advocates Seek Information About a Secretive Program That Fast-Tracks Deportations

July 19, 2019

Since the mid-1980s, immigration courts have operated the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The program is designed to quickly deport people serving criminal sentences. Despite how long it’s...

  • Blog

ICE Quietly Expands Immigration Detention in the Deep South

July 18, 2019

While members of Congress were struggling to reach a bipartisan deal in February in order to end the government shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly expanded its...

  • Fact Sheet

The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview

July 17, 2019
The Institutional Hearing Program permits immigration judges to conduct removal proceedings for noncitizens serving criminal sentences in certain correctional facilities.
  • Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit Demands Release of Information on the Institutional Hearing Program

​

...
  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Despite Trump Administration’s Efforts

July 3, 2019

Attorney General William Barr announced in April 2019 plans to eliminate bond hearings for immigrants who pass an asylum screening interview after entering the United States. This would have...

  • Practice Advisories

Federal Court Requires Immigration Courts to Continue to Provide Bond Hearings, Despite Matter of M-S-

July 3, 2019
Immigration courts must continue to provide bond hearings to individuals fleeing persecution who enter the United States without inspection, are placed in expedited removal proceedings, and pass their credible fear interviews.
  • Press Release

Newly Released Documents and Personal Testimonies Provide Evidence of Systematic Family Separations a Year After the End of Zero-Tolerance Policy

June 22, 2019
Newly obtained documents from the Department of Health and Human Services released today by immigrant rights groups and The Houston Chronicle show that migrant children continued to be separated from their parents at the border nearly one year after the end of the “zero tolerance” policy.
  • Blog

No Help “Unless We’re Dying.” Immigrants Present Evidence of Inadequate Medical Care in Detention

June 11, 2019

As the Trump administration ramps up efforts to expand immigration detention in the United States, many detained immigrants continue to suffer behind bars due to woefully inadequate medical and...

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