Detention

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

  • Litigation

Stopping Policies Endangering Immigration Attorneys, Clients, and the Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Council filed a lawsuit to close the immigration courts and ensure due process.

  • FOIA 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

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts.”

July 31, 2018
The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for a July 31, 2018 hearing on “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts.”
  • Blog

Congress Calls to Decrease ICE Detention as COVID-19 Continues to Spread

July 8, 2020

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security introduced their proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (beginning October 1, 2020) this week. The budget would have significant...

  • Blog

Court Orders ICE to End Its Practice of Unlawfully Detaining Immigrant Youth

July 6, 2020

Immigrant children who arrive in the United States without a parent are placed in shelters or foster care while their guardianship and immigration process play out. But all too often, U.S....

  • Blog

Court-Ordered Release of Children May Lead to Family Separation

June 29, 2020

Federal Judge Dolly Gee has ordered that children held for more than 20 days at U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) family detention centers must be released. The order was the latest...

  • Blog

ICE Tells Parents to Separate From Their Children or Risk Indefinite Detention Together

May 19, 2020

When the Trump administration implemented mass family separation in 2018, the American public was outraged. Two years later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a different...

  • Blog

What ICE Must Do Following the First Coronavirus Death in Its Custody

May 7, 2020
ICE must stop transferring people—some of whom may already have COVID-19—across the country between detention centers.
  • Blog

ICE Faces Lawsuit Over Blocking Phone Access to Detainees

May 4, 2020

A free phone call can mean the difference between a fair day in court and being deported to harm—or worse—for individuals held in immigration detention centers. Immigrants may not be able to meet...

  • Blog

The US Government Can Now Collect DNA From Thousands of People Who Have Never Committed a Crime

April 28, 2020

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed rule mandating the collection of DNA from nearly all immigrants in government custody became final on April 8, 2020. For the first time in U.S. history,...

  • Blog

Fearing Coronavirus, People in ICE Custody Ask the Courts to Order Their Release

April 27, 2020

Medical experts and government officials urge people to social distance to avoid contracting the coronavirus. Yet, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to hold tens of thousands of...

  • Blog

US Endangers Other Countries by Deporting People With the Coronavirus

April 22, 2020

Countries around the world that still have few coronavirus cases are bracing themselves for the spread of the pandemic. Many have restricted international arrivals to prevent a surge in cases like...

  • Blog

ICE Must Release People From Detention to Slow the Spread of the Coronavirus

March 31, 2020

Social distancing has been mandated in many places throughout the United States to slow the spread of COVID-19, the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)...

  • 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.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council's Statement on the Trump Administration's Failure to Reunite Separated Families

July 26, 2018
"The government’s failure to comply with the court order to reunify the thousands of separated children and parents confirms the administration’s utter disregard for the humane and fair treatment of families coming to our country in search of protection."
  • Press Release

DHS Secretary Nielsen Meets with Immigration and Human Rights Groups for First Time, Reiterates Trump Administration’s Misinformation and Sidesteps Family Immigration Crisis

July 9, 2018
Leaders of several immigrant and human rights organizations were invited for the first time under the Trump administration to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Demands Trump Administration Hand Over Family Separation Policies and Procedures

June 27, 2018
The lawsuit asks the court to compel the agencies to produce family separation documents in response to FOIA requests submitted in April.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council's Statement on Trump's Executive Order on Family Separation

June 20, 2018
President Donald Trump signed an executive order today to try to stem criticism of his family separation policy. He has offered an unacceptable alternative: imprisoning mothers and fathers with their children.
  • Press Release

Complaint Filed with DHS Oversight Bodies Calls for Improvements to Medical and Mental Health Care of Immigrants in Aurora Detention Center

June 4, 2018
The complaint, filed on behalf of individuals who are and were detained at the Aurora facility, highlights the ways in which weak, insufficient medical practices threaten the health and well-being of detainees and directly impact their ability to pursue their immigration and asylum claims.
  • Press Release

Increase in Border Prosecutions Will Separate More Families

May 7, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Thomas Homan announced today that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border—likely resulting in the criminalization of asylum seekers and more family separation.
  • Letters

Council and Broad Coalition Urge Department of Homeland Security to Withdraw Records Destruction Plans

May 3, 2021
In this letter, the Council and a diverse coalition call on the Biden administration to stop and reevaluate plans to destroy immigration agency records documenting abuse and misconduct.
  • Blog

Firsthand Experiences Inside ICE Facilities During the Pandemic Underscore Why Immigration Detention Should be Abolished

April 22, 2021

This blog is the second in a three-part series examining President Biden’s first 100 days in office from the Immigration Justice Campaign. Many of us will always vividly remember the fear and lack...

  • Blog

The First 100 Days: Biden on Immigration Detention

April 20, 2021

This blog is the first in a three-part series from the Immigration Justice Campaign. Reflecting on his release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Thomas,* a man who fled...

  • Blog

Arizona ICE Detention Center Violated COVID-19 Safety Protocols by Refusing to Provide Masks or Enforce Social Distancing

April 6, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers—which often suffer from cramped conditions and poor access to medical care—are highly conducive to the spread of COVID-19. But ICE...

  • Letters

Coalition Letter Calling for Phase-Out of Detention, Beginning with Ten Facilities

April 2, 2021
The American Immigration Council joined other organizations in calling on the Biden administration to phase-out immigration detention, beginning with the closure of ten specific facilities.
  • Letters

Follow-up Coalition Letter Urges Reconsideration of Custody Determination for Every Person in ICE Custody

March 29, 2021
The American Immigration Council joined over 150 other organizations in urging the Biden administration to prioritize the implementation of a file review process, initiated by ICE, to reconsider the...
  • Blog

How Many ICE-Related COVID-19 Deaths Have Gone Unreported?

March 26, 2021

After almost two years in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Martin Vargas Arellano was released to a hospital on March 5. ICE did not notify his family or attorney. Three...

  • Letters

Council Urges DHS to Establish a Functioning System of Discretionary Review from ICE Detention

March 25, 2021
The Council and AILA sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the need for a functioning system of discretionary release within U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE).
  • 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...

  • Press Release

Facts About the Current Situation at the Border

March 23, 2021
The nation has turned its attention to the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody. Much of the conversation has focused on a supposed surge in arrivals under the Biden administration, but the current increase began well before President Biden took office.

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending