Enforcement

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.

ICE Targets Mississippi Food Plants in Largest Set of Immigration Raids

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted coordinated raids in several small Mississippi towns on Wednesday. With reports of 680 arrests, the raids may be the largest ICE worksite crackdown in over a decade. More than 600 ICE agents raided seven food processing plants in several small towns near Jackson, Mississippi. Poultry plants owned by […]

Trump Administration’s Plan to Subject Hundreds of Thousands to Fast-Track Deportations Faces New Lawsuit

The Trump administration recently announced it would start applying a fast-tracked deportation process known as “expedited removal” to hundreds of thousands more people than ever before. People across the United States could be deported within hours of being picked up by immigration officers, with no opportunity to see a judge or talk to an attorney. […]

US Citizens Caught in Immigration Dragnet As Enforcement Gets More Aggressive

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 are locking up people they assume must be non-citizens, but who are in fact U.S. citizens. These abuses transcend any presidential administration. But there are indications […]

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

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 the government as “unaccompanied” minors. However, not every “unaccompanied” child came to the border alone—some were intentionally separated from their guardians by U.S. officials. Under […]

Trump Implements Nationwide ‘Send Them Back’ Immigration Policy

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday morning that it would vastly expand “expedited removal,” a provision of the law that permits the agency to rapidly deport certain individuals without an opportunity to see an immigration judge. Under the expansion, DHS can rapidly deport undocumented immigrants in the United States who crossed the […]

Expansion of Fast-Track Deportations Jeopardizes Countless Vulnerable Individuals and Fair Day in Court

Expanding expedited removal in this manner will create a 'show me your papers' regime of immigration enforcement where individuals—including any U.S. citizens they encounter—will be forced to prove they should not be deported. The American Immigration Council will not stand by idly as the Trump administration continues its unlawful attacks on our communities. We will see the Trump administration in court

ICE Quietly Expands Immigration Detention in the Deep South

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 complicated network of immigration jails—this time in the Deep South. In late June, ICE started using three jails in Louisiana and Mississippi, with bed-space for 4,000 […]