Interior Enforcement

Recent Features

Why Caution is Needed Before Hiring Additional Border Patrol Agents and ICE Officers

There are serious concerns that rapid expansion will bring about a resurgence of problems in the Border Patrol and also cause similar problems in ICE. 

READ MORE

FACT SHEET
Expedited Removal Explainer

Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation. 

READ MORE

All Interior Enforcement Content

  • Fact Sheet

What’s in the 2025 House Reconciliation Bill?

Publication Date: 
May 14, 2025
Analysis of the immigration and border-related spending recommendations for reconciliation measures approved in the House Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Armed Services Committees in FY 2025.
  • Fact Sheet

Sanctuary Policies: An Overview

Publication Date: 
February 21, 2025
Sanctuary policies do not conceal or shelter unauthorized immigrants from detection. Here's what you need to know about these policies.
  • Fact Sheet

Expedited Removal Explainer

Publication Date: 
February 20, 2025
Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Fact Sheet

The "Mass Influx" Declaration

Publication Date: 
January 27, 2025

In 1996, Congress passed a law giving the federal government the power to declare an emergency relating to a “mass...

  • Fact Sheet

The 287(g) Program: An Overview

Publication Date: 
January 20, 2025
This fact sheet provides an overview of the 287(g) program, which refers to agreements between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies that allow local police to...
  • Special Report

Mass Deportation

Publication Date: 
October 2, 2024
The mass deportation of millions of undocumented individuals would be tremendously expensive and would have a catastrophic impact on our economy—one that would be expansive and impact every American...
  • Fact Sheet

The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

Publication Date: 
August 14, 2024
Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement.
  • Fact Sheet

The Use of Parole Under Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
April 8, 2024
Parole under immigration law is very different than in the criminal justice context. In the immigration context, parole facilitates certain individuals’ entry into and permission to temporarily...
  • Fact Sheet

Understanding the Importance of Humanitarian Parole in the U.S. Immigration System

Publication Date: 
January 12, 2024

Parole is an essential component of U.S. immigration law. It can be an important tool to manage the processing of migrants at U.S. borders; a powerful response to humanitarian crisis; and a way to...

  • Fact Sheet

The Removal System of the United States: An Overview

Publication Date: 
August 9, 2022
This fact sheet provides an explanation on how noncitizens may find themselves facing deportation from the country, how the removal proceeding may look, what types of relief can be sought after a...
  • FOIA

Seeking Records about DHS’s Renewed Mass Influx Declaration and Deputization of State and Local Law Enforcement as Immigration Officers

Council and ACLU-MI file a FOIA request for records about the basis of the DHS Secretary’s renewed mass influx determination and the supervision and training of state and local law enforcement officers acting as immigration officers thanks to this determination.
  • FOIA

Investigating ICE’s Changes to Parole Policies and Other Implementation of President Trump’s Day One Immigration Actions

This FOIA request seeks all memoranda, musters, guidance, and other similar records in the implementation of the “Securing Our Borders” Executive Order and “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion” Presidential Proclamation.
  • Litigation

Challenging Trump’s Unlawful Registration Rule

This lawsuit, filed on behalf of nonprofit organizations, challenges a DHS rule requiring noncitizens to register and carry proof or face prosecution.
  • FOIA

Seeking Records about DHS’s Unprecedent Mass Influx Declaration and Associated Agreements With State and Local Law Enforcement

The Council and Documented NY filed FOIA requests for records undergirding the DHS Secretary’s novel mass influx determination and agreements that involve state and local law enforcement officers in immigration enforcement.
  • Litigation

Challenging Iowa’s State Deportation Law

We’re suing Iowa for a new law that criminalizes anyone who has reentered the state after being deported — including children — even if that person is now authorized to be in the U.S. This is the most extreme anti-immigrant law in the state’s history.
  • FOIA

Ohio, We Have A Problem

  • FOIA

ICE Didn’t Follow Federal Enforcement Priorities Set by Biden Administration

In 2021, the Biden administration issued policy guidance on how ICE should carry out immigration enforcement. This report is a breakdown of how ICE carried out these policies.
  • Amicus Briefs

Demanding ICE Provide Essential Data

Publication Date: 
January 30, 2023
The Council submitted an amicus brief explaining why ICE should release usable immigration data. The amicus brief was filed in a case where the ACLU is seeking information about how individuals are impacted by ICE enforcement practices.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues to Obtain ICE’s Reports on Enforcement Actions and Removals

This FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel DHS and ICE to disclose the weekly reports ICE was required to produce about their enforcement activities and removals pursuant to the DHS’ January 20 and February 18 memos establishing new immigration enforcement priorities.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues to Press for Records About the Treatment of Black Immigrants in Detention

This FOIA suit seeks to compel ICE to release information about conditions, treatment, and outcomes in eight immigration detention facilities in the U.S. South.
  • Practice Advisories

Common Tools of Statutory Construction for Criminal Removal Grounds

Publication Date: 
November 28, 2023
This practice advisory describes some of the common tools of statutory construction to assist practitioners in advocating for narrow definitions of generic criminal removal grounds...
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Overview of the Supreme Court's Decision in Pugin v. Garland

Publication Date: 
August 22, 2023
This practice advisory looks into the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court issued in Pugin v. Garland, 143 S. Ct. 1833 (2023). This immigration decision addressed the generic definition of the obstruction of justice aggravated felony ground at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S).
  • Practice Advisories

Raids Response Materials for Individuals with Final Removal Orders

Publication Date: 
July 11, 2019
These template materials will assist attorneys representing individuals with final removal orders issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
  • Practice Advisories

Reinstatement of Removal

Publication Date: 
May 23, 2019
This practice advisory provides an overview of the reinstatement statute and implementing regulations, including how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issues and executes reinstatement orders.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: A General Overview

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory provides a general overview of motions to suppress, a tool used to prevent the introduction of evidence obtained by federal immigration officers in violation of the Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and related provisions of federal law.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: Cracking Down on Fourth Amendment Violations

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory discusses some of the legal issues that may arise when noncitizens in removal proceedings move to suppress evidence obtained through constitutional violations by state and local officers seeking to enforce immigration law.
  • Blog

Why Trump’s Use of the Alien Enemies Act Matters for America

March 20, 2025

The Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act on Friday—in a declaration that was initially kept secret, before being posted Saturday—has been held up in court for now, amid an...

  • Blog

While Federal Firings Focus on Immigration Processing, Funding for Immigration Enforcement Expands

March 6, 2025

In recent weeks, significant personnel reductions throughout the federal government made in the name of eliminating “waste” have caused concerns about the government’s ability to continue...

  • Blog

State, Federal Policies Escalate Attacks on Immigrant Children

February 27, 2025

Federal and state policy efforts targeting immigrant kids are on the rise. The new wave of cruelty includes plans that plainly violate existing law. Many of these attacks seem designed to tee up...

  • Blog

The Chilling Effect of Trump’s Indiscriminate Immigration Arrests & Propaganda

February 14, 2025

As we near the one-month mark of the new Trump administration, it is clear that the president’s thinly veiled threats of imposing mass deportation on “criminal immigrants” are in fact a promise to...

  • Blog

Communities Continue to Stand by Immigrants Amidst Fear, Heightened Enforcement

February 13, 2025

The first few weeks of President Trump’s second term in office have instilled a heightened level of fear, as longtime neighbors, residents, and tightly knit communities have encountered increased...

  • Blog

ICE Makes Sweeping Arrests in Chicago, Endangering City’s Livelihood

January 31, 2025

By Karen Aho and Anna Shepperson Chicago has been bracing for immigration raids since the presidential inauguration, following tips that it would be the first sanctuary city targeted under the...

  • Blog

Trump’s Day 1 Orders Use Fearmongering to Expand His Immigration Authority

January 23, 2025

On January 20, 2025, the day President Trump took office for his second term, he issued a series of immigration-related executive orders and proclamations that will quickly re-shape the U.S....

  • Blog

The Laken Riley Act Would Give States Sweeping Power Over Immigration Policy

January 8, 2025

Want to take action on the Laken Riley Act? The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 29. It will likely go to a vote in the Senate. Contact your senators and urge them to vote...

  • Blog

Mass Deportations Will Undermine Our Safety

December 19, 2024

When the Trump administration deported Goura Ndiaye, he had lived in the United States for 20 years, running his own business as an electrician, working as primary breadwinner for his three U.S....

  • Blog

What Will Mass Deportations Look Like?

December 6, 2024
The incoming administration will move to expand its existing authorities like state and local law enforcement partnerships and expedited removal to scale up the federal government’s ability to arrest and deport more people.
  • Press Release

Attorneys & Advocates Discuss the Harms of the Trump Administration’s Forced Disappearances to El Salvador

May 7, 2025
Since March 15, the Trump administration has disappeared over 280 people to a notorious prison in El Salvador, the CECOT, well-known for its abusive conditions and use of torture.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Suing Trump Administration Over Unprecedented Requirement That Immigrants Register with the Government

March 31, 2025
The registration requirement paves the way for widespread potential abuse and turns the United States into a 'show me your papers’ country.
  • Press Release

Congress Approves Even More Funding for Detention, Deportation

March 14, 2025
Congress is spending tax dollars on ICE and family separation instead of what would actually fix our broken system: our overloaded courts and lack of legal pathways to residency.
  • Press Release

PRESS CALL: Experts To Warn Trump’s Immigration Surveillance and Registry Policies Will Turbocharge Mass Raids & Removals

March 5, 2025
The Trump administration is poised to supercharge mass deportation through militarized enforcement, invasive surveillance, and government overreach, all at the expense of civil rights and working families.
  • Press Release

PRESS BRIEFING: Community Leaders, Prosecutors, and Local Electeds Condemn HR 32, A Direct Attack on American Communities And Public Safety

March 5, 2025
The “No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act” forces local leaders to choose between preserving funding for essential services or facing Trump's politically motivated cuts to schools, disaster relief and more.
  • Press Release

NEW REPORT: Gaps in Detention Data from Torrance Detention Facility Show Racial Disparities

October 24, 2024
In a New Mexico detention center, ICE categorized People with African, Asian, and South American backgrounds as racially ‘white’
  • Press Release

New Report Details Catastrophic Impact of Mass Deportation and Family Separation Plans

October 2, 2024
A new report details the catastrophic costs of a potential mass deportation and family separation plan.
  • Press Release

Biden Expands Immigration Protections to Undocumented Spouses and Streamlines Employment-Based Visas for DACA Recipients

June 18, 2024
On June 18, the Biden administration announced policy changes that will provide immigration relief to thousands of deeply-rooted immigrants in the United States.
  • Press Release

Iowa Blocks Hateful Anti-Immigrant Law

June 17, 2024
In a victory for immigrant communities and families, on June 17 a federal district court in Iowa issued a preliminary injunction to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Key Provision of Florida’s Anti-Immigrant SB 1718

May 22, 2024
On May 22, a federal court blocked a section of a draconian anti-immigrant law passed by Govenor Ron DeSantis's government in Florida.
  • FOIA

Seeking Records about DHS’s Renewed Mass Influx Declaration and Deputization of State and Local Law Enforcement as Immigration Officers

Council and ACLU-MI file a FOIA request for records about the basis of the DHS Secretary’s renewed mass influx determination and the supervision and training of state and local law enforcement officers acting as immigration officers thanks to this determination.
  • Fact Sheet

What’s in the 2025 House Reconciliation Bill?

Publication Date: 
May 14, 2025
Analysis of the immigration and border-related spending recommendations for reconciliation measures approved in the House Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Armed Services Committees in FY 2025.
  • Press Release

Attorneys & Advocates Discuss the Harms of the Trump Administration’s Forced Disappearances to El Salvador

May 7, 2025
Since March 15, the Trump administration has disappeared over 280 people to a notorious prison in El Salvador, the CECOT, well-known for its abusive conditions and use of torture.
  • FOIA

Investigating ICE’s Changes to Parole Policies and Other Implementation of President Trump’s Day One Immigration Actions

This FOIA request seeks all memoranda, musters, guidance, and other similar records in the implementation of the “Securing Our Borders” Executive Order and “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion” Presidential Proclamation.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Suing Trump Administration Over Unprecedented Requirement That Immigrants Register with the Government

March 31, 2025
The registration requirement paves the way for widespread potential abuse and turns the United States into a 'show me your papers’ country.
  • Litigation

Challenging Trump’s Unlawful Registration Rule

This lawsuit, filed on behalf of nonprofit organizations, challenges a DHS rule requiring noncitizens to register and carry proof or face prosecution.
  • Blog

Why Trump’s Use of the Alien Enemies Act Matters for America

March 20, 2025

The Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act on Friday—in a declaration that was initially kept secret, before being posted Saturday—has been held up in court for now, amid an...

  • Press Release

Congress Approves Even More Funding for Detention, Deportation

March 14, 2025
Congress is spending tax dollars on ICE and family separation instead of what would actually fix our broken system: our overloaded courts and lack of legal pathways to residency.
  • Blog

While Federal Firings Focus on Immigration Processing, Funding for Immigration Enforcement Expands

March 6, 2025

In recent weeks, significant personnel reductions throughout the federal government made in the name of eliminating “waste” have caused concerns about the government’s ability to continue...

  • Press Release

PRESS CALL: Experts To Warn Trump’s Immigration Surveillance and Registry Policies Will Turbocharge Mass Raids & Removals

March 5, 2025
The Trump administration is poised to supercharge mass deportation through militarized enforcement, invasive surveillance, and government overreach, all at the expense of civil rights and working families.

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending