Council and AILA Submit Comments Regarding CBP Collection of Information at Land Borders

Published

Published: 
November 29, 2021

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) summited comments to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) information collection request on the collection of information from certain undocumented individuals who present themselves at land borders.

The comments urge the administration to continue thinking through solutions that reduce processing time while not externalizing critical government functions like border processing or using unreliable technologies like facial recognition. The organizations state that they support CBP’s desire to reduce processing times for individuals who present themselves at land borders, but do not support the proposed request due to its lack of clarity and meaningful justification raise significant concerns for the nearly 100,000 individuals who CBP estimates will be impacted by the new process.

The comments detail the following specific concerns: lack of training/information about training, purported voluntariness of submission, externalization of border processing, lack of proof regarding the stated reduction in processing times, concerns regarding efficacy, privacy, and secondary usage, and lack of clarity regarding data retention and use by CBP. 

Help us fight for immigration justice!

The research is clear – immigrants are more likely to win their cases with a lawyer by their side. But very few can get attorneys.

Introducing the Immigration Justice Campaign Access Fund.

Your support sends attorneys, provides interpreters, and delivers justice.

Donate Now

Immigration Justice Campaign is an initiative of American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association. The mission is to increase free legal services for immigrants navigating our complicated immigration system and leverage the voices and experiences of those most directly impacted by our country’s immigration policies to inform legal and advocacy strategies. We bring together a broad network of volunteers who provide legal assistance and advocate for due process for immigrants with a humane approach that includes universal legal representation and other community-based support for individuals during their immigration cases.