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.

New U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines on Immigration Are a Mixed Bag

Earlier this month, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) voted to change the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which in some cases will lead to increased sentences for those convicted of “Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States” or “Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien.” However, the USSC did not adopt all of their initially proposed […]

Two People Died in Immigration Detention This Week

For more than a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been criticized for the inadequate medical care available in its detention facilities, which has had deadly repercussions. This week, two more people died while in ICE custody—Jose Leonardo Lemus Rajo, 23, of El Salvador and Igor Zyazin, 46, of Russia. Rajo, who was in […]

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Deterrence Strategy Targeting Central American Asylum Seekers Comes at a High Human Cost

The Obama Administration has recently announced plans to double down on its strategy of rounding up and deporting Central American asylum seekers to some of the most dangerous countries in the world. This is part of the Administration’s deterrence strategy, which is specifically designed to curtail the flow of asylum-seeking women and children migrating from […]

Latest Flores Filing Highlights Stories of Children and Mothers Unlawfully Detained by Obama Administration

This week, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL) asked a federal judge to order the government to comply with the Flores settlement and appoint an independent monitor to oversee the Obama Administration’s ongoing family detention policy. Flores is a nationwide settlement reached in 1997, under which the government agreed that children taken into immigration custody […]

What the Senate Proposed on Immigration in the Department of Homeland Security Budget

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee unveiled and unanimously passed out of Committee their budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which begins on October 1, 2016. The House of Representatives is yet to introduce their version of the appropriations bill. While the Senate has proposed to fund some […]

Detention of Transgender Immigrants Expanding with Texas Facility

The massive immigrant detention industry is still growing. According to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the government is adding to its existing 637 facilities by opening a new privately-run detention center in Texas later this year. The 700-bed facility, which will be operated by the private prison corporation Emerald Correctional Management, includes a […]

This Lawsuit Seeks to Determine Whether Customs and Border Protection Has Improved Its Complaint System

Two years ago, the American Immigration Council released an analysis of data it had obtained from the Department of Homeland Security detailing an utter lack of responsiveness to complaints filed against agents employed by United States Border Patrol. In fact, the report, No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse […]

Amicus Arguments at the Ninth Circuit: The Flores Settlement Applies to All Children

Since the summer of 2014, the government has detained thousands of mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. Although the longstanding Flores settlement guarantees minimum standards for the detention, release, and treatment of children in immigration detention, the Government’s family detention practices have failed to comply with the settlement. Plaintiffs brought suit to enforce […]