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.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last month that it now has hired 326 immigration judges, 53 more judges than July 2016, yet during that time the immigration court backlog has grown. According to new data released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) the reason for this may be due to the fact that […]
Now that we have passed the six-month mile marker of the new administration, the wheels of immigration enforcement have had a chance to settle into their new rhythms. Enforcement targets have expanded, enforcement tools have been sharpened, and enforcement locations have been widened, triggering pervasive fear of deportation and separation among immigrant families. President Trump’s […]
In the first week of his presidency, through executive orders, the president laid out harsh proposals for immigration enforcement and border security. However, much of what the president proposes to do requires generous amounts of taxpayer dollars allocated by Congress. In May, the president submitted a proposed budget which provides record levels of funding for […]
The Trump administration has threatened to expand its use of a fast-track removal process, which could lead to the deportation of thousands of immigrants with valid claims for humanitarian relief or who have family members in the United States. The Washington Post recently reported obtaining a 13-page draft memorandum from the White House which outlines […]
The House of Representatives unveiled their Fiscal Year 2018 budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week, which allocates $1.6 billion to begin construction of a border wall along the entire Southern border with Mexico. However, being provided the funds is not enough to complete the project. To achieve a complete and uninterrupted border […]
A recent story from ProPublica has revealed an internal February 2017 memorandum authored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to its employees about the implementation of recent Executive Orders on immigration enforcement. The memo is stunning in its declaration: “effective immediately, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers will take enforcement action against all removable [immigrants] […]
Thanks to the nation’s dramatically outdated immigration system that values punitive enforcement over family unity, millions of individuals living in the United States suffer as a result of immigration enforcement. For example, an estimated six million U.S. citizen children live with at least one family member who is undocumented, making them vulnerable to a slew […]
Over the past two decades, much of the immigration policy debate has focused on issues related to immigration enforcement. In fact, many argue that “enforcement first”—the notion that we must adequately enforce the laws on the books before considering broader immigration reforms—has de facto become the nation’s singular immigration policy. This preoccupation with enforcement has […]
Since the Trump administration announced its crackdown on undocumented immigrants, stories of individuals abruptly deported have pervaded the news. The accounts of longtime residents who have built families, homes, and businesses only to be deported after years in the United States may seem like outliers, but in fact are now becoming the new normal. Such accounts […]