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.

Prosecutions from Workplace Immigration Raids Overwhelm Mississippi Legal System

The consequences of record-breaking workplace immigration raids are still overwhelming the legal system in southern Mississippi. After the Trump administration repeatedly threatened mass raids last summer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entered seven Mississippi food processing plants in August, detaining 687 workers. In the following days, about half of those detained were released on […]

What Is Happening with Trump’s Border Wall? Here’s Everything You Need to Know So Far

President Trump has made the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border a cornerstone of his presidency. To date, not a single mile of new barriers has been erected. But the Trump administration continues to aggressively pursue new avenues to fund this project outside of the traditional federal appropriations process, including the president’s declaration […]

California Bans Private Prisons, Eliminating Immigration Detention Centers That Incarcerate 4,000 People

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that will phase out private prisons—including federal immigration detention centers—throughout the state. The new law, AB 32, prohibits the state government and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from creating, modifying, or renewing prison contracts with private companies beginning on January 1, 2020. The […]

Judge Grants Class-Action Status to Thousands of Immigrants Waiting for Access to Their Immigration Records

A federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys claiming that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have a systemic pattern and practice of failing to provide access to immigration case records within deadlines set by the Freedom of Information Act. The case records, known as A-files, contain information about individuals’ immigration history in the United States. This is the first time a court has certified a class in a lawsuit alleging a pattern and practice of violating FOIA

Pennsylvania Should Widen Access to Justice for People in Immigration Detention

People in immigration detention who are represented by an attorney are more likely to receive a positive outcome in immigration court than those that face judges alone. Unfortunately, people who arrive in the U.S. from other countries are not guaranteed representation even though having one can be the difference between being allowed to stay or […]

Federal Court Blocks Error-Prone ICE Deportation Program

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested millions of people based on unreliable electronic databases. In a recent court decision with nationwide impact, a federal judge in California ruled that parts of this mass deportation program—called Secure Communities—are unconstitutional. Through Secure Communities, anyone arrested and fingerprinted for any reason has their fingerprints sent to […]

CBP Officers Take on Role of Asylum Officers – This Lawsuit Demands to Know Why

Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—a law enforcement agency with a history of misconduct and abuse—are reportedly conducting screenings of asylum seekers pursuing protection in the United States. A new lawsuit aims to find out more about this secretive practice. For decades, these screenings—called credible fear interviews (CFI)—have been under the jurisdiction of […]

Cameroonian’s Death in ICE Custody Underscores Problems with Immigration Detention

Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old man who had recently fled war-torn Cameroon, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Tuesday. His passing—the first of the new fiscal year that began on October 1—follows a string of tragic and unnecessary deaths in ICE detention that illustrate just how poorly the agency operates its facilities. […]

Federal Judge Says DHS Must Keep Its Promise to Protect Children in Immigration Detention

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to significantly undo the Flores Settlement Agreement, which mandates certain protections for children held in immigration detention. The changes to the settlement would have allowed the administration to hold immigrant children and their parents indefinitely in jail-like settings. Federal Judge Dolly Gee repeated that the […]