Abuses

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.

Recent Features

No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse

One of the most revealing findings of this report concerns the prevailing lack of action taken by CBP officials in response to the complaints received.

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All Abuses Content

  • Amicus Briefs

Stopping the Destruction of ICE's Records on Abuse and Mistreatment of People in Detention

Publication Date: 
August 7, 2020
In the amicus brief, the Council and partners documented the reliance on these records by researchers and advocates to monitor and expose troubling practices.
  • FOIA

Demanding Records on CBP’s Deployment to U.S. Cities During Racial Justice Protests

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demands records regarding all CBP deployments to U.S. cities during the protests of George Floyd's death.
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, & Accountability "Hearing on Oversight of ICE Detention Facilities: Is DHS Doing Enough?"

September 25, 2019
This statement shares our knowledge about these problems and inform the Subcommittee of these systemic human rights and due process violations. We hope that our perspective provides insight context for this important hearing.
  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Seeks Information Regarding CBP Responses to Complaints of Officer Abuse

This lawsuit seeks to compel U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to release records relating to CBP’s complaint process and actions taken in response to complaints made to CBP concerning its agents and officers since January 1, 2012.
  • FOIA

Family Separation FOIA Request

The requests ask for policies, guidelines, or procedures followed or used by the governmental agencies to address the processing and treatment of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and specifically, the separation of adult family members from minor children and the criminal prosecution of adult family members.
  • Litigation

Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions in CBP Detention Facilities

The class-action lawsuit complaint alleges that Tucson Sector Border Patrol holds men, women, and children in freezing, overcrowded, and filthy cells for days at a time in violation of the U.S. Constitution and CBP’s own policies.
  • Amicus Briefs

Avalos-Palma v. United States - District Court for the District of New Jersey

Publication Date: 
January 21, 2014
The American Immigration Council and National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) are seeking to preserve federal court review of damages actions brought by noncitizens for abuse of authority by immigration agents.
  • FOIA

Border Patrol Involvement in Translation and 911 Dispatch Activities FOIA

Advocates in states along the northern border of the United States have reported that Border Patrol agents frequently “assist” other law enforcement agencies by serving...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Fights to Keep Private Immigration Jails Open, Despite Promises

September 8, 2023

“There should be no private prisons, period, none, period. And we are working to close all of them.” Those are the words of President Joe Biden in April 2021, when he was called out by immigrant...

  • Blog

Biden Keeps Ties with Billion-Dollar Business of Immigration Detention, Despite Reports of Serious Abuse

August 17, 2023

On Thanksgiving Day 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Kamyar Samimi—a lawful permanent resident with a decade-old conviction for drug possession—and sent him...

  • Blog

Stays in CBP Custody Are Getting Longer Due to ‘Phone Booth Asylum’ Policy

July 21, 2023

“I never thought I’d say there’s anything worse than ICE custody, but this is it.” That’s an immigration attorney in San Diego talking to CNN about the shelter facilities run by U.S. Customs and...

  • Blog

New Complaint Shows ICE’s Use of Solitary Confinement Is Excessive

July 14, 2023

“If I spoke too loudly, solitary. If I climbed on top of a table to get a guard’s attention, solitary. If I had suicidal thoughts, solitary. When the guards would tease me about being deported...

  • Blog

Internal Investigation Shows Appalling Carelessness from Border Patrol Led to Death of 8-Year-Old

June 9, 2023

An internal investigation into the death of a medically vulnerable eight-year-old girl after over a week in Border Patrol custody continues to reveal shocking negligence on the part of medical...

  • Blog

Texas’ Proposed ‘Border Protection Unit’ Doubles Down on Failed Deterrence Policies

April 21, 2023

With all eyes on the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the end of Title 42 on May 11, Texas lawmakers are pushing to increase the state’s role in enforcing federal immigration laws—despite Supreme Court...

  • Blog

The Border Patrol’s Inhumanity Has Reached New Heights

April 20, 2023

A family with a baby, waiting outside in the cold overnight. A pregnant woman, enduring the elements for multiple days. An Afghan who worked for the U.S. Army as a translator, hoping for food and...

  • Blog

A Closer Look at Deaths in ICE Detention Facilities

April 13, 2023

On April 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the death of 61 year-old Salvador Vargas at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA which occurred on April 4. Deaths in ICE...

  • Blog

Biden Wants to End Exploitation of Migrant Children, But His New Asylum Policy Could Make It Worse

February 27, 2023

The New York Times has published a horrifying investigation into the exploitation of children who migrated to the United States as unaccompanied minors. The investigation by Hannah Dreier finds...

  • Blog

ICE Fails to Justify Solitary Confinement Placements and Identify Vulnerable Populations

November 8, 2022

Solitary confinement is widely criticized as a cruel and unnecessary practice. It’s largely unsupported by the public as a disciplinary measure and badly in need of reform. On October 26, the...

  • Press Release

Court Orders Release of Some Evidence of Arizona Border Patrol Detention Facilities

June 27, 2016
A federal district court unsealed some of the photographs central to ongoing litigation challenging deplorable and unconstitutional conditions in Border Patrol detention facilities in the agency’s Tucson Sector. The court also allowed the Arizona Republic newspaper to intervene in the case to argue for the release of the documents.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Shed Light on Customs and Border Protection's Complaint Process

June 6, 2016

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Customs and Border Protection Releases Long-Awaited Review and Use-of-Force Policy

May 30, 2016

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

National Wave of Complaints Highlights Rampant Abuse by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Dire Need for Reform

March 13, 2016

Washington, D.C. – Over the past week, an alliance of immigration groups, private attorneys and a law school clinic joined forces in filing complaints targeting abuses by U.S.

  • Press Release

HoldCBPAccountable.org Launched to Expose Border-Related Abuse and Litigation

March 26, 2014

An alliance of immigration advocacy groups announces the launch of HoldCBPAccountable.org, a website that catalogues lawsuits and admini

  • Press Release

Mocking Humane Immigration Detention Standards

March 28, 2012

Washington D.C. - Today, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on new immigration detention standards recently issued by Immigration a

  • Press Release

DOJ Report Slams Sherriff Joe Arpaio and DHS Restricts 287(g) and Secure Communities Programs

December 15, 2011

Washington D.C. - After a three-year investigation into the abusive practices of Sherriff Joe Arpaio’s Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office (MCSO), t

  • Press Release

Legal Organizations Sue ICE for Illegally Preventing Attorneys from Communicating with Detained Immigrants in Four States

October 13, 2022
Several legal services organizations filed a lawsuit today against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for unlawfully preventing attorneys from communicating with immigrants detained in four detention facilities in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Arizona.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues To Get Records of ICE’s Treatment of Haitian Nationals at the Torrance Detention Facility

This FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide information about the agency’s treatment of Haitian nationals detained at the Torrance Detention Facility.
  • Letters

Letter to Secretary Mayorkas Urging Protections for Victims of San Antonio Tragedy

Last modified: 
June 30, 2022
Publication Date: 
June 30, 2022
The American Immigration Council and 102 other organizations urge the Department of Homeland Security paroled into the United States and give assistance in applying for protection to survivors of the...
  • Blog

Border Patrol’s 100th Anniversary Offers Chance to Look Back at Its Disturbing Origins

June 7, 2024

The U.S. Border Patrol turned 100 years old on May 28. Its troubled origins and history form the backdrop for contemporary concerns about the agency, including impunity for abuses against migrants...

  • Blog

Borderland: The Line Within Takes Viewers Through CBP’s Raid on a Humanitarian Aid Camp

May 31, 2024

Borderland: The Line Within, a documentary directed by Pamela Yates and produced by Skylight Pictures, made its theatrical debut on May 3. Borderland takes viewers through a gripping narrative of...

  • Blog

Volunteers Needed for Credible Fear Interview Preparation in CBP Hotline

May 3, 2024

When someone crosses the border to seek asylum in the United States, they often first go through a credible fear interview (CFI). An asylum officer evaluates a person’s fear of returning to their...

  • Blog

Despite Progress, the Tragedy of Family Separation Can Never Be Undone

March 13, 2024

Six years ago, a man came to the U.S./Mexico border with his five-year-old daughter, looking for safety in the United States.   At home, a rival political faction had been making death threats...

  • Blog

Showdown Between Texas Authorities and the Federal Government Headed to the Supreme Court

March 8, 2024

By Kate Melloy Goettel and Juan Avilez  A Texas law that allows local law enforcement to arrest migrants, state court judges to issue removal orders, and state officials to remove migrants to...

  • Blog

The State of Texas Isn’t Just Creating Chaos and Cruelty at the Border—It’s Trying to Break the Things That Work

March 1, 2024

For decades, the Catholic nonprofit Annunciation House has worked to support migrants in El Paso, Texas. It’s provided shelter, food and services to countless people who have just arrived in the...

  • Blog

ICE Subjected Immigrants in Detention to Unnecessary Surgeries, Report Finds

February 2, 2024

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (OIG) published a report last month finding that nearly one-third of medical procedures performed on immigrants in U.S...

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