Detention

Fact Sheet

The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview

November 29, 2021

The Institutional Hearing Program permits immigration judges to conduct removal proceedings for noncitizens serving criminal sentences in certain correctional facilities.

Fact Sheet

Prosecuting People for Coming to the United States

August 23, 2021

Over the last two decades, the federal government increasingly has utilized the criminal courts to punish people for immigration violations. This overview provides basic information about entry-...

Special Report

Tracking the Biden Agenda on Immigration Enforcement

May 20, 2021

This report analyzes the Biden administration's 100 days progress in reforming immigration enforcement and recommendations for how to best move forward.

Fact Sheet

Community Support for Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

February 26, 2021

This fact sheet draws from original data gathered from hundreds of community-organizations around the country and provides a snapshot of the extent of available services that help migrants navigate...

Special Report

Detaining Families

August 16, 2018

This report presents findings from the first empirical analysis of asylum adjudication in family detention. Drawing on government data from over 18,000 immigration court proceedings initiated between...

Special Report

Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families’ Experiences of Separation

August 31, 2016

This report examines what happens when “family detention” does not actually keep loved ones together and profiles the experiences of five asylum-seeking families who are divided by detention.

Special Report

Detained Beyond the Limit

August 18, 2016

This report reveals that individuals are frequently held for days and sometimes even months in holding cells in Border Patrol sectors along the U.S.’ southwest border.

Special Report

Hieleras (Iceboxes) in the Rio Grande Valley Sector

December 17, 2015

These accounts reveal the dehumanizing conditions to which these women were subjected while in Border Patrol custody.

Special Report

A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers

July 22, 2015

For decades, the U.S. refugee protection system has been a symbol of the nation’s generosity and openness to the world’s persecuted. Yet since Congress’ enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform...

Fact Sheet

Way Too Long: Prolonged Detention in Border Patrol Holding Cells, Government Records Show

June 10, 2015

Each year, the Border Patrol, a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), holds hundreds of thousands of people in detention facilities near the southern border that are...

FOIA

Seeking Records About Possible Due Process Violations of Detainees at the Torrance Detention Facility

These FOIA requests seek records from ICE and EOIR about treatment of Haitian immigrants at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico.

FOIA Litigation

Council Sues to Press for Records About the Treatment of Black Immigrants in Detention

This FOIA suit seeks to compel ICE to release information about conditions, treatment, and outcomes in eight immigration detention facilities in the U.S. South.

Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief Filed with Supreme Court of Michigan in Support of State FOIA Request in Wrongful Detention Case

September 10, 2021

In the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of Michigan, the Council and partners reject Calhoun County's position to withhold records that otherwise would be released under the Michigan state FOIA.

FOIA

Seeking Records About ICE’s Compliance with DHS’s Enforcement Priorities

This FOIA requests effort seeks records on ICE reports about its enforcement activities, whether the people arrested by ICE fit into the DHS’s enforcement priorities, and information about instances when officers pursued enforcement actions against individuals who would not be considered priorities for immigration enforcement.

Amicus Briefs

Demanding ICE Provide Essential Data

August 27, 2021

The Council submitted an amicus brief explaining why ICE should release usable immigration data. The amicus brief was filed in a case where the ACLU is seeking information about how individuals are impacted by ICE enforcement practices.

FOIA Litigation

Council Sues Immigration Agencies for Records of Enforcement Databases

This Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the databases and systems that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies use in immigration enforcement.

Amicus Briefs

Council Files Amicus Brief on the Legality of Prolonged Mandatory Detention

May 27, 2021

The amicus brief in Ayom v. Garland urges the eighth circuit to affirm that mandatory detention has constitutional limits, and reject the endorsement of prolonged mandatory detention for people in removal proceedings.

FOIA

Scrutinizing the Treatment and Conditions Black Immigrants Face in Detention

The Council and Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) are investigating the abuse and mistreatment of Black immigrants in ICE detention facilities located in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

FOIA

Uncovering Immigration Enforcement Agency Databases

The Council filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to unearth the systems that the government uses in immigration enforcement and the data it collects.

Amicus Briefs

Supporting Detained Individual’s Right to Access ICE Detention Records through a State FOIA Request

February 26, 2021

In the amicus brief, the Council and partners reject Calhoun County's position to withhold records that otherwise would be released under the Michigan state FOIA.

Practice Advisories

Introduction to Habeas Corpus

June 1, 2008

This Practice Advisory offers a short introduction to habeas corpus, addressing when and how a petitioner may file a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the immigration context.

Blog

Leaked Photos Reveal Inhumane Conditions in Border Processing Centers

January 14, 2022

New leaked photos of Border Patrol stations in Yuma, Arizona show Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) inhumane treatment of people apprehended at the border— revealing that years of overcrowded...

Blog

Supreme Court Hears Arguments Addressing the Legality of Detention Without Bond

January 12, 2022

Written by Caroline Walters and Kate Melloy Goettel This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two related immigration cases. Each asks whether certain noncitizens are entitled to bond...

Blog

Immigration Detention and Enforcement Are a Mixed Bag in Biden’s First Year

December 17, 2021

Immigration detention and enforcement in the United States under the first year of the Biden administration has been a mixture of improvements and setbacks. The Trump administration implemented...

Blog

Groups Call for Transparency Regarding Abuse and Mistreatment of Black Immigrants in Detention

November 10, 2021

By Tsion Gurmu, Legal Manager and Staff Attorney at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Emily Creighton, Legal Director of Transparency The public watched in horror this September as U.S....

Blog

$1/Day Labor Program for Immigrants in Detention Ruled Unlawful in Washington State

November 3, 2021

In a landmark court decision, Geo Group—one of the largest private prison companies that own and/or manage dozens of immigrant detention centers across the United States—was found to have violated...

Blog

ICE Makes It Impossible for Immigrants in Detention to Contact Lawyers

October 29, 2021

By Emma Winger, Staff Attorney, American Immigration Council, and Eunice Cho, Sr. Staff Attorney, ACLU National Prison Project “Ben G.” is a 35-year-old veterinarian from Nicaragua who fled to the...

Blog

Ninth Circuit Lifts Injunction Protecting People in ICE Detention from COVID-19

October 21, 2021

In a split decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on October 20 lifted a lower court’s protections for medically vulnerable people locked up in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE...

Blog

ICE Fails to Provide Basic Oversight of Solitary Confinement and Unlawfully Destroys Records

October 19, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been known to improperly subject individuals in its custody to solitary confinement and has destroyed solitary confinement records in violation...

Blog

ICE Needs a Consistent System of Discretionary Release from Detention

October 13, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) need to establish clear guidance for when ICE should release someone from detention. So far, the Biden...

Blog

California Law Would Prevent Transfers From Local Law Enforcement to ICE Custody

September 9, 2021

Proposed legislation in California that would further limit the state’s involvement in immigration detention has made progress toward becoming law. The VISION Act would prevent transfers to U.S....

Press Release

Federal Court Orders ICE to End Unlawful Detention of Immigrant Youth Who Turn 18 in Federal Custody

September 22, 2021

A district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that ICE broke the law by detaining unaccompanied children who turned 18 and “aged out” of Office of Refugee Resettlement custody. The court ordered the agency to change its practices and procedures to avoid further unlawful detentions.

Press Release

Federal Judge Blocks ICE Enforcement Guidelines and Attempts to Upend Prosecutorial Discretion

August 19, 2021

A Texas judge blocked the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. The decision was issued in a case challenging ICE’s enforcement activities outside the scope laid out in the Feb. 18 enforcement memo.

Press Release

130+ Groups Release Top Five Immigration Priorities for Biden Administration’s Next Budget

August 17, 2021

As the Biden administration begins crafting next year's budget, 131 organizations published a statement for the Biden administration outlining the top immigration priorities that must be included in the country’s budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

Press Release

Biden Budget Request on Immigration is a Missed Opportunity for Meaningful Change

May 28, 2021

The Biden administration disclosed today a $54.2 billion budget request for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2022. The request is is deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity to set immigration enforcement in the United States on a new path.

Press Release

Facts About the Current Situation at the Border

March 23, 2021

The nation has turned its attention to the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody. Much of the conversation has focused on a supposed surge in arrivals under the Biden administration, but the current increase began well before President Biden took office.

Press Release

Federal Court Finds Conditions in Customs and Border Protection Detention Facilities Unconstitutional

February 19, 2020

A federal court ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to overhaul the way the agency detains people in its custody in the Tucson Sector. The court found that the conditions in CBP holding cells, especially those that preclude sleep over several nights, are presumptively punitive and violate the U.S. Constitution.

Press Release

Trial Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions in Customs and Border Protection's Facilities in Arizona Ends

January 23, 2020

During the course of the trial, a federal judge heard from qualified experts who testified on the inadequate medical care and severe conditions inside CBP detention centers.

Press Release

Increase in Border Prosecutions Will Separate More Families

May 7, 2018

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Thomas Homan announced today that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border—likely resulting in the criminalization of asylum seekers and more family separation.

Press Release

ICE Formalizes Inhumane Detention Policies for Pregnant Women

March 29, 2018

The practice of detaining pregnant women is inhumane and unsafe.

Press Release

ICE Settles Case Challenging Interference with Legal Representation at Dilley

August 16, 2017

The parties in Dilley Pro Bono Project v. ICE have reached a settlement that ensures access to mental health evaluations for certain detained mothers and children seeking asylum.

Blog