Detention

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

COMPLAINT
Complaint Urges Investigation Into Misuse of Solitary Confinement in Colorado Immigration Detention Center

We demand an investigation into ICE's use of solitary confinement to punish and control people detained at the Aurora Detention Center in Colorado.

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FACT SHEET
Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview

The United States can and should implement alternatives to detention that serve to reduce the overall detention population.

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All Detention Content

  • Blog

Giving the Immigration Facts a Fighting Chance

December 14, 2015

As we move through the 2016 presidential election cycle, the issue of immigration will continue to be a central topic of the debate. The United States is at a tipping point after more than two...

  • Blog

Due Process, Enforcement Reform and Family Unification Top Sanders’ Platform

December 2, 2015

Senator Bernie Sanders, a contender for the Democratic nomination for President, recently released his updated and vastly expanded immigration platform. His initial plan was short on detail;...

  • Blog

Transfers of Detained Families Traumatizes Mothers and Children and Interferes with Access to Lawyers

November 24, 2015

The government recently began transferring families who have been held in Texas to the Berks County Family Residential Facility in Pennsylvania. Not only have these sudden transfers traumatized...

  • Blog

Temporary Restraining Order Against Texas Family Detention Centers Issued

November 2, 2015

On Friday, a Texas State Court Judge granted a temporary restraining order in Grassroots Leadership v. hs (TFPS) prohibiting TFPS from issuing licenses to family detention facilities in Dilley and...

  • Blog

Can State Agencies License The Detention of Immigrant Families?

October 28, 2015

In the discussion around family detention, little attention has been paid to the fact that states play an important role in licensing any facilities where children are cared for. That role has...

  • Blog

ICE Detention System Still Lacks Transparency and Accountability, Says Report

October 23, 2015

After 9/11, the immigration detention system in the United States began to expand dramatically, with very little in the way of transparency or accountability as to how the system operated or what...

  • Blog

Immigration Courts Have New Rules Governing Legal Representation Processes

September 24, 2015

Last week, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced changes to the regulations governing legal representation in immigration court and at the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA...

  • Blog

Private Prison Company Expands Immigration Reach with $11 Million Contract

September 23, 2015

Related Content: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced a pilot case management program as an alternative...

  • Blog

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Releases Scathing Report and Calls for End to Family Detention

September 18, 2015

Related Content: Family Detention Resource Page This week, the drumbeat to end family detention got louder when the United States Commission on Civil Rights (the Commission) released a report...

  • Blog

Five Families Released After Prolonged Detention

September 9, 2015

  On Friday evening, just before the Labor Day weekend, the government released five mothers and their five children, ranging in age from three to seventeen years old, from the South Texas...

  • Blog

What Happens When Migrant Children Are Taken Into U.S. Custody?

May 29, 2018

The glut of stories surfacing about family separation and the increasing number of migrant children being taken into U.S. custody is deeply concerning. In the past, children detained in shelters...

  • Blog

Undocumented Parents Trying to Reunite With Their Children May Face Deportation Under New Proposal

May 11, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may soon be checking the immigration status of all potential sponsors of children who arrive unaccompanied at the U.S border, as well as any adult members...

  • Blog

Government to Criminally Prosecute More Migrants and Separate Them From Their Children

May 8, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border. There is much folly in deciding...

  • 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.
  • Blog

Government’s Detention of Pregnant Women Questioned by Immigration Groups

May 3, 2018

The government continues the appalling practice of detaining pregnant women, most of whom are seeking safety and protection in the United States. Following an official policy change by Immigration...

  • Blog

New Border Policies Could Have a Big Impact on Families, Children, and Asylum Seekers

April 10, 2018

Undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increasingly consist of asylum seekers fleeing record levels of violence in Central America. But the Trump administration’s response to this...

  • Blog

Immigration Groups Demand Records Related to Family Separation at the Border

April 5, 2018

To shed light on the cruel and unlawful practice of family separation, a group of immigrant rights organizations filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple government...

  • Blog

Migrant Caravan Making Its Way North to Be Greeted By a Complex Web of Immigration Laws

April 3, 2018

Slowing making their way north through Mexico is a large caravan of migrants searching for safe haven, an opportunity to work, or the chance to reunite with family. Some will remain in Mexico,...

  • 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.
  • Blog

A New Official ICE Policy Calls for the Detention of Pregnant Women

March 30, 2018

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Thursday that it was ending its general practice of releasing pregnant women from immigration jail. Under its new policy, pregnant women will only...

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