Detention

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

  • Advocacy

Response to DHS's request for comments in connection with a review of existing regulations (submitted April 13, 2011)

Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Under Executive Order 13563, 76 Fed. Reg. 13526 (Mar. 14, 2011)
  • Advocacy

Comments on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Draft Detainer Policy

Recommendations that DHS promulgate new regulations that ensure more effective oversight over the issuance of detainers and better protection for those subject to detainers.

  • Blog

DHS Watchdog Recommends Immediate Action to Address Horrific Conditions in ICE Detention

March 22, 2022

In an unprecedented move, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) watchdog agency—the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)—just recommended that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE...

  • Blog

COVID-19 Rates in ICE Detention Are at Record Highs. Advocates Are Demanding an Investigation.

February 14, 2022

The Omicron variant has spread through immigration detention like wildfire, with a record 14% of people in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody testing positive for COVID-19 as...

  • 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...

  • Press Release

Department of Justice's Shameful Attempt to Pretty up Family Detention Comes up Woefully Short

August 27, 2015

Washington, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council) are outraged by the U.S.

  • Press Release

Court Orders Prompt Release of Immigrant Children from Family Detention

August 24, 2015

Washington, D.C. - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council) welcome a decision released Friday evening by U.S.

  • Press Release

Deplorable Medical Treatment at Family Detention Centers

July 30, 2015
Ten mothers came forward to lodge formal complaints about the substandard medical care they and their children received while detained by the Department of Homeland of Security.
  • Press Release

Incarcerated Children and Mothers Denied Due Process and Critical Information Before Release

July 27, 2015

Washington, D.C. – Today, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the American Immigration Council, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), and the Ameri

  • Press Release

Vaccine Overdose to Detained Children Another Sign that Family Detention Must End

July 4, 2015

Washington D.C. - This weekend, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council) learned that, recently, medical personnel at the detention

  • Press Release

United States Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Alleging Wrongful Deportation

July 2, 2015
  • Press Release

Immigrants Held for Days in Freezing, Unsanitary Cells File Class-Action Lawsuit

June 10, 2015

Washington D.C. — Tucson Sector Border Patrol holds men, women, and children in freezing, overcrowded, and filthy cells for extended periods of time in violation of the U.S.

  • Press Release

Immigrants’ Rights Groups to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to Detained Families in Texas

March 31, 2015

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Department of Homeland Security Doubles Down on Family Detention

November 18, 2014

Washington D.C. - Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to close the detention facility in Artesia, New Mexico, where it detains mothers and children.

  • Press Release

Bringing Fairness to the Immigration Justice System

May 15, 2013

Washington D.C. - Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues mark-up of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

  • 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...

  • Advocacy

The Council and AILA submit comment on DHS rule allowing electronic service of cash bond notices

Publication Date: 
September 7, 2023
The Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association comment on DHS's Interim Final Rule on its plan to electronically serve bond-related notifications to obligors to release immigration...
  • 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...

  • FOIA Litigation

Council, ACLU Sue DHS and ICE To Obtain Plans for $10 Million Meant to Improve Legal Access in Detention

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeks information on a $10 million appropriation made to improve legal access in detention.
  • 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...

  • Research and Analysis

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

Publication Date: 
July 13, 2023
The American Immigration Council and partners filed an administrative complaint with the with the Department of Homeland Security's oversight bodies urging immediate investigation into the misuse of...
  • Research and Analysis

Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview

Publication Date: 
July 11, 2023
This fact sheet provides an overview of the wide range of programs that provide alternatives to detention (ATDs) and run the gamut from no governmental intervention to extensive surveillance and...
  • Blog

Florida Wants All New Migrants Arriving at the Border Locked Up. The Courts are Helping.

June 15, 2023

Florida officials think the federal government must detain everyone – or virtually everyone – who arrives at the U.S.-Mexico border without a visa. And it is using the courts to try to make that...

  • 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...

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