Humanitarian Protection

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.

All Humanitarian Protection Content

  • Fact Sheet

Granting Refuge: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the United States

Publication Date: 
January 22, 2010
Following the devastating earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on January 15...
  • Research and Analysis

Hidden Victims Evaluating Protections for Undocumented Victims of Human Trafficking

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2005
In the United States, human traffickers most frequently exploit the desperation of undocumented immigrants as a means of obtaining victims. Until recently, their lack of legal status precluded...
  • Fact Sheet

From Refugees to Americans: Thirty Years of Vietnamese Immigration to the United States

Publication Date: 
June 1, 2005
Thirty years after the fall of the Saigon government, Vietnamese Americans celebrate the fact that they have moved far beyond their refugee origins and become successful economic and political...
  • Fact Sheet

Asylum Essentials:The U.S. Asylum Program Needs More Resources, Not Restrictions

Publication Date: 
February 1, 2005
The efficiency of the asylum program depends in large part on a fully staffed and adequately funded Asylum Corps that evaluates asylum claims thoroughly and expeditiously.
  • Research and Analysis

Ending Slavery in the 21st Century: Federal Anti-Trafficking Programs Have Far to Go

Publication Date: 
June 1, 2004
Although the federal government has made significant progress over the past three years in fighting human trafficking, more is needed to end this 21st century slave trade.
  • Litigation

Challenging Obstacles to Meeting The One Year Filing Deadline for Filing An Asylum Application

This lawsuit challenged obstacles faced by asylum-seekers in satisfying the statutory requirement that they apply for asylum within one year of entering the United States.
  • Blog

Finding a Pro Bono Immigration Attorney Is Harder Than Ever

May 19, 2023

If you are an asylum seeker in the United States who cannot afford an attorney, your chance of finding pro bono assistance is now slimmer than ever. As the number of cases in immigration court has...

  • Blog

How To Seek Asylum (Under Biden’s Asylum Transit Ban), In 15 Not-At-All-Easy Steps

May 11, 2023

Back in February, when the Biden administration proposed a new regulation that would essentially restrict the vast majority of border crossers from qualifying for asylum, we broke it down with a...

  • Blog

GOP’s Extreme Border Bill Rejects Solutions and Embraces Ending Asylum

April 19, 2023

On Monday, April 17, the House GOP introduced its first comprehensive border bill of the 118th Congress. The bill comes after months of disagreement within the caucus surrounding legislative...

  • Blog

Biden’s Reviving Phone-Booth Asylum. Here’s Why It Was a Disaster

April 10, 2023

The Biden administration is yet again turning to the Trump playbook as it tries to slap together a border crackdown to succeed the end of the Title 42 “public health” order next month. The latest...

  • Blog

A Groundswell of Opposition to Biden’s Asylum Transit Ban

April 6, 2023

The public has spoken: an asylum transit ban was bad policy during the Trump era, and it’s bad policy now. On February 21, the Biden administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking laying...

  • Blog

Deadly Detention Center Fire Is a Reminder: Both the US and Mexico Are Failing Migrants

March 29, 2023

On Monday night, 39 migrants died, and another 27 were seriously injured, in a fire in a Mexican detention center in Ciudad Juarez. The migrants—most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras...

  • Blog

US and Canada Expand Safe Third Country Agreement in Another Move to Limit Asylum

March 29, 2023

The United States and Canada announced the expansion of their Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) last week during President Biden’s visit to Canada. Under U.S. law, a so-called “Safe Third...

  • Blog

Ukrainians Get a Temporary Reprieve Instead of a Permanent Fix

March 15, 2023

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would grant another year of temporary legal status for some Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion for the United States before April 25,...

  • Blog

CBP One Is Riddled With Flaws That Make the App Inaccessible to Many Asylum Seekers  

February 28, 2023

In January and February of this year, the Biden administration announced new policies to process individuals seeking asylum at ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. A key component of these...

  • 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...

  • Press Release

Returning to Our Humanitarian Obligations, AG Garland Restores Protections for Many Asylum Seekers

June 16, 2021
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced today that he is restoring a vital lifeline to victims of severe domestic violence, gang violence, and violence on account of family relationships.
  • 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

Immigrant Rights Advocates Ask Court to Block Trump Administration Attempt to Thwart Court Order

January 7, 2021
Immigrant rights advocates moved for a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s latest attempt to circumvent an earlier court order prohibiting the government from applying an asylum ban to people whom U.S. Customs and Border Protection had previously turned away from ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border.
  • 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

Safe Third Country Agreements with Central American Countries Eviscerate America’s Asylum System

November 20, 2019
The Trump administration published a new rule that seeks to implement safe third country agreements that the United States entered into with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—and bar many individuals seeking protection in the United States from being able to apply for asylum.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Demands Information on the Expansion of CBP’s Role in the Screening of Asylum Seekers

October 2, 2019
The American Immigration Council and Tahirih Justice Center filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court to compel the government to release records about the Trump administration’s troubling new practice of allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to screen individuals seeking asylum in the United States. The lawsuit seeks these documents to shed light on changes to the asylum screening process, CBP’s role in conducting interviews and making determinations regarding an asylum seeker’s “credible fear” of persecution, and the measures taken by CBP, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Homeland Security to implement this new practice.
  • 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 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.
  • Press Release

Statement on Executive Order on Refugees and Muslim Admissions

January 27, 2017
These actions will isolate America and make us all party to blatant and bigoted religious targeting. These actions also ignore the multi-layered processes the government already uses to screen and vet those seeking entry to the U.S., whether as a refugee, on a tourist visa, or another visa permitting entry.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Grants Nationwide Class Status in Suit to Protect Asylum Seekers

January 12, 2017
A federal court in Seattle has granted nationwide class action status to a case seeking to protect the rights of thousands of asylum seekers pursuing protection from persecution in their home countries.
  • Blog

Biden Proposes Rule to Quickly Remove Certain Migrants During Initial Screening Process at the Border

May 13, 2024

On May 9, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would allow asylum officers to consider and impose certain restrictions or “bars” to the initial asylum screening process at the border....

  • Fact Sheet

The Biden Administration’s Proposed Regulation On Asylum Bars: An Analysis

Publication Date: 
May 10, 2024
On May 9, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published here, that would allow asylum officers to reject a subset of asylum seekers earlier in the...
  • Press Release

Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuit to Block Iowa's Unconstitutional SF 2340

May 9, 2024
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit today to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • 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...

  • FOIA

Seeking Data from the Department of State on the Cities Where Refugees Have Resettled

The Department of State used to provide data on refugee resettlement at a city level until 2018. Unfortunately, the absence of such data has caused difficulties for local communities who want to help and welcome refugees. To address this issue, the Council requested the Department of State to share this information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on April 25.
  • Blog

The Federal Government Is Cutting Aid for Migrant Shelters and Services. What Will States Do Now?

April 9, 2024

After months of contentious debate and near government shutdowns, Congress approved appropriations for fiscal year 2024, which President Biden quickly signed into law. The spending package...

  • Fact Sheet

The Use of Parole Under Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
April 8, 2024
Parole under immigration law is very different than in the criminal justice context. In the immigration context, parole facilitates certain individuals’ entry into and permission to temporarily...
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Padilla v. ICE and Delays in Credible Fear Interviews

Publication Date: 
March 22, 2024
The practice alert explains the scope of a class settlement agreement in Padilla v. ICE that provides protections for detained asylum seekers who face prolonged delays before receiving their credible fear interviews.
  • Advocacy

Testifying on the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement “Presidential Power to Secure the Border”

Publication Date: 
March 7, 2024
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to discuss the need for Congress to overhaul the asylum system.
  • 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...

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