Interior Enforcement

Recent Features

Why Caution is Needed Before Hiring Additional Border Patrol Agents and ICE Officers

There are serious concerns that rapid expansion will bring about a resurgence of problems in the Border Patrol and also cause similar problems in ICE. 

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FACT SHEET
Expedited Removal Explainer

Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation. 

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All Interior Enforcement Content

  • Fact Sheet

Expedited Removal Explainer

Publication Date: 
February 20, 2025
Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Fact Sheet

The "Mass Influx" Declaration

Publication Date: 
January 27, 2025

In 1996, Congress passed a law giving the federal government the power to declare an emergency relating to a “mass...

  • Special Report

Mass Deportation

Publication Date: 
October 2, 2024
The mass deportation of millions of undocumented individuals would be tremendously expensive and would have a catastrophic impact on our economy—one that would be expansive and impact every American...
  • Fact Sheet

The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

Publication Date: 
August 14, 2024
Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement.
  • 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...
  • Fact Sheet

Understanding the Importance of Humanitarian Parole in the U.S. Immigration System

Publication Date: 
January 12, 2024

Parole is an essential component of U.S. immigration law. It can be an important tool to manage the processing of migrants at U.S. borders; a powerful response to humanitarian crisis; and a way to...

  • Fact Sheet

The Removal System of the United States: An Overview

Publication Date: 
August 9, 2022
This fact sheet provides an explanation on how noncitizens may find themselves facing deportation from the country, how the removal proceeding may look, what types of relief can be sought after a...
  • Fact Sheet

Prosecuting People for Coming to the United States

Publication Date: 
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

Publication Date: 
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

Aggravated Felonies: An Overview

Publication Date: 
March 16, 2021
This fact sheet provides an overview of “aggravated felonies” under federal immigration law and the immigration consequences of being convicted of an “aggravated felony.”
  • Litigation

Challenging Iowa’s State Deportation Law

We’re suing Iowa for a new law that criminalizes anyone who has reentered the state after being deported — including children — even if that person is now authorized to be in the U.S. This is the most extreme anti-immigrant law in the state’s history.
  • FOIA

Ohio, We Have A Problem

  • FOIA

ICE Didn’t Follow Federal Enforcement Priorities Set by Biden Administration

In 2021, the Biden administration issued policy guidance on how ICE should carry out immigration enforcement. This report is a breakdown of how ICE carried out these policies.
  • Amicus Briefs

Demanding ICE Provide Essential Data

Publication Date: 
January 30, 2023
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 to Obtain ICE’s Reports on Enforcement Actions and Removals

This FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel DHS and ICE to disclose the weekly reports ICE was required to produce about their enforcement activities and removals pursuant to the DHS’ January 20 and February 18 memos establishing new immigration enforcement priorities.
  • 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

Publication Date: 
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Practice Advisories

Common Tools of Statutory Construction for Criminal Removal Grounds

Publication Date: 
November 28, 2023
This practice advisory describes some of the common tools of statutory construction to assist practitioners in advocating for narrow definitions of generic criminal removal grounds...
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Overview of the Supreme Court's Decision in Pugin v. Garland

Publication Date: 
August 22, 2023
This practice advisory looks into the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court issued in Pugin v. Garland, 143 S. Ct. 1833 (2023). This immigration decision addressed the generic definition of the obstruction of justice aggravated felony ground at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S).
  • Practice Advisories

Raids Response Materials for Individuals with Final Removal Orders

Publication Date: 
July 11, 2019
These template materials will assist attorneys representing individuals with final removal orders issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: A General Overview

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory provides a general overview of motions to suppress, a tool used to prevent the introduction of evidence obtained by federal immigration officers in violation of the Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and related provisions of federal law.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: Cracking Down on Fourth Amendment Violations

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory discusses some of the legal issues that may arise when noncitizens in removal proceedings move to suppress evidence obtained through constitutional violations by state and local officers seeking to enforce immigration law.
  • Blog

The Chilling Effect of Trump’s Indiscriminate Immigration Arrests & Propaganda

February 14, 2025

As we near the one-month mark of the new Trump administration, it is clear that the president’s thinly veiled threats of imposing mass deportation on “criminal immigrants” are in fact a promise to...

  • Blog

Communities Continue to Stand by Immigrants Amidst Fear, Heightened Enforcement

February 13, 2025

The first few weeks of President Trump’s second term in office have instilled a heightened level of fear, as longtime neighbors, residents, and tightly knit communities have encountered increased...

  • Blog

ICE Makes Sweeping Arrests in Chicago, Endangering City’s Livelihood

January 31, 2025

By Karen Aho and Anna Shepperson Chicago has been bracing for immigration raids since the presidential inauguration, following tips that it would be the first sanctuary city targeted under the...

  • Blog

Trump’s Day 1 Orders Use Fearmongering to Expand His Immigration Authority

January 23, 2025

On January 20, 2025, the day President Trump took office for his second term, he issued a series of immigration-related executive orders and proclamations that will quickly re-shape the U.S....

  • Blog

The Laken Riley Act Would Give States Sweeping Power Over Immigration Policy

January 8, 2025

Want to take action on the Laken Riley Act? The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 29. It will likely go to a vote in the Senate. Contact your senators and urge them to vote...

  • Blog

Mass Deportations Will Undermine Our Safety

December 19, 2024

When the Trump administration deported Goura Ndiaye, he had lived in the United States for 20 years, running his own business as an electrician, working as primary breadwinner for his three U.S....

  • Blog

What Will Mass Deportations Look Like?

December 6, 2024
The incoming administration will move to expand its existing authorities like state and local law enforcement partnerships and expedited removal to scale up the federal government’s ability to arrest and deport more people.
  • Blog

New Report Shows the Devastating Costs of Mass Deportation

October 2, 2024

As politicians debate the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants living in communities across the country, a new report details the devastating costs mass deportations would inflict on the...

  • Blog

Do 287(g) Agreements with ICE Make Communities Safer?

July 18, 2024

Written by Juan Avilez, Policy Associate for State and Local Initiatives and Raul Pinto, Deputy Legal Director  Texas’ SB4 set the tone for the national discourse around immigration enforcement....

  • Blog

Immigrant Workers Help Florida Thrive. Anti-Immigrant Policies Threaten That.

June 26, 2024

In 2022, more than one in five Florida residents were immigrants. In that same year, immigrants in Florida were over 14% more likely than their U.S.-born neighbors to be of working age,...

  • Press Release

NEW REPORT: Gaps in Detention Data from Torrance Detention Facility Show Racial Disparities

October 24, 2024
In a New Mexico detention center, ICE categorized People with African, Asian, and South American backgrounds as racially ‘white’
  • Press Release

New Report Details Catastrophic Impact of Mass Deportation and Family Separation Plans

October 2, 2024
A new report details the catastrophic costs of a potential mass deportation and family separation plan.
  • Press Release

Biden Expands Immigration Protections to Undocumented Spouses and Streamlines Employment-Based Visas for DACA Recipients

June 18, 2024
On June 18, the Biden administration announced policy changes that will provide immigration relief to thousands of deeply-rooted immigrants in the United States.
  • Press Release

Iowa Blocks Hateful Anti-Immigrant Law

June 17, 2024
In a victory for immigrant communities and families, on June 17 a federal district court in Iowa issued a preliminary injunction to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Key Provision of Florida’s Anti-Immigrant SB 1718

May 22, 2024
On May 22, a federal court blocked a section of a draconian anti-immigrant law passed by Govenor Ron DeSantis's government in Florida.
  • 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.
  • Press Release

Transgender and Nonbinary People Describe Discrimination, Harassment, and Mistreatment at Aurora Detention Facility in New Civil Rights Complaint

April 9, 2024
A new civil rights complaint filed on behalf of a group of transgender and non-binary individuals describes the routine abuse they endured at an ICE detention center in Aurora, Colorado.
  • Press Release

Texas SB4 Law Sets Damaging Precedent for Similar Bills that Endanger Immigrant Families

March 19, 2024
SB4 is cruel, inhumane, and clearly unconstitutional.
  • Press Release

Records Shed Light on Border Patrol’s Racial Profiling of Immigrants in Ohio

March 19, 2024
A new report sheds light on Border Patrol's use of racial profiling when targeting Latinos in northern Ohio.
  • Press Release

Groups File Motion in Lawsuit to Block Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law SB 1718

August 8, 2023
Legal organization filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to block Section 10 of Florida’s draconian anti-immigrant law, Senate Bill 1718.
  • Fact Sheet

Expedited Removal Explainer

Publication Date: 
February 20, 2025
Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Blog

The Chilling Effect of Trump’s Indiscriminate Immigration Arrests & Propaganda

February 14, 2025

As we near the one-month mark of the new Trump administration, it is clear that the president’s thinly veiled threats of imposing mass deportation on “criminal immigrants” are in fact a promise to...

  • Blog

Communities Continue to Stand by Immigrants Amidst Fear, Heightened Enforcement

February 13, 2025

The first few weeks of President Trump’s second term in office have instilled a heightened level of fear, as longtime neighbors, residents, and tightly knit communities have encountered increased...

  • Blog

ICE Makes Sweeping Arrests in Chicago, Endangering City’s Livelihood

January 31, 2025

By Karen Aho and Anna Shepperson Chicago has been bracing for immigration raids since the presidential inauguration, following tips that it would be the first sanctuary city targeted under the...

  • Fact Sheet

The "Mass Influx" Declaration

Publication Date: 
January 27, 2025

In 1996, Congress passed a law giving the federal government the power to declare an emergency relating to a “mass...

  • Blog

Trump’s Day 1 Orders Use Fearmongering to Expand His Immigration Authority

January 23, 2025

On January 20, 2025, the day President Trump took office for his second term, he issued a series of immigration-related executive orders and proclamations that will quickly re-shape the U.S....

  • Blog

The Laken Riley Act Would Give States Sweeping Power Over Immigration Policy

January 8, 2025

Want to take action on the Laken Riley Act? The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 29. It will likely go to a vote in the Senate. Contact your senators and urge them to vote...

  • Blog

Mass Deportations Will Undermine Our Safety

December 19, 2024

When the Trump administration deported Goura Ndiaye, he had lived in the United States for 20 years, running his own business as an electrician, working as primary breadwinner for his three U.S....

  • Advocacy

Testifying on the Catastrophic Economic and Humane Costs of Mass Deportations

Publication Date: 
December 10, 2024
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to address the catastrophic economic and humane costs of mass deportations.
  • Blog

What Will Mass Deportations Look Like?

December 6, 2024
The incoming administration will move to expand its existing authorities like state and local law enforcement partnerships and expedited removal to scale up the federal government’s ability to arrest and deport more people.

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