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

  • Special Report

Discrediting “Self Deportation” as Immigration Policy

Publication Date: 
February 6, 2012
By Michele Waslin The day that Alabama’s draconian anti-immigrant law...
  • Special Report

The Secure Communities Program: Unanswered Questions and Continuing Concerns

Publication Date: 
November 29, 2011
This paper describes the Secure Communities program, identifies concerns about the program’s design and implementation, and makes recommendations for the future of the program.
  • Special Report

Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction Provisions in Alabama's Immigration Law Make Life Harder

Publication Date: 
November 1, 2011
Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction...
  • Special Report

The Morton Memo and Prosecutorial Discretion: An Overview

Publication Date: 
July 20, 2011
On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued two significant memoranda on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration matters. Prosecutorial...
  • Fact Sheet

Mandatory E-Verify without Legalization Would Hamper Economic Recovery and Cost U.S. Workers Jobs

Publication Date: 
February 10, 2011
Since 1986, controlling illegal immigration by regulating who is entitled to work in the United States has been a key component of U.S. immigration policy. The ritual of showing proof of one’s...
  • Research and Analysis

Deeper into the Shadows

Publication Date: 
February 9, 2011
Before the onset of the Great Recession, immigrant labor was cited as a boom to the U.S. economy. In towns and cities across the country, immigrant labor—documented or otherwise—filled positions in...
  • Special Report

After the Raid is Over: Marshalltown, Iowa and the Consequences of Worksite Enforcement Raids

Publication Date: 
January 25, 2011
For many years, large-scale worksite raids constituted a major element of federal immigration enforcement. While the large-scale and well-publicized worksite raids have tapered, immigration...
  • Fact Sheet

A Framework for Effective Immigration Worksite Employer Enforcement

Publication Date: 
January 5, 2011
Immigration enforcement is an extremely important national priority. Effective control of our nation’s borders is essential to our national security. The regulation and control of those who enter...
  • Special Report

Reading the Morton Memo: Federal Priorities and Prosecutorial Discretion

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2010
On June 30, 2010, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, issued a memo to the agency that reflected the Obama administration’s oft repeated intent...
  • Research and Analysis

Non-Citizens with Mental Disabilities

Publication Date: 
November 23, 2010
In 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained approximately 380,000 people...
  • Blog

DHS Issues New Memo Restricting Enforcement Activities in ‘Protected Areas’

October 28, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued “Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas”—a new memo that provides a framework for when and where DHS law enforcement...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Halts Mass Worksite Raids By ICE

October 13, 2021

The Biden administration just took a significant step toward reining in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a...

  • Blog

New Enforcement Priorities Show Some Improvement, Maintain Old Framework

October 1, 2021

On September 30, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued the long-awaited new set of enforcement priorities, entitled “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil...

  • Blog

Court Allows ICE to Use Enforcement Priorities Set by the Biden Administration

September 16, 2021

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday stayed a significant part of an earlier decision by the Northern District of Texas that would have blocked the implementation of the Biden...

  • Blog

TX Court Issues Stunning Order: US Government Can’t Set Priorities for Immigration Enforcement

August 20, 2021

Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas on August 19 blocked a set of enforcement priorities the Biden administration had issued in January and February 2021 in an attempt to focus...

  • Blog

ICE Announces New Victim-Centered Policy, Showing a Favorable Shift Toward Vulnerable Immigrants

August 13, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced this week a new policy designed to honor and protect vulnerable immigrants. The new policy addresses protections for survivors of violence...

  • Blog

ICE May Have Deported as Many as 70 US Citizens In the Last Five Years

July 30, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) keeps making an inexcusable error: it has been deporting U.S. citizens by mistake. 70 potential U.S. citizens were deported between 2015 and 2020, a...

  • Blog

Who Is Ed Gonzalez? Biden’s ICE Nominee Signals Few Changes for the Agency

July 15, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may soon have its first Senate-confirmed leader in nearly five years. On July 15, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee...

  • Blog

Biden’s Unfulfilled Promise to End 287(g) Agreements with Local Law Enforcement

June 24, 2021

During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to end all 287(g) agreements made by the Trump administration. More than 150 days into his presidency, the promise remains unfulfilled. The 287(g...

  • Blog

Biden’s Actions on Immigration Enforcement Have Been Inconsistent Since Taking Office

May 20, 2021

The Biden administration inherited an immigration enforcement system devoted to detaining and deporting as many people as possible. During the Trump years, every undocumented immigrant in the...

  • Press Release

Second Circuit Narrowly Interprets Aggravated Felony Bar Under INA § 212(h)

January 27, 2015

Washington, D.C.—Recently, the U.S.

  • Press Release

Groups Ask Court to Block Deportation Hearings for Children Without Legal Representation

August 1, 2014

Washington D.C. – The American Immigration Council, American Civil Liberties Union, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public

  • Press Release

Groups Sue Federal Government over Failure to Provide Legal Representation for Children

July 9, 2014
The American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public Counsel, and K&L Gates LLP today filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of children who are challenging the federal government's failure to provide them with legal representation as it carries out deportation hearings against them.
  • Press Release

Understanding ICE’s Release of Immigrants with Criminal Convictions

May 15, 2014

Washington D.C. - Understanding the complexities of immigration law and its intersection with criminal law is not easy.

  • Press Release

New Report from Center for Immigration Studies on Deportation Data Misleads and Misinforms

March 31, 2014

Washington D.C. – Today the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a new report that makes a range of false claims about deportation data.

  • Press Release

ICE Agrees to Release Thousands of Previously-Withheld Records

August 2, 2013

Washington, DC – Yesterday, a U.S.

  • 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.

  • Press Release

The American Immigration Council Welcomes Customs and Border Protection’s New Guidance on Interpretation

December 14, 2012

Washington D.C. - The American Immigration Council (AIC) welcomes U.S.

  • Press Release

Advocates File Suit Against DHS for Refusal to Disclose Records on Enforcement Program

March 12, 2012

Washington D.C. - Last week, an alliance of national immigration advocacy organizations filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeking to co

  • Press Release

DHS Issues Awaited Guidance on Prioritizing Deportations, Law Enforcement Letter Praises Approach

November 17, 2011

Washington D.C. - Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Principal Legal Advisor directed all ICE attorneys to begin a systematic review of immigration

  • 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.
  • 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...

  • 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.
  • 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...
  • Blog

Border Patrol and Ohio Law Enforcement Engage in Racial Profiling in Northern Ohio, New Report Finds

March 27, 2024

By Gwen Short, Staff Attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality and Raul Pinto, Deputy Director of Transparency at the American Immigration Council ABLE and the American Immigration Council...

  • 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.
  • FOIA

Ohio, We Have A Problem

  • 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.
  • Blog

Showdown Between Texas Authorities and the Federal Government Headed to the Supreme Court

March 8, 2024

By Kate Melloy Goettel and Juan Avilez  A Texas law that allows local law enforcement to arrest migrants, state court judges to issue removal orders, and state officials to remove migrants to...

  • Blog

ICE Will Be Required to Wear Body Cameras in a Win for Transparency—But the Implementation Will Be Key

January 19, 2024

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a policy on January 12 calling for ICE personnel to wear body cameras in most situations when carrying out enforcement duties. According to...

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