Enforcement

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

All Enforcement Content

March 9, 2017

This week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expected to issue a formal solicitation notice seeking ideas on how to design and build various types of wall structures along the Southwest...

March 2, 2017

State by state “sanctuary” policies have received significant attention lately. Hundreds of communities across the nation have passed some version of a sanctuary policy and in doing so have made...

March 1, 2017

This week, President Trump gave an address to a joint session of Congress where he continued his divisive, inaccurate rhetoric on immigration.  Some analysts have said Trump moderated his tone in...

February 27, 2017

The executive orders on immigration enforcement, both along the border and in the interior of the U.S., call for a significant increase in immigration detention. This means more noncitizens in...

February 24, 2017

Following the release of President Trump’s immigration enforcement executive orders and implementation memos, and the recent arrest of a transgender domestic violence victim at a courthouse in El...

February 23, 2017

The Trump administration ensured this week that its immigration enforcement policies will be a chaotic affair marked by mistakes, civil rights violations and overzealous enforcement. They did this...

February 22, 2017

Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the federal agency which includes the Border Patrol—are rarely held accountable for their actions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the...

February 21, 2017

The White House released the implementation memos and other information on Monday about how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin implementing President Trump’s immigration...

February 17, 2017

The public outrage against President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration has thus far been focused on the travel ban aimed at seven Muslim-majority countries and the attacks on the...

February 15, 2017

The Trump administration is quickly unraveling the last administration’s efforts to prioritize those for deportation who pose a serious threat over those who don’t. The new administration is...

July 22, 2019
Expanding expedited removal in this manner will create a 'show me your papers' regime of immigration enforcement where individuals—including any U.S. citizens they encounter—will be forced to prove they should not be deported. The American Immigration Council will not stand by idly as the Trump administration continues its unlawful attacks on our communities. We will see the Trump administration in court
July 19, 2019

Since the mid-1980s, immigration courts have operated the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The program is designed to quickly deport people serving criminal sentences. Despite how long it’s...

July 18, 2019

While members of Congress were struggling to reach a bipartisan deal in February in order to end the government shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly expanded its...

This FOIA lawsuit sought information from the EOIR on the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), which it runs jointly with ICE and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
July 16, 2019

People fleeing persecution who arrive to the United States at the southern land border may no longer be able to seek asylum. As of Tuesday, these asylum seekers will instead be denied protection...

July 15, 2019

After word got out about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plans to conduct widespread raids across the country on Sunday, ICE agents appeared to scale back their plans. The...

July 15, 2019
The Trump administration announced a new rule that would bar many individuals seeking protection in the United States from being able to apply for asylum. The American Immigration Council believes we should not be afraid to embrace our humanitarian obligations in a way that respects the rule of law.
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.
July 3, 2019

Attorney General William Barr announced in April 2019 plans to eliminate bond hearings for immigrants who pass an asylum screening interview after entering the United States. This would have...

July 1, 2019

The Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement is seriously impacting noncitizens and citizens around the country. A new report by the American Immigration Council highlights how...