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.

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All Enforcement Content

July 1, 2015

Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey became the 14th candidate to announce his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination. He’s highlighting his reputation as a straight-talking...

June 26, 2015

Last summer, the flow of Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States—many of them children—reached its height. One of the government’s first responses to the increased numbers was to...

June 24, 2015

Earlier this week, eight Democratic House Members took a trip to Dilley and Karnes, Texas to visit two immigrant family detention facilities and meet with women and children detained there. Dozens...

June 11, 2015

For years, the Border Patrol program “Operation Streamline” has criminally prosecuted asylum seekers in a terribly misguided effort to discourage them from reentering illegally again. A recent U.S...

June 10, 2015

Every day, over a thousand individuals are held in Border Patrol detention facilities near the U.S. southern border. These facilities are notorious for freezing cold temperatures, overcrowded...

June 2, 2015

Over the past year, the Obama Administration has rapidly propped up family detention facilities as a knee-jerk response to the influx of women and children who crossed our southern border last...

May 29, 2015

In 2010 and 2011, Nebraska and Alabama made national headlines for their anti-immigrant measures. Fremont, Nebraska passed a local ordinance to check immigration status of renters, and Alabama...

May 18, 2015

In the last two decades, the state of California has transformed itself from a leader in anti-immigrant policymaking—most famously attempting to bar the undocumented from attending public schools...

May 14, 2015

In February, advocates went to court to argue that the government’s family detention centers violate the long-standing Flores v. Reno settlement agreement, which set minimum standards for the...

May 13, 2015

By Karen Lucas, Legislative Associate at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Beth Werlin, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council. On Mother’s Day morning, we said...

April 19, 2018

In a directive dated Aug. 29, 2017, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only posted publicly this week, the government significantly weakened safeguards for the rights of parents during...

April 18, 2018

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration for an April 18, 2018 hearing on “Strengthening and Reforming...

April 17, 2018

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the Border Patrol in particular—has a reputation for repeatedly and systematically violating the rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. Border...

April 12, 2018

The largest employment crackdown in a decade was launched on April 5 at a meat-processing plant in Bean Station, a rural community outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Nearly 100 immigrants were...

April 10, 2018

Undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increasingly consist of asylum seekers fleeing record levels of violence in Central America. But the Trump administration’s response to this...

April 9, 2018

In an era of increased immigration enforcement, it is even more important to understand the ways in which some states and localities collaborate with the federal government. Recent research also...

April 6, 2018

President Trump first announced via tweet—and later a signed proclamation—that he plans to send the National Guard to the nation’s southern border. And yet, at the same time, he acknowledged that...

April 5, 2018

To shed light on the cruel and unlawful practice of family separation, a group of immigrant rights organizations filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple government...

April 3, 2018

Slowing making their way north through Mexico is a large caravan of migrants searching for safe haven, an opportunity to work, or the chance to reunite with family. Some will remain in Mexico,...

The requests ask for policies, guidelines, or procedures followed or used by the governmental agencies to address the processing and treatment of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and specifically, the separation of adult family members from minor children and the criminal prosecution of adult family members.

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