Detention

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

COMPLAINT
Complaint Urges Investigation Into Misuse of Solitary Confinement in Colorado Immigration Detention Center

We demand an investigation into ICE's use of solitary confinement to punish and control people detained at the Aurora Detention Center in Colorado.

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FACT SHEET
Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview

The United States can and should implement alternatives to detention that serve to reduce the overall detention population.

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FACT SHEET
U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement

Deportations of parents and family members have serious consequences that affect children and extend to communities and the country as a whole.

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All Detention Content

  • Blog

These Two States Are Pushing Back on Private Immigration Detention

April 12, 2016

Immigration detention is being addressed at the state and local level in a variety of ways. In Indiana, local advocates are opposing a new private detention facility, and in California,...

  • Blog

Religious Leaders, Formerly Detained Families, and Advocates Protest Family Detention at White House

March 28, 2016

Protesters gathered in Lafayette Square just across from the White House on Monday. The protest coincided with the 138th annual White House Easter Egg roll. As families inside enjoyed the annual...

  • Blog

DHS Office of Inspector General Launches Unannounced Inspections of Detention Centers

March 18, 2016

For years, immigrant rights groups have documented deplorable conditions in immigration detention facilities. Yet, in spite of the growing evidence pointing to the prevalence of inhumane...

  • Blog

Medical Dysfunction at ICE Detention Facilities

March 7, 2016

There is no shortage of stories about immigrants dying from inadequate medical care while in detention centers operated or overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Take the case...

  • Blog

Amicus Arguments at the Ninth Circuit: The Flores Settlement Applies to All Children

February 26, 2016

Since the summer of 2014, the government has detained thousands of mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. Although the longstanding Flores settlement guarantees minimum...

  • Blog

A Visit to Berks Family Detention Center Makes Clear Why They Lost their License

February 22, 2016

Advocates, community members, and attorneys gathered outside the Berks County Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania on Monday to protest the continued operation of the center. The...

  • Blog

Texas Child Protection Agency Moves Forward in Licensing Family Detention Centers

February 17, 2016

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has issued a rule allowing for the two family detention facilities in Texas to apply for licenses to detain immigrant children and...

  • Blog

Eight Families Swept up in Immigration Raids Released, While 30 Other Mothers Issue Plea for Freedom

February 10, 2016

Two mothers from Honduras and six from El Salvador, along with their children, were finally released from family detention centers in the past several days. These families were among those swept...

  • Blog

Government Losing its License to Operate Family Detention Center in Pennsylvania

February 1, 2016

On January 27, 2016, Pennsylvania state officials informed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it would not renew and would revoke the operating license for the Berks County Residential...

  • Blog

Mothers Targeted in Immigration Raids and Still Detained Pen Letter to President Obama

January 28, 2016

Seven mothers that have been held for four weeks in a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas penned a letter to President Obama asking him to release them and their children while they work...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Plans to Incarcerate Some Asylum Seekers Indefinitely

April 17, 2019

In a disheartening decision on Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr announced he plans to eliminate bond hearings for asylum seekers who pass an initial asylum screening interview after entering...

  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Judge Orders

April 9, 2019

Asylum seekers are often imprisoned in immigration detention for weeks or months before they can ask a judge to release them, even though they’re entitled to bond hearings. But this injustice may...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Orders Timely Bond Hearings and Legal Protections for Asylum Seekers

April 5, 2019
In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge in Seattle dealt a blow to the government’s campaign to deter and obstruct asylum seekers applying for protection in the United States. Judge Marsha Pechman ordered the government to provide certain individuals with bona fide asylum claims either a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days of their request or to release them from detention.
  • Blog

Immigrants Are Regularly Kept Locked up for Months After Deportation Orders

March 27, 2019

When the U.S. government orders that an immigrant in its custody must be deported, the person isn’t supposed to remain incarcerated for long. Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) often...

  • Blog

Making Sense of the Rising Number of Families Arriving at the Border

March 25, 2019

Over the past few months, a new trend has emerged at the U.S.-Mexico border: more families are crossing and presenting themselves to U.S. officials to ask for asylum. But even though the number of...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Expansive Immigration Detention

March 21, 2019

Immigrants with even minor, dated criminal convictions will now be placed in mandatory detention without the possibility of a bond hearing—even if they have already served their time and been...

  • Blog

Immigration Groups Are Using This Tool to Expose Government Secrets

March 15, 2019

Many of the country’s top immigration agencies operate in secret. This lack of transparency in how immigration laws are implemented, administered, and enforced has the potential to devastate the...

  • Blog

After Shutdown Loss, Trump Doubles Down on Immigration in His New Budget

March 12, 2019

After weeks of tense negotiations, Congress averted a second government shutdown last month by reaching a bipartisan agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget—a budget which gave President...

  • Blog

ICE Releases Infants in Its Custody Following Civil Rights Complaint

March 4, 2019

Nothing is more delicate or worthy of comprehensive care than a newborn. Yet, over the past several weeks, detention watchdogs and public health experts have noticed an alarming uptick in the...

  • Advocacy

Complaint Urges Immediate Release of Infants from Immigration Detention

February 28, 2019
Numerous babies under the age of one—and some as young as six months old—are being detained in immigration detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

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