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

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...

  • 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...

  • Blog

4 Ways ICE Doesn’t Hold Immigration Detention Facilities Accountable

February 13, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a long-standing and poor track record when it comes to transparency and...

  • Blog

Government Quietly Increases ICE Detention to 48,000 Beds During the Shutdown

January 31, 2019

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drastically expanded its network of immigration jails in the last month by a startling 7 percent. ICE now holds about 48,000 individuals in its jails and...

  • Blog

As One ‘Tent City’ for Immigrant Children Closes in Texas, Another Opens in Florida

January 18, 2019

Earlier this month, the Trump administration officially closed the doors of a “tent city” holding over 2,800 immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas. The closure comes after months of public...

  • Blog

How Many ICE-Related COVID-19 Deaths Have Gone Unreported?

March 26, 2021

After almost two years in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Martin Vargas Arellano was released to a hospital on March 5. ICE did not notify his family or attorney. Three...

  • Letters

Council Urges DHS to Establish a Functioning System of Discretionary Review from ICE Detention

Publication Date: 
March 25, 2021
The Council and AILA sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the need for a functioning system of discretionary release within U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE).
  • Blog

What’s Not Being Said About the Border

March 23, 2021

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border—including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody—has captured the nation’s attention in recent weeks. Much of the conversation...

  • Press Release

Facts About the Current Situation at the Border

March 23, 2021
The nation has turned its attention to the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody. Much of the conversation has focused on a supposed surge in arrivals under the Biden administration, but the current increase began well before President Biden took office.
  • 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.
  • Blog

ICE’s New Case Review Process Lets Immigrants Appeal Detention and Deportation

March 9, 2021

The Biden administration announced new “enforcement priorities” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on February 18. The priorities were an initial step away from the Trump administration...

  • Blog

New Data Shows the Landscape of Community Support Services to Replace Immigration Detention

March 2, 2021

The U.S. government has long relied on a punitive and outdated detention system to keep immigrants in its custody. Even when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) places people on...

  • Blog

ICE’s Changes to Family Detention Are an Improvement but Don’t Go Far Enough

March 2, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that it would make changes to two family detention centers in Texas that would result in families spending less time in detention...

  • Press Release

Survey of Hundreds of Organizations Shows Extent of Community-Based Support for People Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

March 1, 2021
A new publication provides a snapshot of the extent of available services that help migrants navigate the complexities of the U.S. immigration system.
  • Amicus Briefs

Supporting Detained Individual’s Right to Access ICE Detention Records through a State FOIA Request

Publication Date: 
February 26, 2021
In the amicus brief, the Council and partners reject Calhoun County's position to withhold records that otherwise would be released under the Michigan state FOIA.

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