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

FOIA Lawsuit Seeks Names of CBP Officers Who Allegedly Abused Children

January 10, 2019

Lack of transparency has long dogged the enforcement branches of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in particular, has been the subject of...

  • Blog

A Second Child Died in Border Patrol Custody. Why Is the Government Doubling Down on Deterrence?

January 2, 2019

In early December, seven-year-old Guatemalan Jakelin Caal died within hours after coming into the custody of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Her tragic death brought renewed attention to the...

  • Blog

How to Prevent More Deaths in Border Patrol Custody

December 17, 2018

In a year marked by the Trump administration’s cruel attempts to deter asylum-seeking families from coming to the United States, the news that a child had died in immigration custody appears to be...

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenging Delays in Asylum Screening Interviews and Bond Hearings Continues

December 14, 2018

A federal court in Seattle on Tuesday permitted a case challenging unlawful delays in asylum screening interviews and bond hearings for asylum seekers to move forward over the government’s...

  • Blog

Government Data Shows ICE Detention Relies on Private Companies and Remote Locations

December 5, 2018

There is a lot that we don’t know about immigration detention. Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been in the headlines more often than in past years, the network of facilities...

  • Blog

The Government Failed to Conduct Background Checks on Staffers at Migrant Child Tent City

November 30, 2018

Thousands of migrant children are currently being held at a tent city in Tornillo, Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border. Most of the children traveled alone in order to flee from violence in their...

  • Blog

Autopsy Report Shows Transgender Immigrant Woman Beaten Before Death in ICE Custody

November 29, 2018

Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a 33-year-old transgender woman from Honduras, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in May, weeks after presenting herself at the San Ysidro...

  • Blog

The Number of Immigrant Children in Detention Just Hit Record Levels – Again

November 19, 2018

After a summer in which almost 3,000 migrant children were separated from their parents at the border, the Trump administration admitted last week that it was holding a record number of children...

  • Blog

Nominee for ICE Director Refuses to Back Down on Family Separation

November 16, 2018

Ronald Vitiello, President Trump’s nominee to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had a nomination hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on...

  • Blog

What’s Next on Flores After Today’s Deadline for Comments

November 6, 2018

As Americans go to the polls, many will also be taking part in another form of government participation—submitting comments on the Trump administration’s proposal to expand family detention for...

  • Fact Sheet

Community Support for Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

Publication Date: 
February 26, 2021
This fact sheet draws from original data gathered from hundreds of community-organizations around the country and provides a snapshot of the extent of available services that help migrants navigate...
  • Declaration

Council Submits Declaration in Deportation Moratorium Case, Explaining the Complex System of Enforcement and Removal

Publication Date: 
February 12, 2021
The Council submitted this declaration in support of the ACLU's defense of the Biden Administration's moratorium on deportations. This declaration explains how the removal and detention system works.
  • Press Release

120 Organizations Ask Biden Administration to Consider Releasing Immigrants Left Languishing in Detention Despite Narrowed Enforcement Priorities

February 11, 2021
A group of 120 legal and medical services and advocacy organizations sent a letter to the White House and Department of Homeland Security, asking the Biden administration to review the cases of thousands of people who remain in immigration detention, and release those who do not fall within the enforcement priorities detailed in the DHS enforcement priorities memo that took effect February 1.
  • Letters

Coalition Letter Urges Reconsideration of Custody Determination for Every Person in ICE Custody

Publication Date: 
February 11, 2021
The American Immigration Council, National Immigrant Justice Center, and over 120 coalition partners called on the Biden-Harris administration to conduct a review of all cases for individuals...
  • Policy Briefs

The Biden Administration and Congress Must Guarantee Legal Representation for People Facing Removal

Publication Date: 
January 15, 2021
The Biden administration should take steps immediately upon entering office to expand federally funded legal representation programs for people facing removal. Here's why.
  • Policy Briefs

Increase in Indefinite ICE Detention Without Foreseeable Removal Dates During COVID-19 Pandemic

Publication Date: 
January 6, 2021

Every year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deports tens of thousands of...

  • Blog

How Biden Can Reform Immigration Enforcement and Detention

January 4, 2021

This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.  When the Biden administration takes...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Wants to Deny Work Permits to Some People Released From ICE Detention

November 18, 2020

The Trump administration announced on November 17 that it plans to start denying work permits to people who have been ordered deported, but who have been released from immigration custody because...

  • Amicus Briefs

Council Files Amicus Brief on Opportunity for Detained Migrants with Prior Removal Orders Seeking Humanitarian Protection to be Released on Bond

Publication Date: 
November 12, 2020
The amicus brief in Pham v. Guzman Chavez urges the Supreme Court to find that the pre-final order detention statute applies to detained noncitizens with prior removal orders who have meritorious claims for a form of humanitarian protection known as withholding of removal.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Ensure Bond Hearings for Certain Immigrants Seeking Protection in the United States

November 12, 2020
The American Immigration Council, other immigrant rights organizations, and legal service providers filed a friend-of-the-court (or amicus) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief urges the justices to find that immigrants who seek humanitarian protection from removal should have access to bond hearings—instead of being subjected to mandatory detention.

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