Abuses

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No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse

One of the most revealing findings of this report concerns the prevailing lack of action taken by CBP officials in response to the complaints received.

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All Abuses Content

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenges the Government’s Policy of Indefinitely Detaining Asylum Seekers

March 22, 2018

A class action lawsuit was filed on March 15, 2018 challenging the U.S. government’s practice of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely and argues the practice is an attempt to deter future asylum...

  • Blog

When Detention Is a Death Sentence

March 9, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pursuing a massive increase in resources for immigrant detention centers, a fundamentally flawed network of largely privatized and remote facilities...

  • Blog

Immigrants Rights Group Sues U.S. Government Over Family Separation at the Border

March 2, 2018

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit this week to demand the immediate release and reunification of an asylum-seeking Congolese mother and her 7 year-old daughter, who had...

  • Blog

Oversight Agency Finds ICE Improperly Obtained Contract for Texas Family Detention Center

March 1, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a damning report this week, finding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) improperly modified...

  • Blog

Immigrant Women and Girls Often Face Abuse, Homelessness After Arriving to the United States

February 5, 2018

Immigrant women and girls face unique challenges in navigating the U.S. immigration system, their dire circumstances often exacerbated by the gender-based violence they encounter on the journey...

  • Blog

Homeland Security Watchdog Conducts Surprise Inspections of Immigrant Detention Centers

December 15, 2017

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) released a report which found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) detention facilities are violating their...

  • Blog

How Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Turns Immigrants Into Criminals

November 6, 2017

It has been well established for decades that the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, immigrants who have committed no violent offense are often...

  • Blog

How Discretion Failed One 10-Year-Old Girl and What the Future Holds

October 30, 2017

Much has been said about Rosa María Hernández, the latest target of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the responsibility and...

  • Blog

DHS Wants to Monitor Immigrants’ Social Media. No One Knows What They Will Do With This Information

September 29, 2017

In a sweeping encroachment upon privacy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is planning to dramatically ramp up its surveillance of virtually anyone in the United States...

  • Blog

Why Are More Pregnant Women Being Held in ICE Detention?

September 26, 2017

Pregnant women held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody are required to be released, as detention frequently leads to extreme stress, depression, and in some cases,...

  • Blog

The Government Said It Wouldn’t Separate Families at Ports of Entry. It Was Lying.

June 10, 2020

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently condemned U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for its role in separating families at the border in 2018. Like previous inspections, the...

  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Council Files Civil Rights Complaint Over Dangerous ICE Detention Policies During Coronavirus Pandemic

May 7, 2020
The complaint calls on oversight agencies to demand immediate action by ICE to help stop the spread of the coronavirus where social distancing is not possible, including:
  • Blog

How Immigration Enforcement Is Eroding Your Privacy

March 13, 2020

The United States has pursued aggressive increases in immigration enforcement over the past two decades across several presidencies. Congress has allocated increasing resources during this period...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rules Parents of Slain Teenager Can’t Sue Border Patrol Agent Responsible for His Death

March 2, 2020

The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking damages from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a teenager across the U.S.-Mexico border. With this latest decision in the...

  • Blog

The Fight to Stop ICE From Destroying Records About Deaths and Abuse in Its Custody

February 19, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to destroy thousands of records documenting horrific treatment of immigrants in the agency’s custody. The records contain vital details about...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Finds Conditions in Customs and Border Protection Detention Facilities Unconstitutional

February 19, 2020
A federal court ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to overhaul the way the agency detains people in its custody in the Tucson Sector. The court found that the conditions in CBP holding cells, especially those that preclude sleep over several nights, are presumptively punitive and violate the U.S. Constitution.
  • FOIA

FOIA Requests to Preserve Records Regarding Civil Rights Complaints and Records of Deaths and Abuse in ICE Custody

In December 2019, the National Archives approved a schedule for destruction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records which slates numerous categories of documents addressing...

  • Blog

Customs and Border Protection Officials Are Allowed Full Anonymity Under FOIA—and That’s a Blow to Government Transparency

February 14, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the largest law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security, with tens of thousands of officers charged with policing our borders—is...

  • Amicus Briefs

Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center v. Wolf

Publication Date: 
January 31, 2020

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted an amicus brief in Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center v. Wolf, a case filed by the American...

  • Press Release

Trial Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions in Customs and Border Protection's Facilities in Arizona Ends

January 23, 2020
During the course of the trial, a federal judge heard from qualified experts who testified on the inadequate medical care and severe conditions inside CBP detention centers.

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