Humanitarian Protection

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

All Humanitarian Protection Content

August 20, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) top two officials are under scrutiny once again after a congressional oversight office found they were unlawfully appointed to their positions. The...

August 19, 2020

For many people planning to seek asylum in the United States, enforcement starts in Panama, over 3,000 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. immigration agencies collaborate with Panama’s...

August 12, 2020

Asylum seekers got a major win in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) illegal policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry. In Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a...

July 31, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an advance copy of a final rule on July 31 that will impose significant fee increases across many facets of the legal immigration system...

July 29, 2020

The Trump administration has been detaining immigrant children in hotels along the Texas-Mexico border and in Arizona. Some of the children are just a year old and are held in the hotels for weeks...

July 23, 2020

A Canadian court has ruled that the United States is no longer a country to which the Canadian government could safely return asylum seekers who crossed the U.S-Canada land border.  This upends...

July 9, 2020

Even as President Trump downplays the threat of COVID-19, the Trump administration is using the pandemic as a pretext to bar more people from asylum in the United States. While the proposal is...

July 2, 2020

A program created in late 2019 to allow certain Liberian noncitizens in the United States to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs) is falling far short of its potential, according to a new...

July 1, 2020

On June 30, a federal judge in the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s asylum transit ban, ending a sweeping policy that had shut down asylum for most people entering the...

June 29, 2020

Federal Judge Dolly Gee has ordered that children held for more than 20 days at U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) family detention centers must be released. The order was the latest...

January 6, 2016

Washington, D.C. - Today, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association 

December 24, 2015

Washington D.C. - Late last night, The Washington Post broke th

September 10, 2015

Washington, DC – Today, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the American Immigration Council, Refugee and Immigrant Center for E

July 25, 2015

Washington, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council) welcomed a ruling by U.S.

July 30, 2014

Washington D.C. - The humanitarian challenge posed by the arrival of thousands of unaccompanied children and young families at our southern border has once again ignited passions over

June 30, 2014

Washington D.C. - As the numbers of unaccompanied minors and mothers with children crossing our southern border grows, the U.S.

June 5, 2014

Washington, D.C.The American Immigration Council welcomes last week’s ruling by the United States District Court for the

November 5, 2013

Washington, DC – On Monday, November 4, U.S.

July 9, 2013

Frequently Asked Questions about the Asylum Clock Class Action Settlement

March 24, 2022
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) responded to today’s release of an interim final rule related to asylum procedures with concern. The rule is being published in draft form and is slated to take effect in 60 days, however additional public comment is being accepted for 60 days.
March 17, 2022

The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021—as the country’s government was overtaken by the Taliban—led to the chaotic evacuation of thousands of Afghan nationals. The tragic...

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeks to uncover information about how the humanitarian parole process and refugee program is working with respect to Afghan nationals.
Publication Date: 
March 4, 2022
This Council fact sheet provides an overview and analysis of border encounters and border apprehensions in 2021.
Publication Date: 
March 3, 2022
This fact sheet provides a demographic overview of the population of Ukrainians in the United States who may qualify for TPS, and what benefits TPS would confer upon those individuals.
March 2, 2022

In February, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reversed Trump administration guidance that limited recognition of marriages performed abroad only to those considered “valid” in the...

Publication Date: 
February 28, 2022
The Council joined 134 other organizations in a letter calling on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review to rescind the “Security Bars and...
Publication Date: 
February 25, 2022
The American Immigration Council joined 177 organizations to request an immediate 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Special Student...
Publication Date: 
February 15, 2022
The American Immigration Council joined over 200 organizations in calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to create a designated parole...
February 9, 2022

A federal court issued a decision on February 7 invalidating two Trump-era regulations that restricted access to work permits for asylum seekers. In her decision, Judge Beryl Howell of the...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending