Within hours of taking office, President Trump took several sweeping, executive actions on immigration. In an executive order entitled “Securing Our Borders,” he directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain noncitizens “to the maximum extent authorized by law” and realign policies for paroling noncitizens out of immigration detention with this directive. In a proclamation entitled “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion,” he also suspended the entry of noncitizens at the U.S.-Mexico border on the pretext that irregular migration across the border amounted to an “invasion.” He further ordered the Secretary of Homeland Security to “repel, repatriate, and remove” any noncitizen who crossed the border.

ICE has not published policies implementing these executive actions despite having a duty to do so under the Freedom of Information Act and a memo issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Chief FOIA Officer.

On May 1st, 2025, the Council filed a FOIA request with ICE to investigate its implementation of the “Securing Our Borders” Executive Order and “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion” Presidential Proclamation. The FOIA request seeks all memoranda, musters, guidance, and other similar records implementing these executive actions.

These records will allow the Council to educate the public about changes to ICE detention and removal due to these actions and assess whether anecdotal reports of changes arise from these actions.