Enforcement

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.

State of the Union Speech Highlights President Trump’s Vision for Massive Reductions in Immigration

President Trump gave his first State of the Union address to Congress this week, during which he shared his vision for America’s future immigration policy—and it’s bleak. The address echoed much of the White House’s restrictive immigration framework released last week, which envisions a path to citizenship for the 1.8 million immigrants eligible for the […]

Government Shuts Down While Negotiations Continue on Dream Act, but Most Immigration Functions Continue

With the national conversation focused squarely on Dreamers, Congress was unable to find common ground on a budget deal and has shut down the U.S. Government. Congressional leadership decided not to bring a vote on bipartisan Dream Act legislation. Instead, this was the fourth time in as many months that Congress looked to fund the […]

Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen Struggles With the Facts at Senate Oversight Hearing

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, where she was grilled by Senators on negotiations around Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), rumored upcoming DHS policies, agency enforcement actions, and much more. While much of the media attention around this hearing focused on whether Secretary Nielsen […]

How Criminalizing Communities of Color Has Driven the Anti-Immigrant Narrative

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, taken away Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans in the United States, and staged raids of 7-Elevens around the country to crack down on undocumented workers and their employers. In short, President Trump is living up to his campaign rhetoric and […]

Three Year Anniversary of Family Detention Center Is Sad Reminder of America’s Cruelest Immigration Policy Practice

December marks the three-year anniversary of the opening of the country’s largest family detention center for non-citizen mothers and their minor children located in Dilley, Texas. Referred to as a “baby jail” since it holds children under one year of age there, the opening of the Dilley family detention center was the Obama administration’s response […]

Doctors Warn Immigration Enforcement Hurts Children

Anyone reading the news knows that immigration and the threat of aggressive enforcement have been prominent issues throughout 2017. But what the headlines often miss is how people in America—families, children, grandparents, and everyone in between—are affected by shifts in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy. Increasingly, research shows that policy decisions designed to limit […]

Homeland Security Watchdog Conducts Surprise Inspections of Immigrant Detention Centers

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 own detention standards when it comes to housing immigrants. The OIG, which serves as a watchdog division for DHS at large, found that ICE was providing insufficient protection […]