Border 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.

Recent Features

TESTIMONY
Providing Perspective on the Application of Immigration Law at the US Southwest Border

The reality at the U.S. southern border is complicated. Dive into the role and authority of the executive branch and immigration enforcement agencies. 

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FACT SHEET
Rising Border Encounters in 2021: An Overview and Analysis

For generations, the United States has seen periodic cycles of migration. The arrival of high numbers of asylum seekers is a humanitarian protection management challenge, not a security challenge.

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All Border Enforcement Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Electronic Nationality Verification Program: An Overview

Publication Date: 
January 26, 2021
U.S. immigration agencies use a range of programs to deport—or remove—certain noncitizens from the United States. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and two of...
  • Fact Sheet

The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

Publication Date: 
January 20, 2021
Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement.
  • Fact Sheet

The End of Immigration Enforcement Priorities Under the Trump Administration

Publication Date: 
March 7, 2018
Enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has historically been guided by policies that emphasize prioritization. However, this practice has largely been abandoned since the inauguration of President...
  • Special Report

Still No Action Taken: Complaints Against Border Patrol Agents Continue to Go Unanswered

Publication Date: 
August 2, 2017
This report raises more concerns about misconduct throughout Border Patrol sectors and shows Customs and Border Patrol has made little progress in its efforts to improve accountability.
  • Special Report

Why Caution is Needed Before Hiring Additional Border Patrol Agents and ICE Officers

Publication Date: 
April 24, 2017

The last time the Border Patrol received a large infusion of money to hire thousands of new agents, cases of corruption and misconduct spiked in the agency. New hires were not sufficiently vetted...

  • Fact Sheet

Summary of Executive Order “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements”

Publication Date: 
February 27, 2017
The provisions in the order pose serious concerns for the protection and due process rights of those currently residing in the United States, communities along the U.S-Mexico border, and vulnerable...
  • Special Report

Deported with No Possessions

Publication Date: 
December 21, 2016
Too often, some or all of a detainee’s belongings are lost, destroyed, or stolen by the immigration-enforcement agents entrusted with their care.
  • Special Report

Divided by Detention: Asylum-Seeking Families’ Experiences of Separation

Publication Date: 
August 31, 2016
This report examines what happens when “family detention” does not actually keep loved ones together and profiles the experiences of five asylum-seeking families who are divided by detention.
  • Special Report

Detained Beyond the Limit

Publication Date: 
August 18, 2016
This report reveals that individuals are frequently held for days and sometimes even months in holding cells in Border Patrol sectors along the U.S.’ southwest border.
  • Special Report

Hieleras (Iceboxes) in the Rio Grande Valley Sector

Publication Date: 
December 17, 2015
These accounts reveal the dehumanizing conditions to which these women were subjected while in Border Patrol custody.
  • FOIA Litigation

CBP Faces FOIA Lawsuit for Failing to Disclose Information About Border Patrol Practices in Ohio

This FOIA lawsuit seeks records about Border Patrol activities at the Sandusky Bay Station located in northern Ohio to improve the public’s understanding of CBP’s enforcement practices at northern U.S. borders, including cooperation with local law enforcement.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues CBP To Obtain Records About CBP One

This FOIA Lawsuit seeks to compel CBP to release information about its implementation of CBP One, an app designed to streamline interactions between CBP officers and travelers, including asylum seekers, that has raised concerns amongst advocates.
  • Amicus Briefs

Council and Partners Urge Supreme Court to Stop Texas Court from Reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols

Publication Date: 
August 23, 2021
This amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to stop the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), and halt the lower court's poorly reasoned and factually flawed decision.
  • Amicus Briefs

Council and Partners Submit Amicus Brief to Stop the Reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols

Publication Date: 
August 18, 2021
This brief highlights the court's many factual errors about MPP in its decision to reinstate the program.
  • FOIA

Investigating CBP’s Use of Mobile Application CBP One

What is CBP One and why is it concerning?

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a new app that can be downloaded on mobile devices called CBP One. According to the agency, CBP One...

  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues Immigration Agencies for Records of Enforcement Databases

This Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the databases and systems that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies use in immigration enforcement.
  • FOIA

Uncovering Immigration Enforcement Agency Databases

The Council filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to unearth the systems that the government uses in immigration enforcement and the data it collects.
  • FOIA

Seeking Information About Border Patrol Practices in Ohio

The Council and Advocates for Basic Legal Equality have launched an investigation into the abusive practices of CBP officers and cooperation with local law enforcement in Ohio.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues Customs and Border Protection to Release Records of Militarized Raids on Humanitarian Aid Station

This Freedom of Information Act lawsuit calls on CBP to release records documenting the agency’s aggressive and militarized response to the provision of humanitarian aid.
  • 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.
  • Blog

Biden Administration Can Remove Texas’ Razor Wire Barrier at the Border, Supreme Court Rules

January 23, 2024

Buoy barriers with chainsaw devices in the Rio Grande river. Coils of concertina wire along the riverbank. Armored Humvees blocking access roads. Piles of dirt rendering gates unusable. Governor...

  • Blog

Biden v. Texas – A Legal Showdown on the Southern Border Wages On 

January 18, 2024

Written by Chelsie Kramer, Texas State Organizer and Emma Winger, Deputy Legal Director  Texas is once again making national headlines after a woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande...

  • Blog

White House Leans Into Trump-Era Immigration Policy Changes to Get Ukraine Aid

December 13, 2023

The Biden administration signaled on December 12 that it is willing to make disastrous—and permanent—changes to asylum and immigration policy to obtain temporary military aid for Ukraine, Israel,...

  • Blog

Biden’s Emergency Funding Proposal Seeks $14 Billion for Immigration System From Congress

October 25, 2023

On October 20, the Biden administration renewed its request for emergency supplemental funding for border management from Congress. This new $14 billion request represents more than a $10 billion...

  • Blog

CBP’s Own Website Provides Insight Into Its Agents’ Corruption and Misconduct

October 6, 2023

Corruption within U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s workforce often has been hidden behind bureaucratic red tape. But what was once shrouded in mystery is now plainly available—on CBP’s own...

  • Blog

New Report Uncovers CBP’s Role in Policing Racial Justice Protests in Summer 2020

September 21, 2023

Co-Authors: Emily Creighton and Tsion Gurmu In the summer of 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, racial justice protests took hold in cities throughout the country. The massive mobilization...

  • Blog

Fifth Circuit Allows Texas to Keep Its Controversial ‘Buoy Barrier’ in Place for Now

September 14, 2023

Since President Biden took office, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been escalating both rhetoric and action in response to a rise in migration across the Rio Grande. Right now, challenges to his...

  • Blog

CBP’s Continued ‘Turnbacks’ Are Sending Asylum Seekers Back to Lethal Danger

August 10, 2023

On April 8, a family came to the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana and asked to be let into the United States to seek asylum. The husband’s arm was bleeding. He’d been shot. The cartel that had...

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenging Texas’ Floating Barrier Raises Questions About Its Other Border Policies

August 1, 2023

The post Lawsuit Challenging Texas’ Floating Barrier Raises Questions About Its...

  • Blog

The True Impact of Biden’s Asylum Transit Ban

July 28, 2023

On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that the Biden administration’s asylum transit ban was illegal and should be vacated. The ruling isn’t in effect yet – it was delayed for 14 days and may be...

  • Press Release

Biden Administration Expands Use of Title 42 and Proposes New Asylum Ban, In Exchange for Creation of Alternate Pathways for Migration and New Methods of Seeking Asylum at Ports of Entry

January 5, 2023
The American Immigration Council responds to new announced a series of border policy reforms, including a variant of President Trump's asylum "Transit Ban", from the Biden administration.
  • Press Release

Judge Strikes Down Title 42 Policy: A Long Overdue Step Toward Rebuilding the US Asylum System

November 15, 2022
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued a decision vacating and ending Title 42, more than two and a half years after the purported public health policy went into effect.
  • Press Release

Biden Administration Pairs Humanitarian Aid and H-2B Visa Expansion with Trump-Style Border Enforcement in Venezuelan Response Plan

October 24, 2022
The American Immigration Council alongside responded to the Biden Administration’s announcement of a parole program to protect some Venezuelan nationals with ties to the U.S., expansion of Title 42 to expel Venezuelans who cross the border without prior authorization, and nearly 65,000 added visas under the H-2B program.
  • Press Release

Violence and Racism at the Core of Migrant Deaths in West Texas

September 30, 2022
The warden of a privately run detention facility in West Texas Center—which very recently held detained individuals for U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement—was arrested and charged with manslaughter for shooting two migrants, killing one, in Sierra Blanca, Texas
  • Press Release

U.S. Supreme Court Allows Biden Administration to End MPP

June 30, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court allows the Biden administration’s efforts to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocols—an illegal Trump-era policy that sent thousands of people seeking humanitarian protection to dangerous areas of Mexico to await their asylum hearings.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks Answers to Privacy and Data Risks Associated with the CBP One App

December 21, 2021
The American Immigration Council filed a FOIA lawsuit against CBP requesting information about the agency’s implementation of CBP One— an app designed to help process individuals entering the United States including asylum seekers—that has raised concerns among immigration and privacy advocates.
  • Press Release

The U.S. Supreme Court Decides to Send Asylum Seekers to Danger

August 24, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay a ruling from a lower Texas court that would force the Biden administration to revive the Migrant Protection Protocols.
  • Press Release

Federal Judge Blocks ICE Enforcement Guidelines and Attempts to Upend Prosecutorial Discretion

August 19, 2021
A Texas judge blocked the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. The decision was issued in a case challenging ICE’s enforcement activities outside the scope laid out in the Feb. 18 enforcement memo.
  • Press Release

Biden Budget Request on Immigration is a Missed Opportunity for Meaningful Change

May 28, 2021
The Biden administration disclosed today a $54.2 billion budget request for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2022. The request is is deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity to set immigration enforcement in the United States on a new path.
  • Press Release

Facts About the Current Situation at the Border

March 23, 2021
The nation has turned its attention to the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody. Much of the conversation has focused on a supposed surge in arrivals under the Biden administration, but the current increase began well before President Biden took office.
  • Blog

Biden Proposes Rule to Quickly Remove Certain Migrants During Initial Screening Process at the Border

May 13, 2024

On May 9, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would allow asylum officers to consider and impose certain restrictions or “bars” to the initial asylum screening process at the border....

  • Fact Sheet

The Biden Administration’s Proposed Regulation On Asylum Bars: An Analysis

Publication Date: 
May 10, 2024
On May 9, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published here, that would allow asylum officers to reject a subset of asylum seekers earlier in the...
  • Press Release

Texas SB4 Law Sets Damaging Precedent for Similar Bills that Endanger Immigrant Families

March 19, 2024
SB4 is cruel, inhumane, and clearly unconstitutional.
  • Press Release

Records Shed Light on Border Patrol’s Racial Profiling of Immigrants in Ohio

March 19, 2024
A new report sheds light on Border Patrol's use of racial profiling when targeting Latinos in northern Ohio.
  • Blog

Despite Progress, the Tragedy of Family Separation Can Never Be Undone

March 13, 2024

Six years ago, a man came to the U.S./Mexico border with his five-year-old daughter, looking for safety in the United States.   At home, a rival political faction had been making death threats...

  • Blog

Showdown Between Texas Authorities and the Federal Government Headed to the Supreme Court

March 8, 2024

By Kate Melloy Goettel and Juan Avilez  A Texas law that allows local law enforcement to arrest migrants, state court judges to issue removal orders, and state officials to remove migrants to...

  • Advocacy

Testifying on the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement “Presidential Power to Secure the Border”

Publication Date: 
March 7, 2024
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to discuss the need for Congress to overhaul the asylum system.
  • Blog

The State of Texas Isn’t Just Creating Chaos and Cruelty at the Border—It’s Trying to Break the Things That Work

March 1, 2024

For decades, the Catholic nonprofit Annunciation House has worked to support migrants in El Paso, Texas. It’s provided shelter, food and services to countless people who have just arrived in the...

  • Press Release

House Republicans Vote to Impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary

February 13, 2024
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, the House Republican majority chose to continue efforts to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, holding another vote which passed, 214 to 213.
  • Blog

Senate Deal Would Significantly Transform Border Policy

February 7, 2024

The “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024” was released on February 4. For months, a bipartisan group of senators negotiated the compromise bill, which proposes...

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