Border Enforcement

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

  • Blog

A Caravan of Migrants Makes Its Way to the US, as Trump Threatens to Close the Border

October 18, 2018

Thousands of migrants—many of whom are mothers, fathers, and children fleeing their homes in violence-stricken areas of Central America—are traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an...

  • Blog

New Court Filing Highlights the Government’s Official “Turnback Policy” for Asylum Seekers

October 16, 2018

Eight new asylum seekers joined a lawsuit last week that challenges U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials’ widespread and well-documented practice of turning back asylum seekers at U....

  • Blog

DHS Secretary Nielsen Makes Laughable Claim That Agency Does Not Detain Children

October 11, 2018

Senators grilled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies, including its practice of detaining migrant children...

  • Blog

A Record 13,300 Migrant Children Are Being Detained by the Trump Administration

September 25, 2018

The Trump administration is holding a record level of 13,300 migrant children in its custody, forcing the government to shift hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure there is enough money and...

  • Blog

Two Border Patrol Agents Charged with Murder Highlights the Need for Robust Hiring Standards

September 19, 2018

For the second time this year, a Border Patrol agent has been charged with murdering multiple people in Texas. Both agents were hired nearly a decade ago amidst a surge in staffing that backfired...

  • Blog

Government Agrees to Give Some Separated Families A Second Chance to Seek Asylum

September 13, 2018

In a tentative partial settlement agreement reached with lawyers representing parents and children who were separated as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the...

  • Blog

For $182 Million a Year, the Military Is Being Used at the Border to Shovel Manure and Conduct Other Menial Labor

September 10, 2018

The Pentagon recently announced that up to 4,000 National Guard troops will remain deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border through September 2019, following a 12-month extension authorized by Defense...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Proposes Regulations in ‘Flores’ to Detain Migrant Children Longer in Unsafe Conditions

September 6, 2018

The Trump administration is proposing new regulations to indefinitely detain immigrant children at the border and keep them in unsafe conditions, creating a false choice between separating...

  • Blog

Court Allows Lawsuit Challenging CBP’s Practice of Turning Away Asylum Seekers to Proceed

August 31, 2018

In a blow to the Trump administration, a federal court in California recently allowed a class action lawsuit to move forward challenging U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) practice of...

  • Blog

Family Separation, Harsh Enforcement Tactics Do Not Deter Migration

August 10, 2018

When the Trump administration began prosecuting migrant families and separating thousands of children from their parents, many in the administration predicted this would significantly deter...

  • Blog

Inspector General Report Overlooks Serious Medical Care Issues Within Border Patrol Custody

June 30, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published a report analyzing U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) treatment of noncitizens at the border in...

  • 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...

  • Blog

5 Ways Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda Gets in the Way of an Effective Coronavirus Response

May 27, 2020

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has implemented sweeping revisions to U.S. immigration policy. Many of the changes fail to prioritize the health of immigrants or...

  • Blog

Trump Is Using the Coronavirus Pandemic as an Excuse to Permanently Close the Borders

May 26, 2020

The Trump administration has indefinitely extended its ban on immigration at U.S. land borders.  The order was also expanded to include immigrants arriving at coastal ports. The ban is based on an...

  • Blog

Two Years After Zero Tolerance, More Revelations About the Failures of Family Separation

April 2, 2020

Nearly two years after the “zero tolerance” policy was announced, evidence condemning the practice and implementation of family separation continues to mount. A recent report from the U.S....

  • Blog

How Coronavirus is Changing US Asylum Policy at the Border

March 23, 2020

The Trump administration detailed its plans to begin rapidly deporting to Mexico people encountered at or near the southern border—without any due process—as the coronavirus continues to spread...

  • Blog

CBP Hides Itself from Public View and Lacks Accountability

March 18, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has historically conducted immigration enforcement along our borders. In this role, the agency has developed a reputation for overuse and abuse of its...

  • Blog

DHS Reveals New Details of Secretive Asylum Programs PACR and HARP

March 11, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed new information this week about two asylum programs  at the U.S.-Mexico border. These programs are under scrutiny because they make it almost...

  • 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...

  • 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.

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