Due Process and the Courts

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

  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

We're demanding information to uncover the hiring process for Assistant Chief Immigration Judge and their influence over the immigration courts.

Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice

This special report lays out the the incongruency between America's criminal justice system and its immigration justice system, and provides recommendations for how these problems could be fixed.

READ MORE

All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Blog

Immigrant Children Without Attorneys are Still Being Ordered Deported

August 13, 2015

It would seem to be a simple matter of conscience that no child should ever stand before a judge without having an attorney as an advocate. Younger children in particular may not even understand...

  • Blog

Court Finds Federal Officers Can be Sued for Mistreatment of Immigrants in Detention

July 29, 2015

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last month that eight immigrant men who were detained under extremely punitive conditions in maximum security facilities following 9/11, could...

  • Blog

Story of Unaccompanied Child Underscores Importance of Legal Representation Needed for All Refugee Children

July 28, 2015

Elvis Garcia is a migration counselor at the Catholic Charities Community Services of New York. He is also a former unaccompanied child who fled from his native Honduras in 2005 when he was 15...

  • Blog

Judge’s Order in Flores Should Signal the End of Family Detention

July 27, 2015

A federal judge issued an order in the Flores case that should go a long way to ending the government’s practice of detaining children and their mothers in unlicensed, secure facilities in Dilley...

  • Blog

Appellate Court Hears Oral Argument in Texas v. United States

July 13, 2015

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral argument in the most closely watched immigration case in years, Texas v. United States. This is a case brought by Texas and...

  • Blog

U.S. Settles With 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen They Wrongfully Deported

July 2, 2015

Some say the wheels of justice turn slowly; however, when justice is finally delivered it is sweet. After more than two years of litigation, the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit...

  • Blog

U.S. Settles With 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen They Wrongfully Deported

July 2, 2015

Some say the wheels of justice turn slowly; however, when justice is finally delivered it is sweet. After more than two years of litigation, the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit...

  • Blog

Border Patrol Criminally Prosecuting Asylum Seekers, Government Report Finds

June 11, 2015

For years, the Border Patrol program “Operation Streamline” has criminally prosecuted asylum seekers in a terribly misguided effort to discourage them from reentering illegally again. A recent U.S...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Finds Conviction for Possession of a Sock Was Not a Deportable Offense

June 4, 2015

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court determined that the mere possession of a sock did not constitute a deportable offense in Mellouli v. Lynch. This unsurprising pronouncement serves as a first...

  • Blog

Court Rejects Restrictionists’ Attempts to Derail Work Authorization for H-4 Spouses

May 27, 2015

Despite immigration restrictionists’ efforts to derail implementation, a new rule went into effect this week allowing certain H-4 spouses (i.e., spouses of H-1B workers) to apply for work...

  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: Fighting Back Against Unlawful Conduct by U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory addresses some of the legal issues that may arise when noncitizens in removal proceedings seek to suppress evidence unlawfully obtained by Customs and Border Protection officers.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: A General Overview

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory provides a general overview of motions to suppress, a tool used to prevent the introduction of evidence obtained by federal immigration officers in violation of the Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and related provisions of federal law.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: Cracking Down on Fourth Amendment Violations

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2017
This Practice Advisory discusses some of the legal issues that may arise when noncitizens in removal proceedings move to suppress evidence obtained through constitutional violations by state and local officers seeking to enforce immigration law.
  • Blog

Massachusetts’ Highest Court Declares Immigration Detainers Are Unenforceable

July 28, 2017

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous decision on Monday holding that Massachusetts court officers may not arrest and detain immigrants based solely on a detainer. Although...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Targeting Immigrant Children Is a New Low

July 27, 2017

The recent trend of broadly labeling unaccompanied immigrant children as criminals and gang members is just the latest in a series of attacks on some of the most vulnerable individuals in the U.S...

  • Blog

Data Shows Prosecutorial Discretion Grinds to a Halt in Immigration Courts

July 24, 2017

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last month that it now has hired 326 immigration judges, 53 more judges than July 2016, yet during that time the immigration court backlog has grown....

  • Blog

Hawaii Judge Rules That Grandparents and Other Close Relatives Are Excluded from the Travel Ban

July 17, 2017

This story was updated on July 19, 2017. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled last week that “grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Limits Power to Revoke Naturalized Person’s Citizenship

July 13, 2017

The Supreme Court recently rejected the government’s extreme argument that any false statement given during a naturalization exam—even a misstatement that had no impact on the naturalization...

  • Blog

Court Rules That Immigration Authorities May Not Deny Bond Hearings to Children

July 7, 2017

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a strong rebuke to the government’s years-long effort to strip detained immigrant children of the right to a bond hearing in immigration court. The 3-0...

  • Press Release

Court Finds Government Violating Obligations (Again) to Children in Family Detention

June 28, 2017
A U.S. District Court condemned the federal government for continuing to disregard critical protections for children in detention.

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending