Interior Enforcement

Our legal system rests upon the principle that everyone is entitled to due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. But for far too long, the immigration system has failed to provide noncitizens with a system of justice that lives up to this standard. Learn about ways in which the immigration system could ensure that all noncitizens have a fair day in court.  

Recent Features

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

There are serious concerns that rapid expansion will bring about a resurgence of problems in the Border Patrol and also cause similar problems in ICE. 

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FACT SHEET
  • Fact Sheet
A Primer on Expedited Removal

A Primer on Expedited Removal

Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation. 

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All Interior Enforcement Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Criminal Alien Program (CAP): Immigration Enforcement in Prisons and Jails

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2013
The Criminal Alien Program (CAP) is an expansive immigration enforcement program that leads to the initiation of removal proceedings in many cases. While CAP has existed in one form or another for...
  • Fact Sheet

Enforcement Without Focus: Non-Violent Offenders Caught in the US Immigration Enforcement System

Publication Date: 
April 2, 2013
Since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2003, its immigration-enforcement agencies—Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—have been...
  • Fact Sheet

A Decade of Rising Immigration Enforcement

Publication Date: 
January 8, 2013
With roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, some question whether the nation’s immigration laws are being seriously enforced. In truth, due to legal and policy...
  • Fact Sheet

Falling Through the Cracks

Publication Date: 
December 12, 2012
The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Children Caught Up in the Child Welfare System One of the many consequences of an aggressive immigration enforcement system is the separation of children,...
  • Research and Analysis

From Fingerprints to DNA: Biometric Data Collection in U.S. Immigrant Communities and Beyond

Publication Date: 
May 23, 2012
The collection of biometrics—including fingerprints, DNA, and face-recognition ready photographs—is becoming more and more a part of society. Both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the...
  • Research and Analysis

The Myth of "Self-Deportation"

Publication Date: 
April 30, 2012
How Behavioral Economics Reveals the Fallacies behind “Attrition through Enforcement” By Alexandra Filindra, Ph.D....
  • Research and Analysis

Q&A on Office of Inspector General Reports on Secure Communities Program

Publication Date: 
April 17, 2012
In April 2012, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released two long-awaited reports on the Secure Communities Program: Operations of United States...
  • Special Report

Discrediting “Self Deportation” as Immigration Policy

Publication Date: 
February 6, 2012
By Michele Waslin The day that Alabama’s draconian anti-immigrant law...
  • Special Report

The Secure Communities Program: Unanswered Questions and Continuing Concerns

Publication Date: 
November 29, 2011
This paper describes the Secure Communities program, identifies concerns about the program’s design and implementation, and makes recommendations for the future of the program.
  • Special Report

Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction Provisions in Alabama's Immigration Law Make Life Harder

Publication Date: 
November 1, 2011
Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction...
  • Blog

Biden’s Unfulfilled Promise to End 287(g) Agreements with Local Law Enforcement

June 24, 2021

During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to end all 287(g) agreements made by the Trump administration. More than 150 days into his presidency, the promise remains unfulfilled. The 287(g...

  • Blog

Biden’s Actions on Immigration Enforcement Have Been Inconsistent Since Taking Office

May 20, 2021

The Biden administration inherited an immigration enforcement system devoted to detaining and deporting as many people as possible. During the Trump years, every undocumented immigrant in the...

  • Blog

Biden Moves to End Trump’s War on ‘Sanctuary Cities’

May 4, 2021

The Biden administration has ended a Trump-era policy of denying so-called sanctuary cities from receiving certain forms of federal funding. The policy had been used in retaliation against local...

  • Blog

ICE’s New Case Review Process Lets Immigrants Appeal Detention and Deportation

March 9, 2021

The Biden administration announced new “enforcement priorities” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on February 18. The priorities were an initial step away from the Trump administration...

  • Blog

New ICE Enforcement Priorities Represent an Important Shift, But More Change Is Needed

February 19, 2021

For years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken a harsh, punitive approach that has ripped families and communities apart. The Trump administration’s approach was particularly...

  • Blog

DHS Strikes Down Trump Deal with ICE Union, Paving the Way for Biden’s Changes to Immigration Enforcement

February 17, 2021

Just days before it was due to take effect, the Biden administration has struck down a last-minute deal made between the Trump administration and the union for U.S. Immigration and Customs...

  • Blog

Biden Took Eight Administrative Actions on Immigration. Here’s What You Need to Know.

January 22, 2021

On his first day in office, President Biden took significant steps towards undoing the harm of the Trump administration’s immigration policies—and reforming our punitive and inhumane enforcement...

  • Blog

ICE Is Targeting ‘Sanctuary’ Cities With Increased Enforcement and Massive Fines

November 3, 2020

In the final run up to the presidential election, the Trump administration has reinvigorated its attacks on undocumented immigrants in the United States by targeting so-called “sanctuary” policies...

  • Blog

ICE’s COVID-19 Death Toll Might Be Higher Than It Claims

October 26, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to mismanage the spread of the coronavirus in its facilities nationwide—and the consequences might be far more deadly than the agency wants...

  • Blog

3 Reasons Why Cities Should Not Sign 287(g) Agreements With ICE

September 21, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expanding its power in Florida, where more than one out of every five residents in the state is an immigrant. The Florida Department of...

  • Press Release

Groups Sue Federal Government over Failure to Provide Legal Representation for Children

July 9, 2014
The American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public Counsel, and K&L Gates LLP today filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of children who are challenging the federal government's failure to provide them with legal representation as it carries out deportation hearings against them.
  • Press Release

Understanding ICE’s Release of Immigrants with Criminal Convictions

May 15, 2014

Washington D.C. - Understanding the complexities of immigration law and its intersection with criminal law is not easy.

  • Press Release

New Report from Center for Immigration Studies on Deportation Data Misleads and Misinforms

March 31, 2014

Washington D.C. – Today the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a new report that makes a range of false claims about deportation data.

  • Press Release

ICE Agrees to Release Thousands of Previously-Withheld Records

August 2, 2013

Washington, DC – Yesterday, a U.S.

  • Press Release

Bringing Fairness to the Immigration Justice System

May 15, 2013

Washington D.C. - Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues mark-up of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

  • Press Release

The American Immigration Council Welcomes Customs and Border Protection’s New Guidance on Interpretation

December 14, 2012

Washington D.C. - The American Immigration Council (AIC) welcomes U.S.

  • Press Release

Advocates File Suit Against DHS for Refusal to Disclose Records on Enforcement Program

March 12, 2012

Washington D.C. - Last week, an alliance of national immigration advocacy organizations filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeking to co

  • Press Release

DHS Issues Awaited Guidance on Prioritizing Deportations, Law Enforcement Letter Praises Approach

November 17, 2011

Washington D.C. - Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Principal Legal Advisor directed all ICE attorneys to begin a systematic review of immigration

  • Press Release

AILA-AIC Survey Reveals ICE Officials' Sporadic Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion

November 9, 2011

Washington, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC) released a

  • Press Release

DHS: Prioritizing Enforcement and Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion

August 22, 2011

Washington D.C. - Today, the American Immigration Council hosted a briefing to discuss the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement last week that it would issue agency

  • Blog

Updated ICE Directive Fails to Deliver Meaningful Protections for Immigrant Families

July 20, 2022

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced a new directive aimed at preserving family unity and the parental rights of noncitizens. The directive, “Interests of Noncitizen...

  • Blog

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Issues Annual Report—What Does It Really Mean?

March 18, 2022

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released its fiscal year 2021 annual report. In it, the agency reported a significant decrease in both overall deportations and internal...

  • Blog

Settlement Thwarts ICE’s Ability to Conduct Warrantless Sweeps

February 25, 2022

A federal court in Illinois recently approved a settlement agreement governing unlawful, warrantless arrests and vehicle stops. The settlement requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (...

  • Press Release

ICE Continues to Ignore FOIA Request for Records on Enforcement Actions Outside the Scope of Priorities

January 12, 2022
Immigration advocacy groups filed a FOIA lawsuit against ICE requesting ICE’s internal records on preapproval authorizations for enforcement actions against individuals who do not meet the criteria outlined in the Biden-Harris administration’s interim enforcement priorities.
  • Press Release

ICE Continues to Ignore FOIA Request for Reports on Enforcement Activities and Removals

November 30, 2021
Immigration advocacy groups filed a FOIA lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting ICE’s internal reports on enforcement activities and removals under the Biden-Harris administration’s interim enforcement priorities.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues to Obtain ICE’s Reports on Enforcement Actions and Removals

This FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel DHS and ICE to disclose the weekly reports ICE was required to produce about their enforcement activities and removals pursuant to the DHS’ January 20 and February 18 memos establishing new immigration enforcement priorities.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues to Press for Records About the Treatment of Black Immigrants in Detention

This FOIA suit seeks to compel ICE to release information about conditions, treatment, and outcomes in eight immigration detention facilities in the U.S. South.
  • Blog

DHS Issues New Memo Restricting Enforcement Activities in ‘Protected Areas’

October 28, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued “Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas”—a new memo that provides a framework for when and where DHS law enforcement...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Halts Mass Worksite Raids By ICE

October 13, 2021

The Biden administration just took a significant step toward reining in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a...

  • Letters

Council and AILA Follow Up with DHS Regarding a Functioning System of Discretionary Release from ICE Detention

Publication Date: 
October 5, 2021
The Council and AILA, through their Immigration Justice Campaign followed up on their March 25, 2021 letter to the DHS and ICE with examples of unfair denials of requests for release at ICE...

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