Detention
ICE Needs a Consistent System of Discretionary Release from Detention
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) need to establish clear guidance for when ICE should release someone from detention. So far, the Biden administration, like past administrations, has failed to issue this essential guidance. This inaction has left thousands of people needlessly detained. Read More
Coalition Letter Calls on Biden Administration to End Private and Local Detention Contracts and Take Steps to Dismantle Detention System
The American Immigration Council joins a coalition letter that calls on the Biden administration to terminate local detention contracts and halt all other efforts to expand the ICE detention system. Read More
Council and AILA Follow Up with DHS Regarding a Functioning System of Discretionary Release from ICE Detention
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 facilities around the country. Read More
Seeking Records About ICE’s Compliance with DHS’s Enforcement Priorities
This FOIA requests effort seeks records on ICE reports about its enforcement activities, whether the people arrested by ICE fit into the DHS’s enforcement priorities, and information about instances when officers pursued enforcement actions against individuals who would not be considered priorities for immigration enforcement. Read More
Federal Court Orders ICE to End Unlawful Detention of Immigrant Youth Who Turn 18 in Federal Custody
A district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that ICE broke the law by detaining unaccompanied children who turned 18 and “aged out” of Office of Refugee Resettlement custody. The court ordered the agency to change its practices and procedures to avoid further unlawful detentions. Read More
Amicus Brief Filed with Supreme Court of Michigan in Support of State FOIA Request in Wrongful Detention Case
In the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of Michigan, the Council and partners reject Calhoun County's position to withhold records that otherwise would be released under the Michigan state FOIA. Read More
California Law Would Prevent Transfers From Local Law Enforcement to ICE Custody
Proposed legislation in California that would further limit the state’s involvement in immigration detention has made progress toward becoming law. The VISION Act would prevent transfers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody of people who are released from state or local custody. The bill passed the state assembly… Read More
Demanding ICE Provide Essential Data
The Council submitted an amicus brief explaining why ICE should release usable immigration data. The amicus brief was filed in a case where the ACLU is seeking information about how individuals are impacted by ICE enforcement practices. Read More
TX Court Issues Stunning Order: US Government Can’t Set Priorities for Immigration Enforcement
Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas on August 19 blocked a set of enforcement priorities the Biden administration had issued in January and February 2021 in an attempt to focus limited enforcement resources. This preliminary injunction will be in effect beginning September 3 unless it is overturned. Read More
Federal Judge Blocks ICE Enforcement Guidelines and Attempts to Upend Prosecutorial Discretion
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. Read More
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