State and Local
Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been targeting U.S. citizens’ foreign spouses when they apply for legal immigration status. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland put a halt to this practice. For the past few years, couples attending interviews about their marriages sometimes faced a terrible… Read More
Republican and Democratic Officials Continue to Accept Refugees, Rejecting Trump’s Executive Order
Update: On January 15, federal Judge Peter Messitte issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration from enforcing its executive order giving state and local governments the power to opt out of refugee resettlement. Judge Messitte ruled the executive order was likely unlawful. In his decision, he called… Read More
New Jersey Caps Off A Tremendous Year for Expanding Access to Driver’s Licenses
Many New Yorkers had a reason to celebrate on December 16, as they were permitted to apply for a driver’s license for the first time, even if they lacked permanent immigration status. Now, thanks to a new law passed on December 19, their neighbors in New Jersey will be… Read More
California Bans Private Prisons, Eliminating Immigration Detention Centers That Incarcerate 4,000 People
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that will phase out private prisons—including federal immigration detention centers—throughout the state. The new law, AB 32, prohibits the state government and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from creating, modifying, or renewing prison contracts with private companies beginning… Read More
Federal Court Blocks Error-Prone ICE Deportation Program
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested millions of people based on unreliable electronic databases. In a recent court decision with nationwide impact, a federal judge in California ruled that parts of this mass deportation program—called Secure Communities—are unconstitutional. Through Secure… Read More
ICE Targets Mississippi Food Plants in Largest Set of Immigration Raids
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted coordinated raids in several small Mississippi towns on Wednesday. With reports of 680 arrests, the raids may be the largest ICE worksite crackdown in over a decade. More than 600 ICE agents raided seven food processing plants in several… Read More
ICE Raids: What to Expect This Week
After word got out about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plans to conduct widespread raids across the country on Sunday, ICE agents appeared to scale back their plans. The enforcement agency is instead attempting a quieter—but just as damaging—approach to targeting immigrant families. ICE is reportedly targeting approximately… Read More
ICE Data Reveals the Impact of Immigration Enforcement Under the Trump Administration
A report on interior immigration enforcement by the American Immigration Council examines newly disclosed government data on the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement agenda. The report, “Changing Patterns of Interior Immigration Enforcement in the United States, 2016–2018,” reveals that U.S. citizens and immigrant women have become increasingly vulnerable to immigration enforcement actions under the administration. Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
