Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security

Abandoning Priorities Just Made Immigration Enforcement Work Much Harder

Abandoning Priorities Just Made Immigration Enforcement Work Much Harder

The Trump administration ensured this week that its immigration enforcement policies will be a chaotic affair marked by mistakes, civil rights violations and overzealous enforcement. They did this by outlining measures that they claim simply return power to immigration agents to do their jobs—measures such as authorizing the hiring… Read More

Supreme Court Hears Case on Shooting of Sergio Hernandez by U.S. Border Patrol Agent

Supreme Court Hears Case on Shooting of Sergio Hernandez by U.S. Border Patrol Agent

Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the federal agency which includes the Border Patrol—are rarely held accountable for their actions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of Sergio Hernandez, a 15-year-old boy shot dead in 2010 in Mexico by a Border Patrol agent who fired… Read More

'Day Without Immigrants' Highlights How America Relies on the Immigrant Labor Force

‘Day Without Immigrants’ Highlights How America Relies on the Immigrant Labor Force

The various events commemorating the “Day Without Immigrants,” held in cities around the country today to fight President Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, underscore a key reality about the United States: we are a nation dependent on immigrants including the undocumented. The Day Without Immigrants was marked by street protests, immigrant… Read More

Immigration Enforcement Under Trump: The First “Surge”

Immigration Enforcement Under Trump: The First “Surge”

Reports and rumors of immigration raids and round ups have been circulating since President Donald Trump took office. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that hundreds were arrested through “targeted enforcement actions,” the agency’s preferred term. The enforcement operations targeted homes and workplaces in at least 12… Read More

Federal Appeals Court Says Muslim Ban Stays on Hold

Federal Appeals Court Says Muslim Ban Stays on Hold

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the federal government’s emergency request to lift the temporary restraining order halting the implementation of President Trump’s travel ban.  The Court rejected the government’s attempt to shield the Executive Order behind national security, explaining that doing so “runs contrary to the fundamental structure… Read More

Homeland Security Secretary Tells Congress Immigration Executive Order Should Have Been Delayed

Homeland Security Secretary Tells Congress Immigration Executive Order Should Have Been Delayed

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly testified for the first time since being confirmed by the U.S. Senate in front of the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday in a hearing titled “Ending the Crisis: America’s Borders and the Path to Security.” While the hearing was supposed… Read More

Congressional Efforts to Repeal Immigration Executive Orders

Congressional Efforts to Repeal Immigration Executive Orders

Since President Donald Trump announced his immigration executive orders last month on border security, interior enforcement, halting all refugee admissions  and banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days, there has been strong reaction by the public, litigators and on… Read More

New Immigration Court Directive Could Weaken Due Process

New Immigration Court Directive Could Weaken Due Process

The Trump administration released a memorandum this week–effective immediately–which orders the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (which manages the immigration courts) to prioritize deportation hearings for certain groups, including any non-citizens who are detained and unaccompanied children who do not have a sponsor.  The memo rescinded preexisting… Read More

Understanding the Dangerous Implications of President Trump's Immigration Executive Order

Understanding the Dangerous Implications of President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order

On January 25, President Trump signed a pair of immigration-related executive orders, one dealing with border security and the other with immigration enforcement in the interior of the country. The order on border security has received the most public attention—particularly the “great wall” that Trump is so anxious to build. Read More

Asylum Seekers Illegally Turned Away by Customs and Border Protection

Asylum Seekers Illegally Turned Away by Customs and Border Protection

For many months, lawyers and advocates have received damning reports from asylum-seeking families, adults, and even unaccompanied minors fleeing Mexico and Central America who have been systematically turned away by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents along the U.S.-Mexico border, from San Ysidro, CA to Brownsville, TX. The Washington… Read More

All gifts are matched dollar for dollar

No one should face the immigration system alone

logoimg