Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE’s Faulty Detention Data Undercounts the Number of People in Its Custody
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears to be severely undercounting the number of people it has in immigration detention. A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—a congressional oversight agency—published last week found that ICE’s data contained glaring mistakes, leading to a significant undercount of people in… Read More
Do 287(g) Agreements with ICE Make Communities Safer?
Written by Juan Avilez, Policy Associate for State and Local Initiatives and Raul Pinto, Deputy Legal Director Texas’ SB4 set the tone for the national discourse around immigration enforcement. Since then, certain states have felt emboldened to create their own immigration enforcement regimes, like Iowa and Oklahoma, which enacted equally… Read More
CeBONDS One Year After its Implementation
Written by Raul Pinto & Laila Khan Approximately one year ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched Cash Electronic Bonds (CeBONDS), a web portal with the stated intent improving how people pay bonds to ICE to secure the release of a loved one from detention. One year in, it’s clear… Read More
ICE Subjected Immigrants in Detention to Unnecessary Surgeries, Report Finds
The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (OIG) published a report last month finding that nearly one-third of medical procedures performed on immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody were not properly authorized. The report found that ICE improperly authorized 32% of… Read More
ICE Will Be Required to Wear Body Cameras in a Win for Transparency—But the Implementation Will Be Key
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a policy on January 12 calling for ICE personnel to wear body cameras in most situations when carrying out enforcement duties. According to ICE Deputy Director Patrick J. Lechleitner, the move is designed to build public trust by enhancing “accountability, effectiveness, and… Read More
Lawsuits Prompt Immigration Agencies to Publish Critical Documents in Their FOIA Libraries
Last September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agreed to publish past versions of the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Impact Assessments on CBP One, the app that allows asylum seekers to schedule inspection appointments, among other functions. CBP agreed to post these documents in the agency’s Freedom of… Read More
Talking Turkey 2023: Kindness on the Subway
Over the last few weeks, as I reflected on writing our annual Thanksgiving blog post, I struggled to find the right words and message. During years past, this post offered best practices for engaging in dialogue across the days’ festivities. And although that recipe has been loved by many, I… Read More
New Board of Immigration Appeals Decision Sets Roadblock for Cubans, Others Seeking Green Cards
A recent Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision bars certain recently arrived noncitizens from becoming lawful permanent residents. In Matter of Cabrera-Fernandez, the BIA held that the petitioner had not been paroled into the United States when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released… Read More
Biden Administration Fights to Keep Private Immigration Jails Open, Despite Promises
“There should be no private prisons, period, none, period. And we are working to close all of them.” Those are the words of President Joe Biden in April 2021, when he was called out by immigrant rights activists at a rally celebrating his 100th day in office. This was… Read More
Biden Keeps Ties with Billion-Dollar Business of Immigration Detention, Despite Reports of Serious Abuse
On Thanksgiving Day 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Kamyar Samimi—a lawful permanent resident with a decade-old conviction for drug possession—and sent him to the privately run ICE Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado. Two weeks later, he was dead. Facility staff had forced him to stop methadone… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
