A growing number of communities are reevaluating their role in detaining immigrants on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local officials in Atlanta, Georgia recently decided to stop holding individuals for ICE in the city’s jails. The city was directed to “permanently stop accepting and housing ICE detainees at the Atlanta City Detention […]

Every year, the Census Bureau releases new data from its American Community Survey (ACS), which contains a wealth of information about the characteristics of the U.S. population. Without fail, this data always underscores the significant extent to which immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy. The 2017 data—released in September 2018—was no exception. As the ACS data […]

For the second time this year, a Border Patrol agent has been charged with murdering multiple people in Texas. Both agents were hired nearly a decade ago amidst a surge in staffing that backfired on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in many ways, resulting in Congress passing an act to improve hiring practices. However, […]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday evening that the Trump administration intends to limit refugee admissions to no more than 30,000 people in Fiscal Year 2019. In an effort to soften the blow, Pompeo noted the United States also intends to process 280,000 asylum cases, arguing that refugee admissions and asylum grants must be […]

Each year on September 17, America marks Citizenship Day, an annual opportunity to reflect on the benefits and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. In years past, it was used as a day to celebrate new Americans and encourage others who are eligible to become U.S. citizens. However, this year is different, as the security associated with […]

As Hurricane Florence pummels the southeastern United States, newly released Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents show that a total of $200 million—including $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the summer of 2018. This transfer of funds, which allows the agency to have […]

In a tentative partial settlement agreement reached with lawyers representing parents and children who were separated as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the government has agreed to give thousands of parents and children a second chance to seek asylum. Organizations have argued that parents were so traumatized by the separation from […]

In rural communities throughout the United States, immigration has been a demographic lifeline that offsets—at least in part—the dwindling number of native-born Americans. In fact, as a report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) explains, there are many rural areas in which schools, hospitals, and businesses would have shut their doors if not for […]

Rather than encourage the new class of 44 immigration judges to be fair and impartial adjudicators in his Monday morning speech, Attorney General Jeff Sessions advocated for a deeply flawed immigration court system and directed judges to carry out the Trump administration’s punitive, anti-immigration agenda. While many would have taken the opportunity to reinforce principles […]

The Pentagon recently announced that up to 4,000 National Guard troops will remain deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border through September 2019, following a 12-month extension authorized by Defense Secretary James Mattis. But the nature of the military service members’ work at the border—which is mostly menial labor—will still cost millions. The original deployment order, set […]