Speaking from the Rose Garden on Friday, President Trump invoked the National Emergency Act after Congress refused to provide full funding for additions to the U.S.-Mexico border wall. By declaring a national emergency, the president could potentially bypass Congress and pull from Department of Defense military construction funds to build new wall. As the president […]

Following three weeks of spending negotiations, Congress passed a budget deal on Thursday to fund the federal government through the end of September. Even though it did not include the money President Trump demanded to build a border wall, he signed the deal and then immediately declared a national emergency in order to reprogram funding […]

With the fate of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in jeopardy, immigrants from Honduras and Nepal brought a class action lawsuit against the federal government this week to stop the Trump administration from ending TPS for their respective countries. The case’s plaintiffs—six adults with TPS and two of their U.S.-born children—maintain that the termination is […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a long-standing and poor track record when it comes to transparency and accountability in immigration detention. A recent investigation from the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) confirms these concerns and further exposes problems with ICE’s management […]

On Monday evening in El Paso, Texas, two very different images of the U.S.-Mexico border emerged. President Trump held a rally to make the case for his border wall again, repeating his usual talking points on the supposed dangers lurking in the region. Just a block away, former Democratic Representative from El Paso, Texas Beto […]

In April 2018, the Trump administration officially rolled out its “zero tolerance” policy—a policy that has since been universally condemned for its cruel and unlawful practice of separating parents and children migrating to the United States. The policy has had widely documented traumatic and enduring effects on parents and their children. Immigration advocates filed six […]

The Trump administration began implementing a deeply troubling new policy on January 28, 2019, the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP). Under the MPP, the government prevents asylum seekers from entering the United States by forcing them to remain in Mexico pending their request for protection. Now, a new letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary […]

Despite the fact that immigrants living in and arriving in the United States today are not exactly receiving a warm welcome by key government institutions, a recent poll by the Cato Institute shows that immigrants’ faith in America’s key political institutions is strong. In fact, stronger than that of the native-born. General attitudes among the […]

Speaking before Congress and the nation Tuesday evening, President Trump once again promised bipartisanship and instead delivered division. When it came to immigration, the president neither offered an olive branch nor acknowledged the devastating effects of his administration’s actions to date. Rather than offer solutions to the actual problems facing immigrants across the country, his […]

Immigration will undoubtedly be a central issue during President Trump’s State of the Union address. However, it’s unlikely that any of the proposals the president advances will move us closer to a policy breakthrough. It’s more likely the president will propose ideas that make our immigration system less effective and do little to keep us […]