- New Data Shows the Landscape of Community Support Services to Replace Immigration Detention March 3 2021The U.S. government has long relied on a punitive and outdated detention system to keep immigrants in its custody. Even when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) places people on alternatives to detention, those alternatives are run by for-profit corporations and involve intrusive surveillance through devices like ankle monitors. New data released this week by […]Katie Shepherd
- ICE’s Changes to Family Detention Are an Improvement but Don’t Go Far Enough March 2 2021U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that it would make changes to two family detention centers in Texas that would result in families spending less time in detention. The agency states that the facilities will be turned into “reception centers,” where families receive COVID-19 tests, arrange travel to their destination, and are […]Katy Murdza
- A Federal Defender System for Immigrants Is Long Overdue February 26 2021The stakes in immigration court could not be higher—many people face the possibility of being permanently torn away from their families and communities in the United States. Others seeking protection in the U.S. risk being forced back to dangerous conditions in their home countries. Despite these extraordinarily high stakes, immigrants are not entitled to publicly […]Jocelyn Dyer
- President Biden Ends Part of Trump’s Ban on Legal Immigration February 25 2021President Biden has ended a 10-month ban on immigrant visas—the COVID-19 immigrant visa ban. The Trump administration issued the ban in April 2020 in the name of “protecting” American jobs during the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The real purpose was not to provide any meaningful economic benefit, but to achieve the largescale […]Katy Murdza
- What Are the Benefits of the J-1 Visa? February 25 2021Over the past year, sweeping orders have banned many non-immigrant visa holders from entering the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic gave many former Trump administration officials the opportunity to restrict immigration based on fears surrounding the spread of the coronavirus and U.S. unemployment and immigration. The extended executive order—in effect until March 31—has consequently kept […]Lennet Penate
- Why Has Immigration Become Such a Divisive Issue? February 22 2021Why has immigration become such a heated issue for those on the right and the left? It’s because many Americans have—without realizing it—sacralized their values and beliefs associated with immigration. This explains in part why the debate has become uncompromising and moralized. What can we do about it? Answers can be found in a new […]Wendy Feliz
- New ICE Enforcement Priorities Represent an Important Shift, But More Change Is Needed February 19 2021For years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken a harsh, punitive approach that has ripped families and communities apart. The Trump administration’s approach was particularly cruel and xenophobic, resulting in the highest detention numbers the United States has ever seen. ICE’s new enforcement priorities hopefully signal an important turn from the hate-driven enforcement […]Jennie Guilfoyle
- In a Win for Transparency, Court Orders Board of Immigration Appeals to Make Immigration Court Decisions Public February 18 2021The Second Circuit has found that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) must publish immigration decisions, reversing an earlier federal district court decision. The case challenged the Department of Justice’s longstanding practice of failing to publish immigration decisions by the BIA—the highest administrative court deciding immigration cases—in any forum that could be easily accessed by […]Emily Creighton
- DHS Strikes Down Trump Deal with ICE Union, Paving the Way for Biden’s Changes to Immigration Enforcement February 17 2021Just days before it was due to take effect, the Biden administration has struck down a last-minute deal made between the Trump administration and the union for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agreement would have given ICE’s union the authority to veto President Biden’s immigration enforcement policies. The union—which endorsed Trump for president […]Melissa Cruz
- Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Process Asylum Seekers Subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols February 12 2021The Trump administration sent over 70,000 people who came to the U.S border seeking asylum back to Mexico to wait for court hearings. This so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (“MPP”) program placed people in serious danger and made it nearly impossible for anyone to win protection. Court hearings under MPP were indefinitely suspended in March 2020. […]Aaron Reichlin-Melnick