Immigration Enforcement

dacaIn recent years, federal immigration enforcement policies and practices, including increased reliance on state and local agencies for information about non-U.S. citizens, have swept an unprecedented number of people into the detention and deportation system. These policies rip families apart, encourage racial profiling, and undermine due process. States and localities, too, have enacted laws designed to make life so difficult for immigrants that they are forced to go elsewhere. Through policy work and litigation, NILC challenges unjust enforcement-related federal, state, and local policies and laws whose main targets are low-income immigrants and their families.

Immigration Enforcement InformationLitigation


COVID-19 Resources
Resources | COVID-19 Crisis and Consequences

Federal Enforcement & Information Sharing
Factsheet: Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART): DHS is Building a Massive Database of Personal Information
RESOURCE LIST: Immigration Enforcement–related Information Sharing and Privacy Protection
Glossary: Immigration Databases, Information Sharing Systems, and Case Management Systems
Cradle to Grave: DHS Builds System to Track and Surveil Immigrants and Impede Access to Lawful Status
Stop Trump’s Midnight Surveillance Rule: Proposed Rule Would Track and Surveil Immigrants and Impede Access to Immigration Status by Expanding Biometrics Collections
Nlets: Questions and Answers
Untangling the Immigration Enforcement Web: Basic Information for Advocates about Databases and Information-Sharing Among Federal, State, and Local Agencies
How ICE Uses Local Criminal Justice Systems to Funnel People Into the Detention and Deportation System
How U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement and State Motor Vehicle Departments Share Information
How California Driver’s License Records Are Shared with the Department of Homeland Security

Enforcement in the Workplace: Employers’ Rights
What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace (a guide for employers)

Campus Safe Zones
Model Campus Safe Zones Resolution Language: K–12
Model Campus Safe Zones Resolution Language: Colleges & Universities
Understanding the Sanctuary School and Safe Zone Movement: A Quick Guide for Educators (hyperlink is to Immigrants Rising website)

Arrest & Detention (Unaccompanied Children)
The Orantes Injunction (requires DHS to uphold certain rights of Salvadorans in immigration detention)
The Nationwide Perez-Fuñez Permanent Injunction Provisions for Unaccompanied Children in DHS Custody (PDF)

Right to Legal Counsel
Blazing a Trail: The Fight for Right to Counsel in Detention and Beyond
Advancing Universal Representation: A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers (The Center for Popular Democracy, National Immigration Law Center, and Vera Institute of Justice)
California’s Due Process Crisis: Access to Legal Counsel for Detained Immigrants (PDF) (California Coalition for Universal Representation)

State and Local Enforcement
Along Racial Lines: The Genesis of Arizona’s SB 1070 Is a Cautionary Tale of Race-based Immigration Policy




Dramatically Increased Fees Deny Access to Justice
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., et al. v. Executive Office for Immigration Review, et al.

Unlawful Confinement Resulting from ICE “Holds”
Adame-Reyes v. Lombardo (Las Vegas sheriff violates the Constitution in cooperating with ICE hold requests)

Detention and Removal
Jane Doe #1, et al. v. Chad Wolf, et al. (detention conditions in Border Patrol facilities)
Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez v. U.S. Customs & Border Protection, et al. (deported DACA recipient denied information sought under FOIA)
American Immigration Council, et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al. (FOIA — looking for answers in Artesia)
M.S.P.C., et al. v. Johnson, et al. (lack of due process in Artesia detention facility)
Orantes-Hernandez v. Holder (challenging abuses in the detention and removal system)

Louisiana
Vo v. Gee, et al.: Challenge to law that denies certain immigrants their right to marry
Cacho, et al. v. Gusman: Challenge to Orleans Parish sheriff for illegal immigration holds

Alabama
Alabama’s HB 56: Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, et al. v. Bentley, et al.
Alabama’s HB 56, Section 30: Central Alabama Fair Housing, et al., v. Julie Magee, Alabama Revenue Commissioner, et al.
Alabama’s HB 658, Section 5: Jane Doe #1, et al. v. Hobson, et al. (challenge to blacklisting or “scarlet letter” provision)

Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Utah
Arizona’s SB 1070: Valle del Sol, et al. v. Whiting, et al., formerly Friendly House, et al. v. Whiting, et al.
Georgia’s HB 87: Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, et al. v. Deal, et al.
Indiana’s SB 590 & HB 1402: Buquer, et al. v. City of Indianapolis, et al.
South Carolina’s SB 20: Lowcountry Immigration Coalition, et al. v. Haley, et al.
Utah’s HB 497: Utah Coalition of La Raza, et al. v. Herbert, et al.


MORE INFORMATION
Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff
Tools and resources to help protect and prepare youth and families in case of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid