| Your weekly summary from the Council. |
| |
The Texas Dream Act was signed into law in 2001, years before I ever walked across the stage at my high school graduation in 2014. I was five, maybe six at the time, probably watching Barney and playing with Barbies, completely unaware that a policy signed by then-Governor Rick Perry would one day allow me to attend college. |
A recent budget reconciliation bill, if signed into law, would represent the single biggest increase in funding to immigration enforcement in the history of the United States. The bill would provide nearly $80 billion for internal immigration enforcement, including $45 billion dollars for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and $14.4 billion for ICE transportation and removal operations. |
In April, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the updated 2024 inventory of unclassified and non-sensitive AI use cases within the department. The public data revealed something powerful: artificial intelligence isn’t just a future possibility in immigration enforcement—it’s already here. |
One month after President Trump declared English as the only official language of the United States, communities across the country celebrated Language Access Month throughout April. The month emphasizes the importance of ensuring that all people—regardless of the language they speak—can access the information, services, and rights they are entitled to. |
ICE has ramped up its operations throughout the country, coordinating with local law enforcement in places like Nashville, Tennessee. Recently, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE ran a largescale traffic stop that resulted in the arrest of dozens of people.
Based on the American Immigration Council’s research, we know that these types of operations can lead to racial profiling. In Ohio, our analysis found Border Patrol agents colluded with local law enforcement agencies to target Latinos who fit a certain profile for enforcement, detention, and removal.
Read more: Immigration Enforcement Abuse by Border Patrol and Local Law Enforcement in Ohio
|
Within hours of taking office, President Trump took several sweeping, executive actions on immigration. In one executive order, he directed ICE to detain noncitizens “to the maximum extent authorized by law” and realign policies for paroling noncitizens out of immigration detention with this directive.
Trump also suspended the entry of noncitizens at the U.S.-Mexico border on the pretext that irregular migration across the border amounted to an “invasion.” He further ordered the Secretary of Homeland Security to “repel, repatriate, and remove” any noncitizen who crossed the border.
ICE has not published policies implementing these executive actions despite having a duty to do so under the Freedom of Information Act and a memo issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Chief FOIA Officer.
Last week, the Council filed a FOIA request with ICE to investigate its implementation of these executive actions. The FOIA request seeks all memoranda, musters, guidance, and other similar records implementing these executive actions.
These records will allow us to educate the public about changes to ICE detention and removal due to these actions.
Read more: Investigating ICE’s Changes to Parole Policies and Other Implementation of President Trump’s Day One Immigration Actions |
“Michelle Lapointe, legal director for the American Immigration Council, said she has noticed a pattern where ICE does not give parents the opportunity to make the best decision for their children. 'The result is that you’re essentially exiling a U.S. citizen [child] to a country that they don’t necessarily know or have any connection to when you’re not allowing parents to make arrangements for their children to remain,’ she said.” |
|
|
|
