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Your weekly summary from the Council
LATEST ANALYSIS
FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- President Biden issued guidelines for targeted immigration enforcement on his first day in office, directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to focus on those it considers to be a threat to public safety or national security. But a Texas judge blocked the president's guidelines for targeted ICE enforcement—upending meaningful efforts to move away from an indiscriminate approach to immigration enforcement.
ICE has operated on overdrive for years, taking a harsh approach that has ripped families and communities apart throughout the United States. The Trump administration’s aggressive approach notably raised important questions about who is impacted by the wide net of increased enforcement.
This special report by the American Immigration Council examines the elimination of enforcement priorities and expansion of the enforcement net under the Trump administration, revealing its impact on U.S. citizens, immigrant women, and individuals in certain regions of the country.
Read more: Changing Patterns of Interior Immigration Enforcement in the United States, 2016 -2018
ACROSS THE NATION
- For two years, MPP inflicted extreme harm on vulnerable people seeking protection in the United States, forcing 70,000 asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings, while also making it nearly impossible for them to access the asylum process. 1 in 70 asylum seekers placed into MPP publicly reported being victims of rape, kidnapping, assault, and other crimes.
Despite the detrimental impact of the program, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the program. The government appealed, asking for the order to be put on pause, but its appeal got denied.
The American Immigration Council is working to ensure MPP does not go back into effect. Along with partners, the Council filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals —which the Department of Justice is citing in its case against MPP—to stop the reinstatement. The brief argues that the lower court in Texas ignored critical facts about the program, including its devastating impact on vulnerable individuals and the extreme due process issues it caused.
Read more: Council and Partners Submit Amicus Brief to Stop the Reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols
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The Council led a coalition of over 100 organizations to speak out against the MPP reinstatement. The letter to the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security called on the Biden administration to do everything in its power to prevent this order from going into effect, up to and including an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
Read more: Council Calls on Biden Administration to Block the Return of MPP
MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
Our fight for a fair, just, and more welcoming immigration system didn’t end with a new administration. Donate today to help us build a system that works for all.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“MPP turned its nose at due process, left asylum seekers stranded in one of the most violent parts of the world, and shirked our humanitarian obligations protected by federal and international law. Yet a judge in Texas conveniently glossed over these facts when ordering that the program be reinstated. We’ve now asked the court of appeals to correct these errors and keep MPP a stain in the history books, rather than a present-day disaster.”
– Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council
FURTHER READING
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