State Map on Immigration Enforcement
This map focuses on state laws that regulate the state’s involvement in immigration enforcement. The map looks at what these policies do, where they are, where they aren’t, and what is left open.
The Department of Homeland Security detains and deports hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year. The massive immigration enforcement regime has devastating effects on immigrant families and communities. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has been at the forefront of campaigns locally and nationally to fight back against immigration enforcement and protect immigrant rights.
The ILRC provides resources and support to communities and organizations working on immigration enforcement issues, including background explanations, strategy tools for campaigns, legal and policy analyses, and ongoing assistance to campaigns fighting against unfair immigration enforcement.
Latest Resources
FAQs & Explainers
Resources
Publication Date
03/01/2023
In August 2021, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a new “victim-centered approach” for immigration enforcement. This FAQ outlines what this means, what the directive is expected to do, and who qualifies for this new enforcement approach.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources
Publication Date
03/01/2023
Cannabis legalization has long been a growing theme across the United States, having a place in virtually every recent election cycle and in policy debates related to the federal government’s role in restricting its access, sale, use, and distribution. With many states moving to legalize cannabis for recreational use and with the Biden administration recently deciding to pardon individuals for certain federal convictions related to its possession, it may seem as though we are coming to the end of the cannabis prohibition era. Unfortunately, not only is that moment yet to arrive, but the dangers for immigrants, in particular, could not be higher. This downloadable guide walks through the current intersection of cannabis, criminal, and immigration law and also shares insights about what a pathway out of prohibition could look like.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources
Publication Date
10/06/2022
Sample questions about the sheriff’s policy positions on working with ICE that advocates or community members can use at candidate forums or other meetings. For more background information about sheriffs and their role in the deportation pipeline, see: https://www.ilrc.org/role-sheriffs-and-arrest-deportation-pipeline
Toolkit & Reports
Resources
Publication Date
09/29/2022
ICE has built and expanded a massive infrastructure of immigration jails, surveillance programs, and enforcement agents. The current enforcement-centered response to migration, supported by ever-increasing Congressional appropriations, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deportations each year. Over the last two decades, the budget for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which includes its account for immigration detention, has quadrupled. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, detention levels hit historic peaks of more than 50,000 people per day.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources
Publication Date
09/26/2022
This one-page guide provides an overview of Prosecutorial Discretion and how it can be applied when someone has come in contact with ICE.
Practice Advisory
Resources
Publication Date
06/29/2022
Filing an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is a crucial step for many noncitizens facing removal because it is the last opportunity to obtain a favorable decision from the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Often, reviewing the immigration judge’s decision for errors is a daunting task. It can be difficult to separate identifying issues to appeal, from the overwhelming sense of injustice that can result from a negative decision. This advisory will focus on reviewing decisions by Immigration Judges (IJs) and identifying issues to raise on appeal to the BIA. The goal is to equip practitioners with a framework to look for errors where the IJ has denied relief or otherwise ordered removal.
Practice Advisory
Resources
Publication Date
06/23/2022
This advisory provides an overview of ICE’s new “victim-centered” approach to immigration enforcement based on an August 2021 directive, including who qualifies as a victim and which ICE actions are covered. As part of this new approach, ICE officers and agents are instructed to look out for and in various circumstances exercise prosecutorial discretion in favor of noncitizen survivors of crime as part of their decisions to arrest, detain, release, and refer noncitizens.
Practice Advisory
Resources
Publication Date
07/25/2022
On April 3, 2022, ICE Principal Legal Advisor Kerry Doyle issued guidance to all OPLA attorneys on how and when to exercise prosecutorial discretion in removal proceedings under DHS’s enforcement priorities. That guidance took effect on April 25, 2022 and replaces the previous OPLA guidance issued by former Principal Legal Advisor John Trasviña in May 2021. The Doyle guidance presents new opportunities for practitioners to seek positive outcomes for clients facing deportation, while also presenting some new challenges. This practice advisory provides key information on the Doyle memo and practice tips on advocating for prosecutorial discretion for clients in removal proceedings. The advisory also includes information on the ongoing litigation challenging DHS’s enforcement priorities and how that litigation may affect OPLA’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Practice Advisory
Resources
Publication Date
06/08/2022
This advisory lays out some of the main “pros” and “cons” to applying for U nonimmigrant status for crime victims as they exist now, to help prospective applicants weigh the benefits and risks of applying. “Pros” include direct benefits of temporary lawful status, employment authorization, protection from removal, a pathway to a green card that is not barred by almost any grounds of inadmissibility, and the ability to help family members obtain immigration status. Additional “pros” include special confidentiality provisions, eligibility for public benefits, eligibility for the Central American Minors program, and special consideration by ICE, among other collateral benefits. “Cons” include very long processing times and vulnerability to divergent discretionary decisions during fluctuations in enforcement priorities and other policies in the many years it takes to get a decision.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources
Publication Date
04/20/2022
In Texas, Black and Latinx migrants are being harmed by Operation Lone Star- an unconstitutional and racist law enforcement operation that is criminalizing migrants who are seeking safety in the U.S. border. Operation Lone Star is a complex scheme involving multiple law enforcement agencies in the state. This comprehensive resource explains how Operation Lonestar is being implemented and funded, explains why this operation is illegal and unconstitutional, highlights how this scheme expands the carceral and enforcement systems, and how it’s harming entire border communities.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources
Publication Date
07/22/2022
Another federal court has issued an injunction against DHS enforcement policies. Below is a quick summary to help you keep up. This court order does not change current policies as much as you might think. You can, and should, continue to advocate for prosecutorial discretion for your clients and community members.
ILRC Resources on 287(g)
Check out our map of 287(g) agreements and various resources to fight 287(g) in your community.
Related Products
Webinar
Webinar
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions in 2018, there has been a long line of caselaw about whether a Notice to Appear (NTA) missing the time, date or location of proceedings strips the immigration court of jurisdiction to hear a case, triggers the stop-time rule in various contexts, or is sufficient for the issuance of an in absentia removal order. In this webinar, we will discuss how to challenge a NTA that is missing the time, date, or location of proceedings, and we will review the latest caselaw on this topic, including Matter of Fernandes, 28 I&N Dec. 605 (BIA 2022). We will also discuss best practices for preserving arguments for appeal, even when BIA or circuit court caselaw is not on our side.
Webinar
Webinar
In this webinar, we will discuss how asylum seekers, including recent entrants, can seek release from immigration custody via bond and parole. We will review eligibility for bond and parole for arriving aliens, and the implications of Matter of M-S-, 27 I&N 509 (AG 2019) on asylum seekers. We will also discuss who may seek bond before the immigration judge and strategies for the bond hearing. This webinar will leave advocates armed with tips and best practices when representing asylum seekers requesting release from detention.
Webinar
Webinar
Date and Time: 03/28/2023 11:00am to 12:30pm PDT
Recorded Date: 03/28/2023
Place: Online
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 - 11:00am
MCLE: 1.5 CA & TX
Recorded Date: 03/28/2023
Place: Online
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 - 11:00am
MCLE: 1.5 CA & TX
Video
Video
In this recording, we discuss how ICE operates and goes about detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of people a year. Designed for those new to the fight against ICE, we provide an overview of how ICE operates as well as an overview of local efforts to push back against ICE’s increasingly aggressive tactics. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the various mechanisms ICE employs to identify, arrest, and deport people along with clear strategies and tools that can be used by advocates to protect our communities.
Webinar
Video
Video
This webinar provides key communications tools to uplift a values-based narrative and push back against anti-immigrant scapegoating, in support of the VISION Act (pending state bill which strengthens the CA Values Act) and other similar policy asks. The webinar provides a brief overview of the VISION Act, and then focuses largely on messaging and communications. Specifically, the webinar covers talking points and communications tactics needed to push back when our opposition uses fear-mongering and scapegoating to exclude people with crimes from protection. This webinar is aimed at ensuring that we all have the communications tools to turn our policy asks into a reality.To access this recording, please email gruiz@ilrc.org.
National Map of Local Entanglement with ICE
A map showing the degree to which local policies limit assistance in immigration enforcement