Enforcement

Term Page
Enforcement

Carceral Carousel
Detention
Enforcement
The prison industrial complex is a highly adaptive mechanism that is constantly shifting to sustain itself. In recent years, the movement against mass incarceration has gained traction in reducing penal incarceration in the United States. In this report in collaboration with the Detention Watch Network, we detail select case examples of jails and prisons that closed for one purpose, only to cage a different group of people. The case studies demonstrate the importance of looking ahead to strategies which ensure that cages remain closed for all carceral uses, once and for all.

Immigrant Legal Defense Funds in Texas
Community Resources
Crimes
Detention
Enforcement
Removal Defense
An immigrant legal defense fund pays legal service providers to represent community members facing deportation in immigration court. This resource provides a general overview of immigrant legal defense funds (ILDFs) at the municipal level in Texas, including why they are needed, the goals and components of a strong ILDF, and examples of these funds from across the state.

Challenging a Deficient NTA

Enforcement
Removal Defense

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...

Requesting Bond and Parole for Asylum Seekers

Asylum
Detention
Enforcement

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-...

Enforcement

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.

Popular Resources

A map of the U.S. highlighting states with pro-immigrant policies.

State Map on Immigration Enforcement

This map focuses on state laws that regulate the state’s involvement in immigration enforcement.
A map of the U.S. highlighting counties who work with local law enforcement.

National Map of Local Entanglement with ICE

The map represents the degree to which local policies limit assistance in immigration enforcement.
U.S. map pointing counties with 287(g) agreements.

National Map of 287(g) Agreements

This map represents the 137 total jurisdictions across the country that currently have 287(g) agreements under the jail enforcement and Warrant Service Officer models.
First four pages of this resources staked on one another.

Local Policy Interventions for Protecting Immigrants

On this resource, we identify the key policy intervention and link to examples of where state and local governments have taken this on.
First four pages of this resource stacked on each other.

Open Records Laws for Immigrant Rights Advocates

This toolkit and webinar provides advice for how immigrant rights advocates can use public records act requests to get information on how immigrants are treated by local and state government agencies.
Illustration of an ICE agent and a sheriff shaking hands.

The Role of Sheriffs and the Arrest-to-Deportation Pipeline

This short fact sheet helps explain the role and power of sheriffs and their engagement with ICE.
Sample page annotated for advocates

Annotated Detainer Form 2021

This sample ICE detainer is annotated to highlight what advocates should look for, and explains some of the legal problems with detainers.
Image of a carousel depicting the shifting nature of carceral facilities.

Carceral Carousel

This report details select case examples of jails and prisons that closed for one purpose, only to cage a different group of people.

Latest Resources

Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comment Opposing the Imposition of ICE Fines
Publication Date
07/28/2025
On July 28, 2025, the ILRC submitted a comment opposing a new government rule that imposes massive civil fines—sometimes up to nearly $2 million—on immigrants who entered the U.S. without authorization or did not leave after a removal order.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

FAQs: How Denaturalization Works
Publication Date
08/05/2025
Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a memo listing out its priorities for civil enforcement cases. In that memo, the DOJ states that it will be focusing on denaturalization cases. This memo - along with statements made by administration officials and members of congress - has sparked a lot of attention on denaturalization and questions about who could be denaturalized. This has caused a lot of fear and uncertainty in communities, but denaturalization is not as straightforward as you might think.
Toolkit & Reports
Resources

Immigration Dragnet: The New Era of 287(g)
Publication Date
07/29/2025
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) authorized the creation of a program that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents.This policy brief reviews the recent history of 287(g) agreements and how they’ve proliferated, describes the three 287(g) agreement models, examines a case study of escalating 287(g) programs in Florida, delves into the programs’ dangers and harms, and provides some recommendations for local communities that want to stop 287(g) agreements in their tracks.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Immigration “Wellness Checks” For Children: What sponsors, household members, and young people need to know

Publication Date
07/16/2025
Community members across the country are reporting visits from immigration and other federal officers seeking to meet with certain children who entered the United States unaccompanied. These children are often referred to as “unaccompanied children” (UCs) because at the time they were arrested by immigration (such as crossing the border), they were not with a parent or legal guardian. Although these visits are sometimes described as “wellness checks,” they are part of a broader, coordinated effort to locate and deport some vulnerable young people and their sponsors. It is crucial for families and immigrant communities to stay informed, exercise their rights, and seek legal support when needed.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Responding to DHS Motions to Recalendar
Publication Date
07/01/2025
In recent months, the Department of Homeland Security has begun filing thousands of motions to recalendar administratively closed proceedings. This trend is raising questions about how attorneys and accredited representatives can respond to these motions and protect their clients’ interests, particularly in cases that have been administratively closed for many years. This advisory explores those questions and offers strategy considerations when determining how to proceed in each case.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Know Your Rights Solidarity Signs (English/Español)
Publication Date
06/02/2025
Let ICE know that you’re aware of your rights!

The ILRC has prepared free, downloadable signs to help you let your local communities know that you stand with them! Tell ICE that you are prepared to defend your guests, patrons, students, patients, or clients from unlawful entry or intimidation.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Protections Against Immigration Enforcement From Court Orders
Publication Date
05/27/2025
Given the Trump administration’s vow to carry out mass deportations, ICE has already expanded its enforcement actions and gotten increasingly aggressive about its tactics. But advocates should be aware that there are legal protections against these abuses of power. These protections from unfair and unlawful actions come from court battles that have been litigated and won. Knowledge is power and knowing these cases will be a powerful tool to have if ICE oversteps and violates immigrant’s rights.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Gonzalez v. ICE Advisory for Criminal Defense Attorneys
Publication Date
05/20/2025
Step by step explanation for criminal defense counsel of how to identify ICE detainers that may be issued in violation of the Gonzalez v. ICE class action. This class action settlement applies nation-wide to limit ICE’s issuance of detainers. This advisory walks through the basics of the case and how to monitor and respond to any violations of the settlement.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Arrest-to-Deportation Pipeline
Publication Date
05/16/2025
Despite the real risk of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) visiting someone’s home, below is the primary pathway in which most vulnerable immigrants will find the highest risk of deportation. This infographic maps out the United States’ arrest-to-deportation pipeline and offers a glimpse of the multiple ways immigrants can be pushed into removal proceedings, from initial contact with law enforcement to immigration detention. Because there are regional differences in local law enforcement policies, variances in which cities participate in federal immigration enforcement programs, and new state-specific laws that serve the deportation machine, this infographic is NOT exhaustive.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Discussing Registration with Clients
Publication Date
05/14/2025
On April 11, 2025, the new Form G-325R took effect as a general tool to register all previously unregistered noncitizens under an antiquated and rarely invoked provision of the Immigration & Nationality Act, with criminal penalties for willful failure to register. This advisory was written to assist attorneys in discussing registration and the new Form G-325R with clients, including screening for prior registration and assessing the potential consequences of registering or not registering, so that individuals can make informed decisions about how to proceed in light of this new rule.
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ILRC Resources on 287(g)

Check out our map of 287(g) agreements and various resources to fight 287(g) in your community.
View more

Related Products

Webinar
Webinar

Challenging a Deficient NTA
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

Challenging a Deficient NTA
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

Requesting Bond and Parole for Asylum Seekers
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.
Video
Video

Police-ICE Collusion: Essential Knowledge and Interventions
This webinar digs into how ICE operates and how local law enforcement agencies are really involved, so that we can demand strategic reforms. SComm is not the only way ICE gets information from localities, the Criminal Alien Program and 287(g) are also big players, as well as ICE’s broad access to various law enforcement databases and the growing surveillance state.  In order to fight deportations, we need to get a hands-on, granular pictures of how ICE is operating, how they are using detainers and warrants, what access they have to the jail, and how local police and sheriffs respond to various ICE requests for information and access. How does this change when you have an ICE detention contract or a 287(g) agreement? What are the important legal hooks, and what are the policy arguments and community strategies for getting local governments to stop doing ICE’s bidding?
Video
Video

New Immigration Enforcement Priorities Recording - Spanish
DHS acaba de anunciar nuevas prioridades de aplicación de la ley de inmigración. Únase a nuestro seminario web para conocer los desarrollos recientes de políticas y lo que se avecina. Profundizaremos en los detalles de la nueva política y discutiremos los mensajes y el marco para usar esta guía en un caso individual, incluidos consejos de organización y promoción para elevar los casos individuales a miembros del congreso y la oficina central del DHS.

National Map of Local Entanglement with ICE

A map showing the degree to which local policies limit assistance in immigration enforcement
View more

Emerging Strategies for Prolonged Detention

Detention
Enforcement

Level: IntermediateThis webinar is geared toward those who have some bond experience and would like to take a deeper dive into the law. In this webinar, we will focus on emerging topics following developments in prolonged detention caselaw. We will...

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