President Obama recently ordered a review of deportations, looking for ways to make the US immigration system more humane.  But as we and others have pointed out, we already know a lot of what needs to be fixed.  Case in point, in an op-ed at the Los Angeles Times today, former Acting... Continue »
The following is a press release from the Border Network for Human Rights Border Stakeholders Recognize Historic and Unprecedented Effort to Bring Quality, Oversight and Accountability to Border Enforcement  El Paso, TX/Southern New Mexico– In the midst of a national discussion over the actions and strategies of US border... Continue »
Today, a bipartisan border bill is being introduced by Reps. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and Steve Pearce (R-NM) designed to increase the transparency of CPB actions along the border.  Here’s John Stanton at Buzzfeed previewing the new bill and its chances: Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Texas Democrat and one of the... Continue »
The Washington Post editorialized about immigration reform this weekend: IN BLOCKING immigration reform in the House of Representatives, Republicans have frozen in place a system that much of the nation, and many in the GOP, regard as an exemplar of American dysfunction. Hence the irony that so many Republicans... Continue »
A new Pew Research study, “The Rise of Federal Immigration Crimes,” demonstrates that our nation increasingly treats immigration violations as worthy of heavy-handed criminal enforcement actions.  The decision to prioritize prosecutions of immigrants who return to the U.S. to live with their families—a trend that was begun by the... Continue »
Recently, we’ve written much about Alfredo Ramos, the 40-year-old father of three who was indicted by a Grand Jury last week for crossing the border to reunite with his family. Undocumented entry into the US used to be a civil violation.  But increasingly, re-entry is a crime punishable with... Continue »
The Border Patrol and its policies allowing for the excessive use of force came under renewed scrutiny last week, with the release of a DHS inspector general report investigating 67 cases that resulted in 19 deaths.  The report found, among other things, evidence of Border Patrol agents deliberately stepping... Continue »
The Criminal Alien Removal Initiative (CARI) is a little-known ICE enforcement program that we’ve been hearing about in places like New Orleans for the last several months.  ICE says that immigrants who are arrested get their fingerprints scanned, and agents determine if that person is a deportation priority.  Immigration and... Continue »
New Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has his work cut out for him when it comes to immigration enforcement.  As Brian Bennett of Los Angeles Times highlights in a new story, entitled, “Border Patrol’s use of deadly force criticized in report,” the extreme and overly aggressive tactics... Continue »
Saturday was an historic day in Anthony, New Mexico. More than 1,000 people gathered at a church to hear from two Congressmen – a Democrat and a Republican – about how to make the border a safer place for migrants who travel through and people who live there.  It was... Continue »