Border Patrol detained 600 families for several days under the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, Texas. Migrants were held from Saturday to Monday, and were not provided with adequate shelter or medical care.
U.S. border officials are holding 5,000 unaccompanied minors in custody, and many are remaining in Border Patrol custody for longer than the legal limit of 72 hours.
Unaccompanied migrant children are staying in Border Patrol facilities for an average of 107 hours (far more than the legal limit of 72), according to internal documents.
The Biden administration is preparing to convert family detention centers in South Texas to rapid-processing centers. The change is expected to cut detention times to a maximum of 72 hours.
Migrant children crossing the border are being held for 77 hours on average, according to CNN. This exceeds the legal limit of 72 hours and demonstrates the inadequate capacity of border infrastructure to handle the current migration influx.
ICE officials told immigration activists that they will be ending long-term detention at two Texas facilities, Dilley and Karnes City. Migrants will be held just long enough to administer Covid tests and arrange transportation but will no longer be held to wait for asylum screenings or court dates.
Published by WOLA on December 2, 2020.
Recommendations to assist Mexico’s asylum system, reduce migrant detention in Mexico, and help Mexico make its approach to migration more rights-respecting.
Published by USA Today on November 12, 2020.
A policy-by-policy overview of what it would take for the Biden administration to undo the Trump administration’s hardline border and migration policies.
Published by Reuters on September 29, 2020.
Migrants in limbo have hope for change if Donald Trump loses the election, but walking back many of the Trump administration’s anti-asylum policies will be difficult.
A 14-month investigation by House committee staff finds poor conditions and urgent health risks for migrants in ICE’s network of privatized detention centers. (Link at oversight.house.gov)
Published by the House Committee on Homeland Security on September 21, 2020.
A year-long study based on site visits to eight ICE detention centers finds deficient medical care, abuse of solitary confinement, challenges accessing legal services, and unsanitary conditions. (Link at homeland.house.gov)
Published by Project South on September 14, 2020.
A whistleblower complaint about health risks—possibly including non-consensual surgeries on women—and unsafe work practices at the Irwin County ICE detention facility in Georgia.
Published by Reveal on September 10, 2020.
ICE repeatedly rebuffed New Mexico state health officials’ offers to help control a worsening outbreak of COVID-19 at its Otero County Processing Center.
Published by The Intercept on September 5, 2020.
How the pandemic and the Trump administration’s crackdown on asylum are being experienced in southern Arizona.
Published by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector-General on September 1, 2020.
The result of congressionally mandated unannounced inspections of CBP holding facilities. (Link at oig.dhs.gov)
Published by the Center for Migration Studies on August 24, 2020.
A summary of recent experience with border security and migration, with a long list of recommendations.
Published by the Migration Policy Institute on July 31, 2020.
Catalogues more than 400 administrative changes to the U.S. border security and immigration regime during the Trump administration, and what it might take to undo them.
Published by the Washington Office on Latin America on July 27, 2020.
An overview of key measures in the House of Representatives’ version of the 2021 DHS appropriation, including cutting border wall spending, defunding “Remain in Mexico,” reducing ICE detention, and others.
Published by the House Appropriations Committee on July 14, 2020.
The House appropriators’ narrative report accompanying the 2021 bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. (Link at appropriations.house.gov)