Policy And Research

A Guide for Members of Congress Visiting ICE Jails The U.S. immigration detention system has grown by nearly 50 percent under the Trump administration.1 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates approximately 200 facilities under contracts with private prison companies and county…

The National Immigrant Justice Center joined 76 other organizations in sending this letter to leaders in Congress urging them to oppose any legislation or measures that would undermine protections for children provided under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and the…

Prepared by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the National Immigration Law Center  Download this backgrounder as a PDF.  I.  Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): An Overview As the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration…

How should the United States treat asylum seekers and immigrants who seek safety and stability in our communities? The question implicates legal, ethical, moral, and economic considerations. The United States government has answered with wasteful policies rooted in cruelty and at odds with evidence…

In April 2018, agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security entered into an agreement to share information about unaccompanied children  in government custody and their prospective sponsors. This agreement, which went into effect in May…

The Trump administration regularly manipulates data to support its anti-immigrant agenda. Two weeks after President Trump shut down the federal government because Congress refused to approve funding to build a wall on the southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen presented a…

NIJC Ambassadors serve as important allies to immigrants in our communities by helping to raise awareness of immigrants’ rights and challenges, create safe spaces for conversation, and encourage the exchange of accurate, quality information. Community members who want to be ambassadors for…

Second Annual Report of the Chicago Legal Protection Fund Providing low-income Chicagoans access to free immigration legal services has been critical as the Trump administration has dismantled immigration protections in the United States and seeks to deport as many people as possible without due…

When the Trump administration implemented its disastrous “zero-tolerance” family-separation policy in spring 2018, Americans took to the streets to protest. But when it comes to the impact of U.S. immigration policy on families, these systemic acts of child abuse by immigration agents—tearing…

(June 2018)- The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a history of human rights violations. A new report released by Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, Detention Watch Network, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, further proves…