The Biden administration is reportedly preparing to launch a program that would subject people who seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to truncated fear screenings while locked up in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention centers. Under the previous administration, over 5,000 asylum…
The U.S. government and governments around the world are grappling with an increase in the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes by political and social oppression. Despite campaign commitments to restore humanity to immigration policy, the Biden administration has largely continued…
Frequently Asked Questions
On January 5, the Biden administration announced a suite of policies that will severely restrict access to asylum and harm refugees seeking to enter the United States at the southern border. This FAQ addresses each new policy and its implications on the right to seek…
Covering appropriations bills for the Department of Homeland Security; Commerce, Justice, Science; and Labor, Health and Human Services
With this year’s spending bill, Congress had a pivotal opportunity to make significant shifts towards a humane immigration system, but instead generally left…
As I reflect on all we accomplished this year, I’m so grateful for our supporters, legal volunteers, and the clients for whom we have the privilege of advocating. Together with all of you, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) continues our mission to establish and defend the legal rights of…
Felipe turned 11 years old in a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children this year, thousands of miles away from his parents. He had not arrived to the United States alone, but the U.S. government took him from his parents and sent them to a U.S. Marshals prison in Texas. Felipe was not able to…
The laws used to criminally prosecute people for entering and reentering the United States without permission are known as Sections 1325 (“unauthorized entry”) and 1326 (“unauthorized reentry”) of Chapter 8 of the U.S. Code. They originate from a law passed in 1929 amid the height of the eugenics…
This joint webinar by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights discusses our organizations' recent report, Punishing Trauma: Incident Reporting and Immigrant Children in Government Custody.
Co-authors Azadeh Erfani of NIJC and Jane Liu of…
This past year had a lot of unexpected challenges, and we wanted to say a big thank you to NIJC's amazing donors for your steadfast support of immigrants and asylum seekers. Colleen Kilbride, a senior attorney at NIJC who represents people and families seeking asylum, shares how your…
Biden Administration Must Protect, not Punish, Survivors
Last month, a group of people stopped for water near El Paso, Texas. They were migrating to the United States to reunite with family and seek protection. Two white men spotted the group and began shooting at them, killing one man and…