The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security,roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism,border security,immigration and customs,cyber security,and disaster prevention and management.
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003.
The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System(NSEERS) or INS Special Registration was a system for registering certain non-citizens within the United States,initiated in September 2002 as part of the War on Terrorism. Portions were suspended as of April 27,2011,and the entirety of the regulation was removed on December 23,2016.
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security,the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11,2001.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
The Real ID Act of 2005 is an Act of Congress that establishes requirements that driver licenses and identification cards issued by U.S. states and territories must satisfy to be accepted for accessing federal government facilities and nuclear power plants and for boarding airline flights in the United States. The requirements include verification of the personal information presented when applying for the identification document,security features on the document,and electronic sharing of databases between states. The act also made various modifications to U.S. immigration law regarding asylum,border security,deportation,and certain work visas.
Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deputize selected state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law. Section 287(g) allows the DHS and law enforcement agencies to make agreements,which require the state and local officers to receive training and work under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE provides the officers with authorization to identify,process,and—when appropriate—detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular,daily law-enforcement activity.
Temporary protected status (TPS) is given by the United States government to eligible nationals of designated countries,as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,who are present in the United States. In general,the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant temporary protected status to people already present in the United States who are nationals of a country experiencing ongoing armed conflict,an environmental disaster,or any temporary or extraordinary conditions that would prevent the foreign national from returning safely and assimilating into their duty. Temporary protected status allows beneficiaries to live and,in some cases,work in the United States for a limited amount of time. As of March 2022,there are more than 400,000 foreign nationals in Temporary Protected Status.
The United States government holds tens of thousands of immigrants in detention under the control of Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigrants are detained for unlawful entry to the United States,when their claims for asylum are received,and in the process of deportation and removal from the country. During Fiscal Year 2018,396,448 people were booked into ICE custody:242,778 of whom were detained by CBP and 153,670 by ICE's own enforcement operations. A daily average of 42,188 immigrants were held by ICE in that year. In addition,over twelve thousand immigrant children are housed by facilities under the supervision of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's program for Unaccompanied Alien Children. Prior to referral to these other agencies,the CBP holds immigrants at processing centers;between mid-May and mid-June 2019,it held between 14,000 and 18,000 immigrants.
Margo Jane Schlanger is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School,and the founder and director of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Previously,she was at Washington University School of Law. From 2010 to 2012,while on leave from her professorial position,she served as the presidentially-appointed Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the United States Department of Homeland Security. As the top civil rights official at the Department of Homeland Security,Schlanger led the office that advises department leadership about civil rights and civil liberties issues,engages with communities whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected by Department activities,investigates and resolves civil rights complaints,and leads the Departments equal employment opportunity program. Schlanger's major initiatives as Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer included:creating and managing a structure for overseeing the Department's controversial Secure Communities program to ensure that it did not serve as a conduit for unconstitutional practices by local law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions covered by the program;publishing guidance for agencies that receive DHS funding on providing meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency;working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the reform of detention practices;and improving the department's civil rights complaint process.
Expedited removal is a process related to immigration enforcement in the United States where an alien is denied entry to and/or physically removed from the country,without going through the normal removal proceedings. The legal authority for expedited removal allows for its use against most unauthorized entrants who have been in the United States for less than two years. Its rollout so far has been restricted to people seeking admission and those who have been in the United States for 14 days or less,and excludes first-time violators from Mexico and Canada.
Stephen Yale-Loehr,is an American law professor and immigration law attorney. Yale-Loehr earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Cornell University in 1977 and 1981,respectively. He was editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal during his time at the law school. Upon graduating he clerked for Judge Howard G. Munson of the U.S. District Court,Northern District of New York,nominated by President Gerald Ford. Yale-Loehr has been a member of the Cornell Law faculty since 1991.
The Priority Enforcement Program is a program by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),the agency responsible for immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States,under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). PEP was an ICE program that worked with state and local law enforcement to identify illegal aliens who come in contact with state or local law enforcement,and remove those who are removable. PEP was announced by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in a November 20,2014 memo as a replacement for Secure Communities (S-COMM). It builds on an updated list of immigration enforcement priorities released in another memo by Johnson issued on the same day.
Immigrant surveillance refers to the practice of tracking both illegal and legal immigrants through several methods,some of which include electronic verification,border surveillance,or federal raids. Historically,countries such as the United States have required that immigrants carry evidence of citizenship. Controversies within immigrant surveillance in the United States involve the alleged racial profiling committed by police departments and negligence found in detention centers. Laws concerning surveillance and immigration vary by country but terrorist attacks have made the issue more prevalent.
Wolf v. Vidal,591 U.S. ___ (2020),was a case that was filed to challenge the Trump Administration's rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Plaintiffs in the case are DACA recipients who argue that the rescission decision is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment. On February 13,2018,Judge Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York addressed the question of whether the government offered a legally adequate reason for ending the DACA program. The court found that Defendants did not provide a legally adequate reason for ending the DACA program and that the decision to end DACA was arbitrary and capricious. Defendants have appealed the decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam,591 U.S. ___ (2020),was a United States Supreme Court case involving whether the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996,which limits habeas corpus judicial review of the decisions of immigration officers,violates the Suspension Clause of Article One of the U.S. Constitution. In the 7–2 opinion,the Court ruled that the law does not violate the Suspension Clause.
Joe Biden's immigration policy is primarily based on reversing many of the immigration policies of the previous Trump administration. During his first day in office,Biden reversed many of Trump's policies on immigration,such as halting the construction of the Mexican border wall,ending Trump's travel ban restricting travel from 14 countries,and an executive order to reaffirm protections for DACA recipients. The Biden administration and Department of Homeland Security,under leadership of Alejandro Mayorkas,dramatically reined in deportation practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),prioritizing national security and violent crime concerns over petty and nonviolent offenses. However,Biden has also faced criticism for extending Title 42,a Trump administration border restriction that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic,as well as restarting the use of expediting families in Central America,which can cause families to be sent back in weeks,compared to years for an average immigration case. In the fiscal year 2021,the US Border Patrol confirmed more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the US-Mexico border,more than quadruple the number in the previous fiscal year and the largest annual total on record. In January 2023,Biden announced a program to strengthen the admission of immigrants from Cuba,Haiti,Nicaragua,and Venezuela,while at the same time his administration will crack down on those who fail to use the plan's legal pathway and strengthen border security. In May 2023,the Biden Administration approved sending 1,500 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following Title 42's expiration.
Deborah N. Archer is an American civil rights lawyer and law professor. She is the Jacob K. Javits Professor at New York University and professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law. She also directs the Center on Race,Inequality,and the Law and the Civil Rights Clinic at NYU School of Law. In January 2021,she was elected president of the American Civil Liberties Union,becoming the first African American to hold the position in the organization’s history.
In 2011,the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency revised its national detention standards and developed the Performance-Based National Detention Standards. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,"the PBNDS 2011 are crafted to improve medical and mental health services,increase access to legal services and religious opportunities,improve communication with detainees with no or limited English proficiency,improve the process for reporting and responding to complaints,and increase recreation and visitation." The PBNDS of 2011 is an important step in United States detention reform. Many revisions reflect efforts to tailor detention practices to the United States border's unique demands and circumstances. The PBNDS of 2011 revised detention standards among seven different sections. Although all sections detail essential contributions to improving the safety,security,order,care,activities,justice,and administration/management of U.S. border control,there are sections pertaining to the specific conditions of undocumented women.
