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Enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security detains and deports hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year. The massive immigration enforcement regime has devastating effects on immigrant families and communities. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has been at the forefront of campaigns locally and nationally to fight back against immigration enforcement and protect immigrant rights. 

The ILRC provides resources and support to communities and organizations working on immigration enforcement issues, including background explanations, strategy tools for campaigns, legal and policy analyses, and ongoing assistance to campaigns fighting against unfair immigration enforcement.

Popular Resources

A map of the U.S. highlighting states with pro-immigrant policies.

State Map on Immigration Enforcement

This map focuses on state laws that regulate the state’s involvement in immigration enforcement.
A map of the U.S. highlighting counties who work with local law enforcement.

National Map of Local Entanglement with ICE

The map represents the degree to which local policies limit assistance in immigration enforcement.
U.S. map pointing counties with 287(g) agreements.

National Map of 287(g) Agreements

This map represents the 137 total jurisdictions across the country that currently have 287(g) agreements under the jail enforcement and Warrant Service Officer models.
First four pages of this resources staked on one another.

Local Policy Interventions for Protecting Immigrants

On this resource, we identify the key policy intervention and link to examples of where state and local governments have taken this on.
First four pages of this resource stacked on each other.

Open Records Laws for Immigrant Rights Advocates

This toolkit and webinar provides advice for how immigrant rights advocates can use public records act requests to get information on how immigrants are treated by local and state government agencies.
Illustration of an ICE agent and a sheriff shaking hands.

The Role of Sheriffs and the Arrest-to-Deportation Pipeline

This short fact sheet helps explain the role and power of sheriffs and their engagement with ICE.
Sample page annotated for advocates

Annotated Detainer Form 2021

This sample ICE detainer is annotated to highlight what advocates should look for, and explains some of the legal problems with detainers.
Image of a carousel depicting the shifting nature of carceral facilities.

Carceral Carousel

This report details select case examples of jails and prisons that closed for one purpose, only to cage a different group of people.

Latest Resources

Practice Advisory
Resources

Prosecutorial Discretion in Removal Proceedings Part 2: Navigating Unfavorable Exercises of Discretion in Removal Proceedings
Publication Date
10/15/2024
Part 2 of this 2-part advisory explores some of the unexpected consequences of PD policies adopted by the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) that can prejudice noncitizens in removal proceedings, including the practice of moving to dismiss proceedings over respondents’ objections and failing to appear at hearings.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Prosecutorial Discretion in Removal Proceedings Part 1: Strategies for Seeking Prosecutorial Discretion During Uncertain Times
Publication Date
10/15/2024
Part 1 of this 2-part advisory provides updates on DHS’s prosecutorial discretion in removal proceedings and explores the various factors that advocates should consider when deciding whether to seek a favorable exercise of discretion from the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). Part 1 also highlights new regulations and discusses how the upcoming presidential election may impact prosecutorial discretion.
Toolkit & Reports
Resources

Expose and Disrupt
Publication Date
10/01/2024
The “Expose and Disrupt” guide illustrates how immigrant rights advocates can use state Public Records Act (PRA) requests to fight back against immigration enforcement. Strategic PRA requests can peel back the curtain on ways state and local agencies work together with immigration authorities to reinforce the deportation machinery and traumatize our communities. The guide explains the mechanics of requesting public records, strategies on what information can be useful for campaigns to stop or limit immigration enforcement, and includes examples of what kinds of records exist.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Proposition 36 Is Bad for Immigrants. This is Why.
Publication Date
08/21/2024
Prop 47 (2014) reclassified six felony offenses to misdemeanors, including shoplifting and simple drug possession, and funneled costs savings into safety measures like drug and mental health treatment and victim services centers. Proposed Prop 36 (November 2024) would roll back those reforms and add new criminal penalties and sentencing enhancements. Prop 36 will also impose severe immigration consequences on immigrants and their families. It will result in more Californians being deported and more families being separated. This resource provides some of the specific examples of the ways in which Proposition 36 will harm immigrants if passed.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comments on SB 602
ILRC comments on Texas House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety Testimony on SB 602.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comments on Proposed Marijuana Rescheduling
Publication Date
07/24/2024
On July 23, 2024, the ILRC provide comment on the Biden Administration’s proposed re-scheduling of marijuana. The ILRC advocated for the complete de-scheduling of marijuana instead of rescheduling. The comment highlighted the racist impacts of maintaining marijuana on the schedule of controlled substances and the lack of any mitigating effect that rescheduling will have on immigration consequences of marijuana-related crimes
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Driver Prosecutions, Immigrants, and "Smuggling" in Texas
Publication Date
07/23/2024
Texas authorities have expansively interpreted a 2024  law that imposes a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence on people convicted under the state's smuggling law to include giving rides to undocumented people, The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Detention Watch Network (DWN), and AJA Advocacy Solutions said this report highlighting the law’s harm. The brief states that most people prosecuted for smuggling in Texas are young US citizens. Texas law enforcement officers have a troubled track record with identifying alleged smugglers, and now the state has raised the stakes of each arrest significantly.
Toolkit & Reports
Resources

A Report From the Texas Border: Survey on What Residents of Webb County Need and Want from Elected Officials
Publication Date
06/18/2024
While politicians enact and reenact their reckless border theatrics, the ILRC surveyed border residents about their actual needs and how the influx of law enforcement efforts has affected them. We found that while the state of Texas spends more and more money on police and prisons, local governments are starved of funding and communities lack the most basic services, including clean water, paved roads, and street lights.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

California’s AB 1261 and Immigration Relief for Survivors of Crime and Trafficking
Publication Date
06/26/2024
If you are undocumented and have been a victim of a crime, served as a witness for law enforcement, or have been subject to human trafficking, you may be eligible to apply for certain forms of immigration status. These are known as U, T, and S visas. In most cases, the application process for these visas will require help from a law enforcement agency. This Community Explainer details how a new California law, AB 1261, aims to better protect immigrants who are applying for these forms of relief and ensure that California law enforcement agencies help them when needed.
Toolkit & Reports
Resources

SB 4/HB4 Know Your Rights Community Presentation
Publication Date
01/26/2024
This slide deck was created by a coalition of organizers, activists, and attorneys in Texas to be publicly available for use as a resource when conducting know-your-rights presentations on Texas SB 4/ HB 4.

Community leaders, organizers, and activists are welcome to use this full slide deck as provided, or select the slides that are applicable to your presentation needs.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comment on Proposed Changes to Form I-485
Publication Date
11/07/2023
On November 7, 2023, the ILRC submitted this comment on USCIS’s proposed changes to Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The comment provides detailed suggestions for alterations to the proposed form as well as suggested language the agency should include. ILRC urged the agency to revise the form to reduce barriers to permanent residence for applicants and adjudicators and to focus on ensuring that the form is accessible for pro se applicants.
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ILRC Resources on 287(g)

Check out our map of 287(g) agreements and various resources to fight 287(g) in your community.
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Related Products

Webinar
Webinar

Challenging a Deficient NTA
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions in 2018, there has been a long line of caselaw about whether a Notice to Appear (NTA) missing the time, date or location of proceedings strips the immigration court of jurisdiction to hear a case, triggers the stop-time rule in various contexts, or is sufficient for the issuance of an in absentia removal order. In this webinar, we will discuss how to challenge a NTA that is missing the time, date, or location of proceedings, and we will review the latest caselaw on this topic, including Matter of Fernandes, 28 I&N Dec. 605 (BIA 2022). We will also discuss best practices for preserving arguments for appeal, even when BIA or circuit court caselaw is not on our side.
Webinar
Webinar

Challenging a Deficient NTA
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions in 2018, there has been a long line of caselaw about whether a Notice to Appear (NTA) missing the time, date or location of proceedings strips the immigration court of jurisdiction to hear a case, triggers the stop-time rule in various contexts, or is sufficient for the issuance of an in absentia removal order. In this webinar, we will discuss how to challenge a NTA that is missing the time, date, or location of proceedings, and we will review the latest caselaw on this topic, including Matter of Fernandes, 28 I&N Dec. 605 (BIA 2022). We will also discuss best practices for preserving arguments for appeal, even when BIA or circuit court caselaw is not on our side.
Webinar
Webinar

Requesting Bond and Parole for Asylum Seekers
In this webinar, we will discuss how asylum seekers, including recent entrants, can seek release from immigration custody via bond and parole. We will review eligibility for bond and parole for arriving aliens, and the implications of Matter of M-S-, 27 I&N 509 (AG 2019) on asylum seekers. We will also discuss who may seek bond before the immigration judge and strategies for the bond hearing. This webinar will leave advocates armed with tips and best practices when representing asylum seekers requesting release from detention.
Video
Video

Enforcement 101: How Ice Arrests and Deports People
In this recording, we discuss how ICE operates and goes about detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of people a year. Designed for those new to the fight against ICE, we provide an overview of how ICE operates as well as an overview of local efforts to push back against ICE’s increasingly aggressive tactics. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the various mechanisms ICE employs to identify, arrest, and deport people along with clear strategies and tools that can be used by advocates to protect our communities. 

National Map of Local Entanglement with ICE

A map showing the degree to which local policies limit assistance in immigration enforcement
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