ACLU Statement on Homeland Security Guidelines for Enforcement In or Near Protected Areas

WASHINGTON— The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report, Improving Asylum at and Beyond the U.S. Border, which explores how the Trump administration’s attacks on asylum and other humanitarian protections are weakening the U.S. immigration system already on the brink of collapse. The report argues that gutting asylum not only sends people with valid asylum claims to countries where they face death but also fails to provide long-term solutions for the border. The report comes weeks after the Trump administration deported at least two dozen people, including people fleeing persecution in Iran and Afghanistan, to the Central African Republic, one of the most dangerous places in the world. Its release also comes just days before the 75th anniversary of the United Nation's adoption of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a landmark treaty that outlines core legal protections and rights that States must uphold to protect refugees. The report argues that attempts to gut our asylum system do nothing to prepare for future increases in arrivals along the U.S.-Mexico border. Adding obstacles to the asylum system means that political dissidents from Iran, LGBTQ persons from Uganda, children fleeing traffickers and many others can’t get the protection they deserve. At the same time, these restrictions don’t improve border processing, respond to new arrivals, or address the overdue need for lawful pathways, which has created demand at the border. Without needed reforms and legal options to come reunite with family, work, and seek safety, the government is sacrificing vulnerable people and its legal obligations while failing to create a sustainable alternative system that serves U.S. values, laws, and the economy. “The Trump administration’s cruel anti-asylum policies are predicated on the false notion that by gutting humanitarian protections, our broken immigration system will somehow be fixed – but deporting vulnerable people to war zones, detaining families, pushing kids through mass hearings, and arresting refugees who followed the rules do not create a functional system,” said Sarah Mehta, report author and deputy director for policy and government affairs, immigration at the ACLU. “If our policymakers want any semblance of a fair and workable immigration system, they must commit to rebuilding asylum and creating other legal pathways.” Though many of the arguments to close the border and the country to newcomers have focused on zero-sum thinking and promulgated claims about how people seeking asylum have strained local communities, the report highlights how asylum seekers and refugees are critical to a thriving U.S. economy and need support in getting to communities eager to receive them. For example, in 2024, asylees and refugees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to federal, state, and local governments over a 15-year period, strengthening the case for improved access to asylum as communities nationwide, especially in rural areas, continue to feel economic strain. The report urges policymakers to recommit to protect asylum and other existing humanitarian protections and invest in modern solutions to our border. Recommendations include: Create additional lawful pathways for people to come to the U.S. to ensure that people can lawfully apply for and receive permission to come to the United States, without burdening the border arrival system. Invest in border processing and modernize the arrival triage system so that people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border with valid asylum claims can be processed quickly. Support states and localities in welcoming newcomers through legislative solutions to improve coordination between arriving immigrants and the communities receiving them so that humanitarian needs and services are met and that communities have the support they need. Fund and bolster the immigration court and asylum processing system to address backlogs, streamline bureaucratic processes, and enhance due process through legal representation. It is the second report published as part of the ACLU’s affirmative vision series in which policy and legal experts will explore how the Trump administration’s immigration agenda has harmed communities nationwide, gutted asylum and other legal pathways, undermined our democracy, and wreaked havoc on key industries and weakened the American workforce. The series will also outline steps that members of Congress, as well as state and local policymakers, can take to reform the U.S. immigration system and inoculate against future attacks on immigrant communities. You can read the full report here: https://www.aclu.org/publications/improving-asylum-at-and-beyond-the-u-s-border-the-case-for-a-fair-and-effective-protection-framework-with-a-modern-border-and-reception-system

NEW YORK – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned a ruling that determined federal courts have jurisdiction when immigration enforcement detains noncitizens in retaliation for their protected speech. The Second Circuit held that the district court lacked the authority to release Columbia University graduate student Mohsen Mahdawi on bail in April 2025 after he was detained at his citizenship interview and held for over two weeks in retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. The decision does not go into effect immediately and the government has no lawful basis to redetain or deport Mr. Mahdawi as the appeals process proceeds. “The government is claiming the unprecedented power to detain people for months or even years on end to censor their speech, with no ability to challenge their detention in court. This is as absurd as it is dangerous,” said Michael Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued on behalf of Mr. Mahdawi last year. “We will continue to fight for our client and for his right to prompt judicial review.” Earlier this year, immigration judge Nina Froes dismissed the deportation case against Mr. Mahdawi on the grounds that the government failed to authenticate a memo purportedly from Marco Rubio that declared him deportable under the “foreign policy ground” of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Froes was subsequently fired from her position as part of the Trump administration’s larger efforts to use the immigration court system to accelerate deportations. In April, after the government appealed that decision, the DOJ-controlled Board of Immigration Appeals held that Mr. Mahdawi was removable and remanded proceedings to a new immigration judge, who issued an order of removal last month. Mr. Mahdawi’s appeal of that decision is pending. “Today’s decision is a grave setback, although I am confident justice will ultimately prevail,” said Mohsen Mahdawi, who has been a lawful permanent resident for more than a decade. “It reflects a dangerous failure under political pressure, one that risks turning the federal courts into instruments of politics rather than guardians of constitutional freedom. By weakening the First Amendment and creating different tiers of rights for citizens and non-citizens, this ruling hands the government a dangerous power: the power to intimidate, censor, and punish dissent without meaningful restraint. But I still have faith that the full court will correct the legal error and restore the constitutional principles that protect all people equally. This struggle continues for Palestine, for dignity and equality everywhere, and for the democratic promise of freedom that must belong to us all; until Palestine is free.” “The Second Circuit's decision is incredibly dangerous, not just for Mohsen but for all other noncitizens the Trump administration has its vengeful sights upon," said Luna Droubi of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP. "Federal courts must have the power to step in when the government exploits our country’s immigration system to imprison people for their constitutionally-protected speech. If the Trump administration can target Mohsen for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights, they can do it to anyone expressing an opinion they disagree with. Despite today's disappointing ruling, we will keep fighting for justice for Mohsen and to protect the First Amendment rights of everyone in this country.” Mr. Mahdawi is represented by Cyrus Mehta and David Isaacson of Cyrus D. Mehta Partners, PLLC; Luna Droubi, Matthew Melewski, and Tala Alfoqaha of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP; Andrew Delaney of Martin Delaney & Ricci Law Group; CLEAR; the American Civil Liberties Union; and the ACLU of Vermont.

A new ACLU report reveals the scale of civil rights violations committed by ICE and the police forces it has deputized — from racial profiling to school lockdowns.

WASHINGTON— The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report, Agents of Chaos and Cruelty, documenting widespread civil rights violations carried out by immigration agents during the first year of President Trump’s second term. The report examines immigration enforcement incidents in eight states – representing a cross-section of the country and reflecting varying degrees of federal law enforcement presence and personnel surges – and found that over 400 of the more than 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents examined involved misconduct by immigration agents. The report comes just days after ICE shot and killed two men in Texas and Maine, underscoring the agency’s out-of-control enforcement practices nationwide. It is the first in-depth civil rights review of immigration enforcement actions throughout 2025 in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, and New Mexico. The reviewed incidents across these states pull from prior ACLU litigation, research and advocacy, as well as congressional investigations, human rights documentation, and investigative reporting that found similar patterns during the same period. It is also the first in a series of reports to be published by the ACLU ahead of the 2026 midterm election in an effort to urge lawmakers to support an affirmative vision for immigration reform. Though the incidents examined represent a small fraction of total reported enforcement activity in 2025, the pattern across eight states is unmistakable: what happened in Minneapolis, where federal agents killed U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good, was not confined to that location, surge, or population. They were part of a pattern of civil rights violations of excessive force, racial profiling, intimidation, and abuse by both federal officials and state and local law enforcement. “Far beyond Minneapolis, the Trump administration has deployed a national deportation policing force that has committed civil rights violations at a scale and severity without parallel in modern American history – turning schools, bus stops and grocery stores into sites of violence and abuse,” said Naureen Shah, director of policy and government affairs and report author. “These are not isolated events. Stephen Miller took these tactics straight from the authoritarian playbook and is now overseeing a $240 billion immigration enforcement machine that threatens all our rights.” Among the report’s key findings: Agents used force and the threat of force as default tactics. The report documented 418 times agents pushed, shoved, tackled or pinned people; 361 times agents deployed chemical irritants, including 132 times they were directly aimed at individuals and 81 instances when agents used tactics that can limit breathing and become deadly, such as chokeholds. Instead of protecting children, the administration turned their enforcement tools against them. The report identified 214 children who were detained, targeted for enforcement or experienced law enforcement misconduct, including 32 U.S. citizen children. Racial profiling by federal, state and local agents was rampant. The report documented 437 incidents involving likely racial profiling by agents. U.S. citizens were often impacted in immigration enforcement. The report identified 155 U.S. citizens detained, targeted or who experienced law enforcement misconduct. Agents routinely conducted enforcement at or near sensitive locations, including 49 documented incidents at or near schools – prompting 40 school lockdowns. Protesters, journalists, elected officials, clergy, and community observers were also regularly targeted by immigration agents. The report found that 782 total people in those groups were detained, targeted, or subjected to misconduct. The report also documents a systemic breakdown in accountability. Agents masked their faces, drove unmarked vehicles, and wore clothing that did not quickly indicate an agency affiliation. With multiple agencies outside ICE redirected to conduct enforcement, these tactics sometimes made it difficult for people to know whether they were being criminally abducted and made it impossible for victims and bystanders to know who to hold responsible for abuse. Critically, the report highlights how oversight measures have failed to hold immigration agents accountable. Congress had an opportunity to reform ICE during recent funding negotiations but instead passed a blank check without the commonsense reforms that advocates and communities made clear were needed. The Agents of Chaos and Cruelty report urges policymakers to call for transformative change to our immigration system, in recognition that it is broken and dangerous to human rights. Recommendations include: Pass a path to citizenship for millions of people who are immigrants, such as through the American Dream and Promise Act. Replace our broken system with a new immigration management agency oriented toward service, keeping families together and meeting the needs of the American workforce. Dismantle the national deportation policing force, including by ending ICE’s 287(g) program that draws state and local police into deportations. Ensure that people who are victimized can sue and hold federal law enforcement officers and agencies accountable for abuse, including by enacting the Bivens Act and Constitutional Accountability Act. Enact limits and robust oversight measures on collaboration and deputization between state and federal law enforcement. Throughout the ACLU’s affirmative vision report series, policy and legal experts will explore how the Trump administration’s immigration agenda has harmed communities nationwide, gutted asylum and other legal pathways, undermined our democracy, and wreaked havoc on key industries and weakened the American workforce. The series will also outline steps that members of Congress, as well as state and local policymakers, can take to reform the U.S. immigration system and inoculate against future attacks on immigrant communities. You can read the full report and findings here: https://www.aclu.org/publications/agents-of-chaos-and-cruelty-how-the-trump-administrations-national-deportation-policing-force-has-attacked-american-communities