Immigration Reform
The latest news, analysis and debates on immigration reform and policy.
ICE officer at airport saves choking 1-year-old
An ICE officer deployed to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to help TSA move the lines along helped save a 1-year-old boy who had stopped breathing on Thursday.
Sanctuary cities become staging area for crime, infect neighboring communities: Oversight report
Sanctuary cities create “staging areas” for illegal immigrant criminals and their violence spills over into neighboring jurisdictions that do try to cooperate with federal authorities, the House Oversight and Reform Committee said in a new report Thursday.
Trump says ICE could arrest illegal immigrants at airports
President Trump warned Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers could make immigration arrests at airports while they are assisting with staffing shortages caused by the partial government shutdown.
White House deploys ICE agents to airports as DHS shutdown talks stall
President Trump is sending ICE agents to airports starting Monday to help relieve security lines despite sharp criticism from Democrats and the union representing Transportation Security Administration workers.
Trump threatens to send ICE to airports if DHS isn’t funded
President Trump has a solution to Congress’ failure to pay TSA officers: sending ICE agents in their place.
New Jersey sues to block ICE detention facility
New Jersey sued Friday to try to head off ICE’s plans to turn a massive warehouse in Roxbury into a detention facility, saying the Trump administration is flouting immigration, environmental and procedural laws as it rushes to refurbish the building.
Judge orders family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos deported
An immigration judge has denied an asylum claim and ordered deportation for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old Minnesota boy caught up in the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Democrats say they are not to blame for the pain Americans increasingly feel from DHS shutdown
Congressional Democrats’ more than 30-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has created chaos at airports and undermined anti-terrorism efforts, but they say it isn’t their fault and they are willing to keep the shutdown going indefinitely.
Rand Paul lashes out at Trump’s DHS nominee, says Markwayne Mullin is ‘a man with anger issues’
Sen. Rand Paul unloaded on fellow Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin Wednesday, calling him “a man with anger issues” and saying his combativeness makes him a questionable choice to become secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Kino Border Initiative takes in migrants at the border, cites Catholic values
Sister Eileen McKenzie has helped feed and shelter migrants at the Arizona-Mexico border for years, but she cites her recent encounter with a man in a government facility in Nogales, Mexico, as an impactful reminder of the people affected by the crackdown on illegal immigration.
House asks Fairfax County officials to testify on sanctuary status
The House Judiciary Committee has called Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano to testify and defend their sanctuary policies at a hearing next month.
As Trump closes the border, unauthorized migrants surge at U.S. airports
President Trump may have cooled the U.S.-Mexico boundary but the latest data shows unauthorized migrants are now surging into America’s interior.
Florida sheriff sends shock across immigration debate, calls for legalization of illegal immigrants
Grady Judd, the sheriff in Polk County, Florida, said Tuesday that he didn’t mean to cause a sensation when he proposed giving a break to unauthorized immigrants who are “doing good” by granting them firm legal status.
Supreme Court to decide Trump’s attempt to shut down deportation amnesty for Haitians, Syrians
The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up two cases involving President Trump’s attempt to end deportation amnesties for hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants — but ruled they can remain here while the case is pending.
Burpees, takedowns, pipe wrenches: Markwayne Mullin brings unique toolbag to confirmation faceoff
Needing a shakeup at Homeland Security, President Trump has turned to a plumber.
Appeals court allows DHS to continue ‘third-country’ deportations
A federal appeals court issued a ruling Monday allowing Homeland Security to continue deporting illegal immigrants to countries other than their homes when the need arises, putting on indefinite hold a decision by a lower court that had stopped the practice.
Feds win convictions in antifa attack on ICE detention facility
Nine people were convicted by a federal jury Friday for charges stemming from last year’s attack on an ICE detention facility in Texas, in what federal prosecutors called the first-ever terrorism trial for “antifa” adherents.
Trump asks Supreme Court for OK to cancel deportation amnesty for 350,000 Haitians
The administration sought permission Wednesday from the Supreme Court to cancel deportation amnesty for 350,000 Haitian migrants, saying lower judges have wrongly stymied President Trump’s plans.
‘Dramatic departure’: Republicans challenge birthright citizenship for babies of illegal immigrants
Senate Republicans sought to add heft Tuesday to President Trump’s argument that the Constitution doesn’t — and shouldn’t — require birthright citizenship, saying the great grant of American status shouldn’t be reduced to a legal “loophole” of birth.
Loudoun sheriff says cooperating with ICE makes county safer
Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman said his willingness to cooperate with federal immigration authorities is one of the factors that has made his Virginia jurisdiction safer.
‘Your time is up’: Witness tries to silence Sen. John Kennedy
Sen. John Kennedy has made a career out of embarrassing witnesses in congressional hearings, but he met his match Tuesday with Cato Institute scholar David Bier, who came ready for combat.
New York AG Letitia James says Border Patrol account of migrant death in Buffalo ‘unreliable’
New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned the Border Patrol’s version of events that led up to the death of a migrant in the state late last month, calling it “unreliable” and saying there are too many unanswered questions.
Legionella found at federal building that holds ICE detainees in Baltimore
Legionella, the waterborne bacteria that can lead to the deadly Legionnaires’ disease, has been found at a federal building in Baltimore where illegal immigrants are kept in short-term detention, according to members of Congress who demanded answers Friday.
‘Worse than a prison’: 911 calls, interviews reveal problems at ICE’s largest detention camp
Serious medical and mental health emergencies have been routine at the nation’s largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility since its opening, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
Trump boots Kristi Noem, picks Markwayne Mullin as new DHS secretary
President Trump said Thursday he is installing Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security and sidelining Secretary Kristi Noem, ending her mixed tenure and marking the first ouster from his second-term Cabinet.
Violent illegal immigrant’s release from jail alarmed Fairfax County police before fatal stabbing
An illegal immigrant accused of fatally stabbing a woman last month in Fairfax County had been arrested for so many violent crimes that county police warned prosecutors that his most recent release from jail could lead to deadly consequences, emails show.
Noem: No ICE at election polls this year; DHS doesn’t use deportation quotas
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem decried the use of deportation quotas, told Congress she has no plans to deploy ICE officers to the polls for this year’s elections, and took a conciliatory approach to angry lawmakers Tuesday by tacitly acknowledging her overzealous denunciations of Americans killed by her agents in Minneapolis.
‘A disaster’: Tillis blasts Noem’s leadership, threatens to derail Senate business to get answers
Sen. Thom Tillis unloaded on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday, saying she’s failed as a leader, and he threatened to hinder Senate business until she produces information about immigration arrests.
Noem says Trump personally approved her deportation ads
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told senators on Tuesday that she personally ran her plans by President Trump to spend more than $200 million on pro-deportation ads that have boosted her own profile.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says nonjudicial warrants used 28 times to enter homes
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that her officers have used administrative warrants — those that aren’t approved by a judge — to enter homes to make arrests 28 times so far.
