Defenses to Removal
Deportation to a Third Country: Notice and Legal Rights
A person facing deportation needs to know more than that the government plans to remove them. Protection against persecution or torture depends on the destination country,…
Immigration Enforcement
Immigration enforcement is the set of government powers used to control who enters the country, who may stay, and who must leave. Federal agencies in the Department of Homeland Security carry out most of it, with oversight from immigration courts and federal judges. It covers checks at the border, arrests inside the country, detention, removal hearings, and the penalties for returning after removal.
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Latest in Immigration Enforcement
Immigration Enforcement
Third-Country Deportation: How Destinations Are Chosen
A deportation order can leave a second question unsettled: where the person will be sent. Nationality does not always supply the answer. U.S. law permits destinations…
Immigration Detention
Detained Without a Bond Hearing? How to File a Habeas Corpus Petition.
Over 18,000 immigrants have sued in federal court saying their detention is illegal since the Trump administration took office. That's more court petitions challenging whether they…
Immigration Enforcement
The Statutory Authority Behind ICE’s Mass Enforcement Operations
In December 2025, the Trump administration announced Operation Metro Surge, with initial arrests of about 12 people by December 5. In January 2026, Immigration and Customs…
Topics in Immigration Enforcement
Borders and arrests
Officers check travelers and goods at the border, which is the subject of Border Security and Inspection. Agents also make arrests away from the border, which is the subject of Interior Enforcement.
Custody and hearings
Immigration Detention concerns when and how people are held while their cases go forward. Deportation Proceedings concerns the hearings that decide whether someone is removed.
Relief and limits
Defenses to Removal are the legal grounds a person can raise to stay, and Bars to Reentry are the limits placed on returning after removal.
All Articles on Immigration Enforcement
When Federal Agencies Ignore Court Orders, Judges Have These Enforcement Tools
In late January 2026, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in his Minneapolis courtroom and…
A Judge Ordered His Release From ICE Custody. Why Did It Take a Week?
Since January 1, 2026, immigration attorneys in Minnesota have filed 691 petitions using habeas corpus to challenge their clients' detention as unlawful. In all…
How Immigration Judges Decide Who Gets Released on Bond—And Who Doesn’t
As of late January 2026, more than 70,000 people were in immigration detention, and a federal appeals court ruled that tens of thousands of…
What Due Process Rights Apply to Noncitizens Detained Inside the U.S.
By mid-January 2026, ICE held a record 73,000 people in immigration detention—a number that had grown dramatically over the previous year. On February 6,…
Why Circuit Courts Keep Reaching Opposite Conclusions on Immigration Detention
More than 360 federal judges said no. Then one appeals court said yes. On February 6, 2026, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit…
Legal Basis for Detention Without Bond Hearings, Explained
By mid-January 2026, ICE was detaining approximately 73,000 individuals—the highest level in the agency's 23-year history. A federal appeals court handed the Trump administration…
What the Fourth Amendment Requires Before ICE Can Enter Your Home
In January, federal agents forced their way into a St. Paul home looking for someone who no longer lived there. The man they found…
The Legal Framework Behind ICE’s Rapid Expansion
The immediate questions were obvious: How did this happen? Who authorized it? But there was another question, less dramatic but more structurally important: How…
How ICE Coordinates with Local Police During Protests at Churches
When federal officers arrested Don Lemon in Los Angeles on January 29, 2026, the former CNN anchor became an unlikely test case for a…
Sanctuary Policies Create a Legal Gray Zone for Federal Immigration Enforcement
Over 2,000 armed federal agents deployed to Minnesota. A U.S. citizen shot dead by ICE while sitting in her car. A former CNN anchor…