Immigration Customs and Enforcement

National

What basic rights do people have if ICE stops them? A lawyer explains

4:18am March 28, 2025

by A Martínez

A Turkish student living and studying lawfully in the U.S. was arrested by federal immigration officers. A lawyer explains to NPR some of the basic rights people have in such a situation.

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National

Families of deported Venezuelans dispute gang claims after deportations under Alien Enemies Act

5:06am March 21, 2025

NPR talked to the families of four men believed to be in El Salvador. None of them had a serious criminal record in the U.S. Only some had been charged with illegal entry. Three had signed their voluntary departure.

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ICE Field Office Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, David Marin and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Fugitive Operations team make an arrest at a home in Paramount, Calif., on March 1, 2020.

Biden's limits on ICE offered hope. But immigrant advocates say he's broken promises

12:45pm January 21, 2022

by Joel Rose

The Biden administration promised big changes on immigration enforcement, including limits on whom ICE should arrest and deport. But so far, advocates say the reality is falling short of the rhetoric.

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ICE, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, has issued guidelines preventing newly enrolled international students from studying in the U.S. if their colleges are operating only online this fall.

National

ICE Confirms New Foreign Students Can't Take Online-Only Course Loads In The U.S.

7:34pm July 24, 2020

by Rachel Treisman

The agency says Friday that guidance granting visa flexibility to international students only applies to those who were actively enrolled at a U.S. school on March 9.

National

Federal Judge Orders ICE To Release Detainees At 3 Florida Facilities

2:24pm May 01, 2020

by Greg Allen

The judge ruled that crowded conditions exposing detainees to COVID-19 violate their constitutional rights. She ordered ICE to reduce populations at the centers to 75% of capacity within two weeks.

National

Judge Orders 10 ICE Detainees Released From N.J. Jails Over COVID-19 Concerns

9:41am March 27, 2020

by Scott Neuman

The detainees range in age from 31 to 56 years of age and have medical conditions including diabetes, heart disease and obesity — making them particularly vulnerable to the disease.

A guard walks with a detainee in the intake area at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in 2019. A previously confidential report obtained by NPR found "negligent" medical care and other problems at the facility.

Despite Findings Of 'Negligent' Care, ICE To Expand Troubled Calif. Detention Center

6:09pm January 15, 2020

by Tom Dreisbach

A previously confidential report obtained by NPR found major failings at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, one of the nation's largest immigration detention centers.

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An Elaborate ICE Sting Set Up A Fake College To Lure Student Visa Fraud

5:57am November 29, 2019

by Steve Inskeep

The agency arrested about 250 people, many of them Indian, who enrolled at the made-up University of Farmington. Few are contesting their orders to deport.

The Pew Research Center estimates there are 7.5 million unauthorized workers in the United States concentrated in agriculture, construction and the hospitality industry.

Employers Struggle With Hiring Undocumented Workers: 'You Cannot Hire American Here'

8:51am August 21, 2019

by John Burnett

Unauthorized immigrants often do manual, low-paying jobs, and employers say they have no choice but to hire them. But the White House and advocates for lower immigration say the law is the law.

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A Guatemalan teen asylum-seeker (left), who isn't able to hear or speak, signs with his mom in Florida. He was brusquely separated from her and held in a shelter for nearly three months, unable to readily communicate, according to a civil rights complaint

Homeland Security's Civil Rights Unit Lacks Power To Protect Migrant Kids

9:00am August 02, 2019

A former official in the civil rights office says the unit seems afraid to offend U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE. Meanwhile, the complaints of abuses of families continue to pile up.