ACLU Comment on ICE Acting Director Remarks on Sanctuary Cities

WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled today that the federal government’s Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP) is “arbitrary and capricious,” and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). CARRP is a discriminatory policy that instructs immigration officers to label some people applying for immigration benefits – like green cards or citizenship – as “national security concerns.” According to CARRP, someone can be branded as a “national security concern” based on innocuous characteristics, like speaking another language or having an advanced technical degree. Once USCIS decides a person is a “national security concern,” it bends over backwards to find a way to reject their application for benefits. People in CARRP have to endure extended processing delays and much higher denial rates, which can tear apart their personal and professional lives. “This decision makes clear that CARRP was a horribly flawed idea from the beginning,” said Charlie Hogle, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “It needlessly harms aspiring Americans, many of whom have homes, families, and careers here.” In its decision, the court recognized that, despite years of litigation, the federal government has never pointed to any evidence explaining its decision to create CARRP. The court also found that, in designing CARRP, the federal government failed to consider whether it would be able to decide applications in CARRP within a reasonable amount of time, as the law requires. These failures make CARRP unlawful. “Today’s order is a huge step forward in vindicating the rights of thousands of people with lawful status who are subjected to arbitrary and unlawful delays that wreak havoc on their lives,” said Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. “These delays —often for years—cause people to lose jobs and homes.” The plaintiffs challenging CARRP also argued that the policy violates their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. The court did not agree with those arguments, even as it concluded that CARRP violates the APA.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted today to advance S. 5, the Laken Riley Act, teeing the bill up for a final vote on Monday. The first immigration bill of the new Congress, the proposed law would require the government to detain people who pose no risk to their communities. Under the bill, individuals would be mandatorily locked up – potentially for years – because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of nonviolent offenses like shoplifting. The bill also invents a novel and dangerous authority that will allow hostile state officials to sue the federal government when they disapprove of an immigration decision or policy, causing even more chaos and inviting politicized lawsuits. Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, had the following reaction to today’s vote: “This is an extreme and reactive bill that will authorize the largest expansion of mandatory detention we have seen in decades, sweeping in children, DREAMers, parents of U.S. citizen children, and other longtime members of their communities who even ICE thinks should not be detained. “While we are disappointed this bill will pass the Senate, it is notable that so many senators opposed it and recognized the need for actual immigration reform — not the chaos and cruelty this legislation will unleash. This legislation offers no solutions to improve our immigration system, and we thank the senators who stood up for immigrant communities and due process and voted against this harmful, expensive bill — a bill that will not make us safer. We need our elected leaders to join these senators who showed political courage and leadership right now, with more attacks on immigrants on the horizon.” Thirty-five Senate Democrats voted against advancing this bill, which will be voted on by the House next week. In a recent letter to senators, the ACLU outlined how this unprecedented and likely unconstitutional bill would result in a significant spike of racial profiling of longtime residents, potentially sweeping thousands of people into jails and detention centers. The federal government already has expansive authority to detain noncitizens pending deportation proceedings. Requiring mandatory detention of a person accused of theft as retaliation for leaving a partner, or a mother who stole formula and diapers for her newborn baby is nothing more than scapegoating.

At 13, Maribel Hernández Rivera thought that no one cared about her struggles as an undocumented person living in the U.S. Today, as an advocate for immigrants’ rights, she’s showing communities across the country that someone out there does care.

WASHINGTON – Newly released documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union confirm that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in at least eight states, including Michigan, California, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state. The records, secured as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU in September 2024, reveal that private prison corporations, as well as other corporate entities that provide services to build temporary facilities, monitor compliance, and staff facilities submitted proposals for expanded immigration detention in response to ICE’s contract requests. The discovery comes just weeks after the ACLU received its first and second tranche of FOIA documents revealing that ICE is considering expanding detention facilities in several states. “These records only further confirm ICE’s work to expand immigration detention across the country, including in facilities with clear records of abuse, and in areas where immigration detention has not previously existed. Expansion of detention will only enable ICE to enact President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation,” said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “We will not stand idly by for the next four years and watch ICE continue to detain immigrants in inhumane and life-threatening conditions.” The new documents confirm that private prison corporations GEO Group, Inc., CoreCivic, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC), as well as Target Hospitality, which provides temporary tent facilities, submitted proposals to Requests for Information (RFI) to expand ICE’s detention capacity and facilities. The latest disclosure provides further information identifying the specific facilities in question: North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, owned and operated by the GEO Group, Inc. This facility was previously used as a federal prison, and closed in 2022. Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, owned and operated by the GEO Group, Inc. Carrizo Springs, a tent facility previously used to detain immigrant minors in Carrizo Springs, Texas, owned and operated by Target Hospitality. As previously disclosed, the latest disclosure confirmed that the following facilities are also under consideration by ICE: Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, KS – formerly known as Leavenworth Detention Center – which has a track record of abusive conditions, which led the federal government to end its contract with the facility in 2021. South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX – a facility where children as young as 19 months have died as a result of poor medical care. Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, NV – which has been subject to a federal investigation for medical negligence, racial discrimination, and verbal abuse of detained people. Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, NM — which has been the site of numerous deaths in recent years, with incidents of neglect, abuse, and lack of medical care. Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, NM – which Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General cited in 2022 due to poor conditions. California City Correctional Center in California City, CA – which was previously used as a California Department of Corrections prison until March 2024. ICE also withheld a number of documents in this FOIA disclosure, obscuring the names of specific facilities, as well as other information contained in the proposals. However, the documents produced indicate that the following detention facilities are likely under consideration by ICE: East Texas Multi-Use Facility in Henderson, Texas, owned by the Metropolitan Training Corporation (MTC). Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, NM (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the El Paso Field Office) Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, WA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the Seattle Field Office) Golden State Annex in McFarland, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office) Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, CA (Proposal by GEO Group, Inc. for the San Francisco Field Office) As the ACLU has previously documented, the federal government’s immigration detention system overwhelmingly relies on private prison corporations. Private prison corporations, like the GEO Group, CoreCivic, LaSalle Corrections, and the Management & Training Corporation have pocketed billions from ICE detention contracts over the past two decades. The latest (January 2025) FOIA records are available here.