Ben Johnson

Think Immigration: The Reality of Trump’s Immigration Policies by the Numbers AILA ED Ben Johnson offers some key facts and figures about the harm caused by the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, writing that while “President Donald Trump is expected to use the 2026 S...

By any measure, the Trump Administration is failing the American people and undermining the national interest in every area of immigration. #SOTU

Congress should recognize what the American people already have: this approach is failing. It is Congress’s responsibility — and constitutional obligation — to reassert oversight, restore guardrails, and ensure that immigration policy reflects both the rule of law and our national interests.

Think Immigration: Trump’s Chaotic Policies Show America Needs a Better Way Forward AILA Directors of Government Relations Greg Chen and Shev Dalal-Dheini introduce AILA’s A Better Way on Immigration policy brief series about the Trump Administration’s destructive changes to the immi...

NEW: AILA is launching A Better Way on Immigration, a series of policy briefs evaluating the first year of the Trump Administration’s policies, showing the impact on Americans and presenting a forward-looking vision for immigration policy. https://bit.ly/4tItZOW

Trump's immigration policy is undermining the national interest. A better path forward must 1) keep our communities safe, 2) end unlawful immigration, 3) provide legal immigration pathways, 4) ensure fairness & due process, 5) protect people who are fleeing persecution #SOTU

Since October, 400+ federal judges — including 44 Trump picks — have ruled 4,421+ times that ICE’s detentions are illegal. Trump is ignoring those rulings while also firing 100+ immigration judges, squeezing due process for immigrants. #SOTU

60% disapprove of Trump's approach, a double-digit collapse. They're heartbroken by the deaths of Renee Good & Alex Pretti in MN, the 39 immigrants who have died in ICE custody, and the thousands of hardworking, non-criminal immigrants locked up & separated from family #SOTU

At #SOTU, Trump will claim mass deportation is working. It’s not. He’s detaining mostly non-criminal immigrants & more are dying in custody. He’s damaging local economies & collapsing tourism. And he’s doing much of this illegally by detaining people without a hearing before a judge.

The Kids Aren’t Alright in Dilley A baby who needs medicine. A toddler whose detained mom may have breast cancer. A suicide attempt.

People are suffering inside Dilley. A baby denied medication after respiratory failure. A mother in pain, possibly with cancer, unable to get consistent care. More than half detained are kids. Dilley has been shut down before & must be shut down again.

Take Action: Tell Congress to Reform ICE and CBP — Vote NO on Funding Them The American Immigration Lawyers Association urges Congress to oppose funding for ICE and CBP without real reforms and to reject immigration enforcement that is causing harm and making communities les...

Polls show the public is alarmed and want ICE & CBP reined in. Congress must demand real guardrails before funding DHS: require warrants for street arrests; ban racial profiling; no enforcement at churches & schools, and consequences when agencies break the law.

ICE says its officers can forcibly enter homes during immigration operations without judicial warrants: 2025 memo The policy was revealed in a May 12 memo whistleblowers shared with a U.S. senator.

If the government can send agents into an immigrant family’s home without a judicial warrant, it can send them into yours. That’s the whole point of the 4th Amendment: a neutral judge stands between us and the door. Treating that safeguard as optional is frightening.

Think Immigration: Immigration Scam Surge Threatens Clients and Legal Providers Charity Anastasio, AILA Senior Counsel, Practice and Ethics, details the recent surge in immigration scams and the coordinated and sophisticated schemes threatening legitimate providers’ reputations.

AILA Senior Counsel of Practice and Ethics Charity Anastasio details the recent surge in immigration scams and the coordinated and sophisticated schemes threatening legitimate providers’ reputations in a new #ThinkImmigration blog post. https://bit.ly/46ME0Rk

‘Complete nonstarter’: Administration allies say judicial warrants a red line for White House in DHS funding talks as shutdown looms The seeming stalemate sets up a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats ahead of a Friday night deadline.

Judicial warrants for ICE aren’t radical. Without them, masked agents can kick down anyone’s door at night—the “chief evil” SCOTUS said the 4th Amendment is meant to prevent. Calling warrants a “complete nonstarter” is absurd and dangerous.

Appeals court backs Trump’s mass detention policy The ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals contradicts thousands of lower-court rulings.

A divided 5th Circuit greenlit ICE’s policy of detaining immigrants without bond, abandoning decades of practice and basic due process. Treating civil immigration cases like criminal punishment erodes the rule of law and human dignity.

What Americans actually want done about ICE Democratic proposals for reform earn supermajority support among U.S. voters

New polling is clear: Americans want real ICE reform. Supermajorities support visible IDs, bans on masking, independent investigations on wrongdoing, and an end to racial profiling. Voters want accountability and transparency, not unchecked enforcement. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-ameri...

Federal judges are already getting flooded with habeas claims because the Administration is denying bond for no good reason. This will only make the backlogs and burden worse.

The Administration is gutting due process again. This time by issuing an interim final rule making the Board of Immigration Appeals less relevant and offering immigrants less chance to have their case reviewed unless they go to federal court.

And to highlight the conclusion of Judge Reyes's opinion:

Judge Reyes also acknowledges the disastrous conditions on the ground in Haiti. There continues to be rampant gang violence and food shortages. Sending people back to those conditions is inhumane. This is exactly why TPS was created by Congress in the first place.

Notably, Judge Reyes said TPS holders are "likely to succeed on their claim that anti-black and anti-Haitian animus motivated Secretary Noem's decision to terminate Haiti's TPS designation" & acknowledged their immense contributions: "generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually."

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end TPS for Haiti, making clear that TPS holders cannot be deported or denied work authorization while the case moves forward. AILA celebrates this win & will carefully follow further developments on Haitian TPS.

Vote Recommendation: AILA Urges NO Vote on FY2026 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill AILA sent a vote recommendation to Congress on 1/21/26 urging a NO vote on the FY2026 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

Don’t waste American taxpayers’ dollars on militarized raids & unchecked detention. Existing DHS resources should be shifted to agencies like FEMA that genuinely protect the public. Public safety is built through transparency, not terrorizing communities. https://bit.ly/3ZgaWh7

Why the Trump administration is detaining immigrant children – and what happens to them next The detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, age five, marks the turbocharging of a policy discontinued five years ago

Incredibly proud of our AILA member attorneys who worked tirelessly to support Liam and his father and get them out of detention. The reality is they should never have been detained in the first place, and the administration continues to call terrorizing children & families "policy."

Bipartisan Effort Blocks Unchecked DHS Funding AILA leadership responded to the Senate vote to block passage of a combined spending bill, driven by opposition to increasing funding to DHS without, at the same time, enacting meaningful measures tha...

Congress now has until Feb 13 to make real changes at DHS. Congress must halt DHS money until it stops violence by federal agents, racial profiling, warrantless arrests, mass roving patrols, and arrests at schools, churches, and places where emergency services are provided.

Take Action: Tell Congress to Vote NO on the FY2026 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill The American Immigration Lawyers Association urges Congress to oppose any increase in funding for DHS in the FY26 DHS Appropriations Bill.

Congress must block the DHS funding bill unless it has the necessary guardrails to end the lawless, deadly actions DHS is engaging in. DHS is endangering, NOT protecting, American communities. Take Action: www.aila.org/library/take...

AILA calls on Congress to settle for nothing less than real reforms that ensure compliance with the Constitution, reduce DHS’s excessive and bloated budget, and keep our communities safe.

Think Immigration: A Civil Code, Enforced at Gunpoint AILA Past President Jeremy McKinney describes how Congress normalized “arming a civil enforcement agency with criminal-style power while insisting the Constitution counts for less” and what must be do...

"If immigration enforcement is civil, it must look civil: transparent, notice-driven, and judge-centered. No masked street operations for civil paperwork. No brandishing of firearms with no imminent threat of harm" -Jeremy McKinney on #ThinkImmigration. https://bit.ly/45zRLm6

Today, AILA sent a vote recommendation to the Senate urging a NO vote on the FY2026 DHS Appropriations bill. Congress cannot give more money to DHS without putting in place guardrails to stop the unlawful actions that are causing violence & death. https://bit.ly/4k6HJPo

until guardrails are in place to stop abuses of power and violence. Immigration enforcement is not above the law.

Live: State officials decry fatal shooting. ‘We can’t live like this,’ Walz says Protesters have swarmed the street where a man was shot and killed by federal agents Saturday. Republican Tom Emmer said Walz’s response was “dangerous.”

A second U.S. citizen has now been killed as a direct result of DHS’s reckless enforcement operations. This campaign of fear must end.  AILA calls for what the country deserves:  a full, independent investigation with integrity and accountability; and Senators to vote NO on any DHS funding (1/2)

‘Is Bond Now Being Granted?’: Conflicting Orders Leave Detainees, Attorneys in Limbo - Documented The Trump administration has continued to push mandatory detention despite a court order to stop.

When the government tells judges to ignore a federal court order, it undermines the rule of law itself. Court orders aren’t optional. Defying them erodes judicial independence, due process, and the basic promise that the law applies to everyone.