Immigration Under Attack

The number of immigrants held in detention soared, and the conditions for those held remained dismal, with one inspection report stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) management strategy “shows a disregard for detainee health and safety.”^[]U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Management Alert – Issues Requiring Action at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California (Washington, DC: DHS OIG, 2018), 4. But the biggest story of the year was family separation, as thousands of children were funneled into the immigration civil detention system—while their parents were held in adult facilities—under the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.^[]Dara Lind, “New Statistics: The Government Is Separating 65 Children a Day from Parents at the Border,” Vox, June 19, 2018; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), OIG, Separated Children Placed in Office of Refugee Resettlement Care (Washington, DC: HHS, 2019). The government was ill-prepared to care for so many children—or even to track which children belonged with whom—which posed significant risks to the children’s welfare.^[]DHS OIG, Special Review - Initial Observations Regarding Family Separation Issues Under the Zero Tolerance Policy (Washington, DC: DHS OIG, 2018); and Letter from Drs. Scott Allen and Pamela McPherson to Chairs of the Senate Whistleblowing Caucus re: Harm to Children from Family Detention, July 17, 2018. Immigration news dominated the headlines throughout 2018 and, by year’s end, President Trump’s demands that Congress fund a border wall had led to a partial federal government shutdown.^[]Steve Contorno, “Donald Trump Has Shut Down the Government over Immigration. Meanwhile, E-Verify Is Down,” Tampa Bay Times, January 4, 2019.

Disputes over immigration also drove increasing tensions between the executive and judicial branches—and between the federal government and local governments.^[]See for example Brian Naylor, “Chief Justice Roberts Issues Rare Rebuke to Trump; Trump Fires Back,” NPR, November 21, 2018; and Dara Lind, “Sanctuary Cities, Explained,” Vox, March 8, 2018. With ICE seemingly everywhere, some states and municipalities enacted legislation or passed resolutions designed to provide local support to immigrants or pushed back against enforcement in other ways.^[]Tium Henderson, “Cities, States Resist—and Assist—Immigration Crackdown in New Ways,” Pew Charitable Trusts, August 3, 2018. But other jurisdictions acted to prohibit sanctuary policies, deny access to services, and support federal efforts to build a wall and increase military presence at the southern border.^[]Henderson, “Cities, States Resist,” 2018. For examples of anti-sanctuary legislation, see Iowa Senate File 481 (2018); and Tennessee HB 2315 (2018).