E.g., 07/22/2026
E.g., 07/22/2026

Civil Liberties: All Activity

Paperwork and fingerprints

The Trump administration aims to significantly increase the use of denaturalization, the historically rarely invoked process of stripping U.S. citizenship from immigrants. Once reserved largely for Nazis, communists, and security threats, denaturalization now can be used for a broad set of criminal acts and, some critics fear, going after immigrants engaging in disfavored speech or political activity.

Federal officers and protesters in Portland, Oregon

The ramp-up of federal immigration enforcement during the second Trump term has prompted sharp responses from state and local governments, with some limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), or barring agents' wearing of masks or the establishment of immigrant detention facilities. At the same time, some Republican-led jurisdictions have embraced policies to encourage cooperation with ICE. This article traces the rise of "sanctuary" policies and divergent trends.

Multimedia
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

MPI analysts assess the immigration actions taken during President Trump's first year back in office, detail the legal state of play, and analyze the actual effects on the labor market, U.S. communities, and future immigration to the United States.

President Donald Trump addresses the nation.

U.S. immigration policy, practice, and enforcement changed dramatically over the first year of President Donald Trump's second term, touching most corners of the immigration system. The government has cracked down on unauthorized immigration in the U.S. interior and at the border, expanded scrutiny of immigrants of all legal statuses, and erected barriers for would-be arrivals. This article provides a sweeping overview of the changes that have taken place and assesses their impacts.

Families from Venezuela in Trinidad and Tobago.

Many Venezuelan migrants in Trinidad and Tobago have found that their situation is more complex than expected as the Caribbean country has largely adopted an enforcement-first approach. Many Venezuelan migrants face stigma and precarity—issues complicated amid escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States, as this article details. 

People at the Eloy immigrant detention facility.

The number of people in U.S. immigrant detention has grown sharply under President Donald Trump and will likely continue to rise in coming months. The rapid ramp-up has relied on an array of nontraditional facilities as well as private prisons, and has been accompanied by allegations of harsh treatment and rising deaths. This article traces the growth and evolution of the world's largest immigration detention system.

Authorities making an immigration arrest in Virginia.

The Trump administration has expanded its use of expedited removal in unprecedented ways, transforming what previously had been a somewhat limited authority into a potent tool to assist with its mass deportations drive. This article traces how the administration has sought to expand the reach of the nearly 30-year-old fast-track power beyond the border.

President Donald Trump tours the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility in Florida

U.S. immigration enforcement is undergoing a marked transformation, as state and local law enforcement authorities—once largely on the sidelines—have become central partners to the Trump administration. State and local participation is growing in size and scope, including the signing of hundreds of 287(g) deputization agreements, opening of Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, and Texas's multibillion-dollar Operation Lone Star.

An ICE specialist in cybercrime.

In its bid to ramp up deportations, the Trump administration is granting ICE access to a swath of government databases that were previously off limits for immigration enforcement, including sensitive tax and Social Security records. This article details the growing digital arsenal of government and commercial databases that ICE can tap to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, and how this unprecedented data sharing has its roots in the post-9/11 era.

Multimedia
Thursday, April 24, 2025

Top analysts assess the most consequential immigration actions taken during the first 100 days of President Trump's second term, detail the litigation picture, and analyze some of the early effects of policies on U.S. communities.

President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office.

In its first 100 days, the Trump administration has issued a flurry of actions that represent the most sweeping immigration policy changes in decades, reshaping enforcement, border security, legal immigration, humanitarian protection, and foreign policy. This article provides an overview of the myriad changes in the first 100 days of the second Trump term and assesses the challenges ahead.

An Eritrean refugee in Ethiopia.

Eritreans account for a disproportionately large share of the world’s refugees. But fleeing the harshly repressive country is rarely easy. This article provides a primer on the situation in Eritrea and the conditions that refugees and other emigrants have encountered abroad.

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