Border Rights

The ACLU is working to ensure detention conditions satisfy basic constitutional requirements, and that the agency treats all detainees with dignity and respect.

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Every year, Border Patrol detains tens of thousands of men, women, and children in its notorious “hieleras” (Spanish for “iceboxes”), where detainees are packed into freezing, dirty, and overcrowded cells, denied basic necessities, and held incommunicado for days at a time. The ACLU is working to ensure detention conditions satisfy basic constitutional requirements, and that the agency treats all detainees with dignity and respect.

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Immigrants' Rights Resource Hub

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Recursos sobre los Derechos de los Inmigrantes

News & Commentary
Collage of people's belongings in a dumpster in front of the U.S. border wall.

Will Border Patrol finally stop destroying migrants' belongings? Here's what we know. 

We released a report detailing how CBP was unlawfully confiscating and discarding migrants' belongings. Since then, 31 members of Congress and more than 1000 supporters joined us in urging them to stop — but our work isn’t over until we see actionable policy change.
News & Commentary
A sign reading "Dignity for Migrants."

Your Guide to Discussing the Right to Seek Asylum at the Dinner Table

The fight to protect the human and legal right to seek asylum in the U.S. is at a critical juncture. Here’s how to talk about it with friends and family.