America is a nation of values, founded on the idea that all people are created equal and that all people have rights, no matter what they look like or where they came from. The way we enforce our immigration laws should reflect our commitment to these values. Both our laws and our enforcement policies should be grounded in civil and human rights and ensure due process, equal treatment, and fairness.

• AILA Statement for Senate Judiciary Hearing on “Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values” (Posted 3/20/13) AILA Doc. No. 13032053.)
• AILA Urges Congress to Create an Immigration System that Lives Up to American Values (3/20/2013) (AILA Doc. No. 13032051.)
• AILA Statement for House Appropriations Oversight Hearing on Immigration Enforcement (3/13/2013) (AILA Doc. No. 13031354.)
• A 12/20/12 sign-on letter AILA joined, with 289 other organizations, to President Obama outlining recommendations for policy reforms in immigration enforcement and detention. (AILA Doc. No. 12122058.)

• “Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice,” a report from the Immigration Policy Center. (3/19/2013)
• “A Decade of Rising Immigration Enforcement,” a report from the Immigration Policy Center. (01/08/2013)
• Judge Grussendorf’s testimony for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values.” (3/20/13) (AILA Doc. No. 13031447.)
• TRAC Report on Immigration Referrals & Spike in Criminal Prosecutions showing 15,313 federal criminal prosecutions in December 2012. (2/28/2013) (AILA Doc. No. 13022843.)

• On 03/26/13 AILA held a briefing on “Restoring Discretion and Fairness to the Immigration System” (AILA Doc. No. 13032547)
• Dear Colleague Letter on Importance of Due Process, Equal Treatment and Fairness in Immigration Law signed by Senators Leahy (D-VT), Coons (D-DE), Blumenthal (D-CT) and Hirono (D-HI). (2/05/2013) (AILA Doc. No. 13020557.)
• On 03/20/13 the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled: "Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values." (3/20/2013) (AILA Doc. No. 13031447.)
• House Homeland Subcommittee Holds Oversight Hearing on Immigration Enforcement (3/14/13) (AILA Doc. No. 13031142.)

Courts

A fair and functioning court system is essential to ensuring due process. Currently, the immigration court system is plagued by a lack of funding.

Detention

This year, the U.S. government will detain 34,000 immigrants per day at a cost of over $2 billion to American taxpayers -a figure not based on demonstrated need. ICE has all the tools it needs to safely release thousands of individuals it chooses to hold in detention.

Border

In recent years increasing amounts of money have been poured into the protection of the border region--the necessity of these escalating costs is questionable, especially when considering that apprehensions at the border are at their lowest in 40 years.

Worksite Enforcement & E-Verify

Currently there are an estimated 8 million undocumented workers in the country --if these undocumented workers suddenly leave the workforce, our country would face significant, possibly devastating, economic consequences

Secure Communities

Key to this administration's strategy have been programs that partner with local law enforcement, such as Secure Communities. These programs have come under attack due to their negative impact on community policing, susceptibility to racial profiling, and their indiscriminate approach to immigration enforcement.