2016 Immigration Law and Policy Conference – Panel: Family Detention, PEP, and Prosecutorial Discretion: Developments in Immigration Enforcement

Immigration enforcement, always a central component of immigration policy, has received particular focus throughout President Obama’s administration. Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November, enforcement will likely continue to play a large—and contested—role for the next four years. In this panel discussion at the 13th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, speakers Elizabeth Cedillo-Pereira, Senior Advisor to the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security; Dree K. Collopy, Partner at Benach Collopy LLP and Co-Director, Immigration Litigation Clinic, Catholic University School of Law; Thomas D. Homan, Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security; Stephen Manning, Partner at Immigrant Law Group PC and Director, Innovation Law Lab; and moderator Charles Wheeler, Director of Training and Legal Support, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, INC. examine three key aspects of current U.S. immigration enforcement: family detention and policies affecting unaccompanied children; the replacement of the Secure Communities federal-local immigration enforcement cooperation program with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) amid rising local resistance to cooperation with the federal government; and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidance on its use of prosecutorial discretion with regards to deportation decisions. Panelists evaluate the successes and failures of these policies, and consider what legislative and other change could happen in the upcoming year. The conference is organized annually by the Migration Policy Institute, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center.