WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union is warning that the Trump administration’s immigration policies have created a humanitarian crisis that is placing refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants at heightened risk, while arguing the federal government has safer and more effective alternatives available.
In a report released July 23, 2026, Improving Asylum at and Beyond the U.S. Border, the ACLU details the humanitarian and economic benefits of asylum while contending that recent federal immigration policies have undermined legal protections and exposed vulnerable people to persecution, detention and deportation.
“The Trump Administration’s cruel anti-asylum policies are predicated on the false notion that by gutting humanitarian protections, our broken immigration system will somehow be fixed — but deporting vulnerable people to war zones, detaining families, pushing kids through mass hearings, and arresting refugees who followed the rules do not create a functional system,” said Sarah Mehta, deputy director for Policy and Government Affairs and Immigration at the ACLU, who authored the report.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, the Trump administration had undertaken more than 500 immigration-related actions as of January 2026 following the president’s return to office. The institute reported that while the full effects of those policies remain uncertain, they are already contributing to a declining immigrant population, particularly among undocumented immigrants.
The ACLU placed those policy changes within the broader context of recent immigration enforcement. Since Trump’s reelection, at least 52 people have died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a figure the organization distinguishes from 10 people it says were killed by ICE agents during enforcement actions.
Most recently, two men were killed during encounters with ICE agents in July 2026: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old man who was driving to work in Maine, and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old man who was killed in front of his wife and daughter.
Beyond immigration enforcement, the report argues that refugees and asylum seekers are increasingly being denied access to humanitarian protections.
In June 2026, at least two dozen asylum seekers were flown from Louisiana to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, according to The Associated Press. AP reported that the Trump administration had found a “legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries.”
One passenger, a woman from Iran, was attempting to escape persecution, according to AP, but instead was sent to Bangui, which is currently subject to a Level 4 travel advisory from the U.S. Department of State.
“Do not travel to [the] Central African Republic due to risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, health and terrorism,” the State Department warns on its website.
The ACLU said other asylum seekers and refugees — including LGBTQ+ Ugandans and trafficked children — face similar dangers as they attempt to flee persecution.
The organization also challenged the economic rationale behind the administration’s immigration policies, arguing that they overlook the financial contributions made by refugees and asylum seekers.
“In 2024, asylees and refugees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to federal, state and local governments over a 15-year period, strengthening the case for improved access to asylum as communities nationwide, especially in rural areas, continue to feel economic strain,” the ACLU wrote in its July 23, 2026, press release.
The Guardian reported in May 2026 that the administration’s immigration policies could reduce U.S. tax revenues by an estimated $479 billion over the next decade. Although undocumented immigrants are not authorized to work in the United States, they are still required to pay taxes and contributed an estimated $96.7 billion in taxes in 2022, according to The Guardian.
Rather than continue current policies, the ACLU urged the federal government to create “additional lawful pathways for people to come to the U.S.,” invest “in border processing and modernize the arrival triage system,” support “states and localities in welcoming newcomers,” and “[fund and bolster] the immigration court and asylum processing system,” according to its July 23 press release.
“Without needed reforms and legal options to come reunite with family, work and seek safety, the government is sacrificing vulnerable people and its legal obligations while failing to create a sustainable alternative system that serves U.S. values, laws, and the economy,” the ACLU wrote.
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