Detention and Deportation Infrastructure FOIA Cases

Summary

In order to learn more about ICE and other agencies’ infrastructure for detention and deportation, the ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California submitted Freedom of Information Act requests asking the government to disclose:

• Records that show bed space available to ICE, including all currently operational or contracted ICE detention facilities
• Records regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s policies for reassigning personnel from one component to another
• Records from Customs and Border Protection regarding its ground transportation of noncitizens between detention centers and to airports for removal
• Legal memoranda discussing the meaning of the “mass influx” provision of the immigration laws
• Records about agreements and policies that would apply if the government holds immigrants in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities
• Records about Customs and Border Protection’s use of soft-sided detention facilities (tent-like detention camps)
• Records shedding light on the secretive network of “ICE Air” contractors who operate deportation flights

After the government’s deadline to produce these records passed without even a single record produced, the ACLU and ACLU of Southern California filed these cases. We sued in federal court to force the government to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and provide the public with this important information.