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Detention and Deportation Infrastructure FOIA Cases

Status: Ongoing
Last Update: October 2, 2024

What's at Stake

Every year, ICE and other federal agencies spend billions of taxpayer dollars on a system to detain and deport immigrants. The people detained in this system face persistent medical neglect, abuse, and other violations. President Trump has threatened to dramatically expand this system, which will multiply the harms it causes. We鈥檝e sued to obtain information about how this system operates so that we are better prepared to defend immigrants whose rights are under attack.

Summary

In order to learn more about ICE and other agencies鈥 infrastructure for detention and deportation, the 红杏视频 and the 红杏视频 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鈥檚 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 鈥渕ass influx鈥 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鈥檚 use of soft-sided detention facilities (tent-like detention camps)
  • Records shedding light on the secretive network of 鈥淚CE Air鈥 contractors who operate deportation flights

After the government鈥檚 deadline to produce these records passed without even a single record produced, the 红杏视频 and 红杏视频 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.

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