Justice Deferred

The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse of the University of Michigan Law School has compiled abstracts of sixty-three lawsuits brought against the Trump Administration under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on immigration policies alone. In each case, plaintiffs asserted the government failed to honor record requests in compliance with the act and that none of the nine exemptions and exclusions under the act applied.

In American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for example, the ACLU submitted an FOIA request to Homeland Security regarding its use of G45 Secure Solutions, a private contractor, to detain and transport immigrants without due process. The ACLU was investigating numerous reports of violence against detainees by G45 personnel, including a 2014 instance in which a detainee died. The purpose of the request was to determine how the government selected such contractors and awarded contracts totaling more than $200 million.

When the agency refused on grounds of "national security" and law enforcement procedure, ACLU attorneys filed suit, seeking an injunction ordering release of the documents. The case landed in the court of Magistrate Judge Laura Beeler, who, on March 8, 2019, asked for a narrowed version of the FOIA request. The ACLU complied, asserting their concern that Homeland Security would continue to stall delivery of the documents.

On June 26, the court received notice of a possibly similar case from G45, Liborio Ramos v. G4S Secure Solutions, filed on May 21, 2019, the contractor allegedly shackled four women in a hot van during transport, causing them to suffer breathing difficulties and fear for their lives. On June 25, plaintiffs and defendant agreed to a dismissal with prejudice, preventing further legal action on the matter.

Judge Beeler, over objections from ACLU attorneys, granted an order relating the two cases, but ordered DHS to begin producing documents. On September 26, 2019, she ordered DHS to increase delivery of the documents from 500 a month to 750. As of the publication of this article, delivery was still ongoing.

The cases listed on the Clearinghouse site are by no means exhaustive, as FOIA requests related to immigrant civil rights abuses and agency denials continue to mount.