On Oct. 17, 2017, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, District of Columbia, and States of California, Hawai'i, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Oregon, and Washington, filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). All plaintiffs were represented by their respective Attorneys General.

Plaintiffs sought disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of agency records that would shed light on federal immigration enforcement activities within the respective States. Due to a significant increase in such enforcement in 2017, plaintiffs asserted that they had an urgent need for this information.

The complaint alleged that on June 29, 2017, plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to ICE, USCIS, and CBP seeking copies of records relating to:
1. the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA);
2. arrests and/or detentions of individuals at certain locations; and
3. ICE or CBP detainer requests and databases.

The complaint further alleged that, to date, plaintiffs had not received a substantive response from ICE. Plaintiffs sought an expedited disclosure order under FOIA and sought legal fees.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and was assigned to Judge F. Dennis Saylor.

On Feb. 15, 2018, the parties filed a joint statement. Plaintiffs sought production of all responsive documents by Aug. 1, whereas defendants anticipated production by Sept. 30 for CBP and USCIS and Nov. 30 for ICE. The next status conference will be June 4.

This case is ongoing.

Ava Morgenstern - 04/21/2018


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