On November 13, 2017, several organizations (National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), Mijente Support Committee, and Detention Watch Network) brought this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Represented by counsel from NIPNLG itself and Public Citizen Litigation Group, plaintiffs sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Plaintiffs are nonprofit organizations promoting immigrants' rights. According to their complaint, they sought information on "Operation Mega," which news sources had reported as an ICE immigration enforcement operation to apprehend non-citizens nationwide in mid-September 2017. On the same date that news sources had reported "Operation Mega," ICE had released a press release stating that no nationwide operation was planned due to recent weather disasters in Florida and Texas.
The complaint alleged that on September 12-14, 2017, plaintiffs and other requesters nationwide had submitted FOIA requests to each of defendant's field offices, seeking records concerning "Operation Mega" or related operations, including another named "Operation Safe City."
The complaint further alleged that, to date, plaintiffs had not received a substantive response from defendant. Plaintiff sought a disclosure order under FOIA, legal fees, and expedited action.
On November 14, 2017, the case was assigned to Judge Amit P. Mehta.
On January 8, 2018, the parties filed a joint status report. The defendant expected to produce the first batch of 500 responsive documents in February. The latest status report, of Mar. 6, confirmed the defendant's production and specified defendant would produce another 500 pages in March, followed by 1000 pages in April and each subsequent month.
ICE substantially completed document production on March 19, 2019, and the parties narrowed their disputes from there. On January 15, 2020, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment asking the Judge to protect the “Homeland Security
Investigations Criminal Street Gangs Investigations Handbook” because it was an internal agency memorandum and that it would disclose investigatory procedures. The plaintiffs filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on February 12, 2020 alleging that the plaintiff did not meet the standards for withholding under FOIA.
Judge Mehta has not ruled on the motions as of June 10, 2020, and the case is ongoing.
Ava Morgenstern - 05/05/2018
Virginia Weeks - 11/15/2018
Ellen Aldin - 06/10/2020
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