On August 3, 2018, the Human Rights Defense Center filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The plaintiff sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Freedom of Information Act. In March 2018, the plaintiff had requested from ICE certain records related to litigation against the organization. The plaintiff appealed ICE’s denial of its records request to the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, but had not received a response to the appeal by the time it filed the complaint. The plaintiff alleged that ICE wrongly withheld documents responsive to its properly submitted request in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. The plaintiff sought declaratory relief, as well as an order that ICE disclose the requested records and attorneys’ fees. The case was assigned to Judge Thomas S. Zilly.

On August 7, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint to note that the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor had emailed a final denial of the appeal on August 6.

On March 15, 2019, the parties submitted a joint status report in which the defendants acknowledged that the plaintiffs were entitled to the requested records subject to exceptions delineated in the Freedom of Information Act. The parties noted that they had conferred regarding a rolling production schedule. Although the court set a trial date for December 2, 2019, the parties noted in their joint status report that the case will most likely be resolved by motions practice. The case is ongoing.

Eva Richardson - 05/22/2019


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