Chicago —(ENEWSPF)—October 17, 2017
By: Office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, along with nine other attorneys general, today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information relating to the detention and deportation of immigrants.
In June, Madigan joined the same coalition of attorneys general in issuing FOIA requests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), seeking details regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), arrests and/or detentions of individuals at sensitive locations, including jobsites and ICE or CBP detainer requests and databases.
The complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, alleges that the states are requesting records to which they have a legal right and that the agencies have not responded to the requests within the statutorily prescribed time limit.
In the FOIA requests, the attorneys general reference local and national media reports of the deportation of individuals approved for DACA, individuals meeting with federal immigration officials to discuss their status, and even U.S. citizens.
The information being sought from federal agencies includes the detention and deportation of individuals approved for DACA and immigration enforcement at sensitive locations – which include hospitals and school grounds. Some of the specific information the attorneys general have requested includes information about the detention or deportation of any individual previously granted approval or extension of DACA, data about detainer requests issued by ICE or CBP, memos related to ICE or CBP-designated sensitive locations, and information about arrests and/or detentions within 100 feet of a courthouse.
Joining Madigan in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general from: California, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
Source: www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov
