In Latest Push Against U.S. Immigration Crackdown, Rights Group Sues Federal Agencies

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont sued the federal government on May 8 for its alleged failure to supply the records of immigration enforcement since U.S President Donald Trump took office, AP reported.

The lawsuit by the civil rights groups names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying that they failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for records of raids, arrests and detentions. The three federal agencies’ representative said that they don’t comment on pending litigation, the report said.

Saying that people have the right to know about the immigration enforcement actions taken, ACLU attorney Maine Emma Bond, said: “They’re going to courthouses. They’re targeting community groups. They’re engaging in racial profiling. This is just the tip of the iceberg, we think.”

As per the complaint, immigration arrests increased nearly 38 per cent across the country and 50 per cent in New England states in the first 100 days of Trump’s tenure.

The group, pushing against the Trump administration’s clampdown on immigration, contends that the only information given to them was a one-page document with a breakdown of apprehensions, arrests and border-crossing actions touching 1,000 in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2017. “Border Patrol and ICE are some of the most abusive and least transparent agencies in the federal government and the failure to respond to a lawful FOI request is emblematic of their tendency to act like they’re above the law,” James Lyall from the ACLU in Vermont was quoted as saying by the news agency.

The Freedom Of Information request for documents goes as far back as September 2017.

Citing the example of a case last week in which a New Hampshire court ruled that a border patrol checkpoint in Woodstock in the state was unconstitutional under both state and federal law, Gilles Bissonnette, legal director for the ACLU of New Hampshire, said a statement: “Cases like this are exactly why more information is needed about what immigration agents are doing in our states. If we do not keep them in check, they will run roughshod over our laws.”

Last week, Maine saw another lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where it was said that customs agents stopped a bus at the Bangor Transportation Center on Jan. 14 to check the passengers’ citizenship status without a warrant or probable cause.

Last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a six-day immigration raid in the New York state which resulted in 225 arrests, prompting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to threaten the agency with legal action if it did stop its “reckless practices.”