Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, claimed the actions resulted in the detention of “the worst of the worst” criminals. We asked the federal government for basic information including who agents detained, where those people were taken and what criminal charges they faced.
In November, when we didn’t receive the requested information, our reporter Jacob Biba made formal public records requests, called FOIAs. In December, he asked for body camera footage from the officers. The government acknowledged our requests and denied some of them, but it has not provided any substantive response or any records.
This spring, we were fortunate to receive pro bono assistance from Covington & Burling LLP through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press ProJourn program who sent a letter to the government in March, repeating our requests. The only response was an automated email with none of the information we requested.
Pursuing legal action isn’t something we take lightly, but it is often the only available recourse when the U.S. government fails in its legal obligation to keep public records open and accessible to taxpayers. That’s why we just filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for the government to be required to disclose the public records.
We are pressing for this information because frankly, the records aren’t ours. They are yours — they belong to the public.
Transparency in legal proceedings is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and the American public’s right to court records and other government is, thankfully, enshrined in federal law. We believe government officials should not stand in the way of the people’s right to know when members of their community are detained.
We will continue to pursue this story. Follow updates on our homepage.
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