U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducting a raid (Fox News/YouTube)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) got hit with a federal lawsuit on Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union, claiming it failed to respond to open records requests about what it describes as President-elect Donald Trump’s “mass deportation and detention” plans.
With Trump vowing to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history” once in office next year, ACLU officials have asked for more information on the government’s ICE Air Operations program, which is responsible for transporting migrants and unaccompanied children by plane, per the civil rights group.
“This action under the Freedom of Information Act (‘FOIA’) seeks the timely release of agency records,” the ACLU complaint says. “Specifically, this action seeks disclosure of records related to the ICE Air Operations (‘ICE Air’) program from the period of January 1, 2023 through the present, including, but not limited to, contracts for operating removal flights and ground transportation to removal flights, and internal policies and procedures for staging, staffing, and handling flights, including those with unaccompanied children.”
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Kyle Virgien, an attorney for the ACLU’s National Prison Project, sent out a statement Monday explaining why this information was so vital.
“For months, the ACLU has been preparing for the possibility of a mass detention and deportation program, and FOIA litigation has been a central part of our roadmap,” Virgien said. “A second Trump administration underscores the urgency of our litigation.”
Trump doubled down this week on his mass deportation vow and confirmed on Truth Social that his administration was prepared to declare a national emergency at the border and use military force to get undocumented residents out.
“The litigation comes on the heels of comments made by President-elect Donald Trump reiterating his promise to launch the largest deportation program in American history on day one of his second term,” ACLU officials said.
The group’s lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California, asks that ICE immediately turn over the requested information or face ACLU lawyers in court. Their demands include “all ICE contracts and records regarding air transportation to execute removals, including flights leaving the United States and domestic flights to transport noncitizens in between detention sites to stage for removals,” the group says.
“This secrecy has masked responsibility for serious abuses and danger on ICE Air flights,” the complaint charges. “ICE’s air removal operations are a matter of widespread media and public interest. President-elect Donald Trump’s stated plan to arrest noncitizens on a vast scale and operate around-the-clock deportation flights using ICE Air has rendered the public’s interest in the matter all the greater. The information sought in the request will shed critical light on ICE’s removal processes and help to inform the public of the risks that would result if ICE Air’s capacity is further built out.”
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ACLU officials are also asking for documents containing information on what ground transportation is used by ICE to transfer noncitizens to airports for removal flights, per the complaint, as well as “records sufficient to show the airfields ICE uses, or has access to, for removal,” the document says.
A memorandum and “other guidance” regarding ICE’s “policies or procedures for staging noncitizens” was also requested, per ACLU officials.
“The Freedom of Information Act requires federal agencies to disclose information requested by the public,” said lawyer Sophie Mancall-Bitel in a statement Monday. “It’s more important than ever that we understand what federal resources could be used to forcibly remove people from the United States.”
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