New York, NY – Today, Democracy Forward, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the American Immigration Council filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York demanding the release of critical records about immigration arrests at immigration courts and the dismissal of immigration cases that federal agencies have unlawfully withheld in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Since May 20, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) have been participating in the detention of noncitizens appearing for hearings in immigration courts across the country. At the same time, attorneys from ICE’s Office of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) have been moving to dismiss cases, pushing people into expedited removal, a process with fewer due process protections and no path to permanent residence. EOIR, which runs the immigration courts, directed immigration judges to grant these dismissals on the spot. This directive violates agency policy and long-standing practice.

The coalition filed a total of 11 FOIA requests seeking information about arrests and dismissals around immigration courts, and also demanded expedited processing. Yet to date, the government has failed to provide timely or adequate responses, in violation of the law. The EOIR has also refused to even search for records about the extent of its coordination with ICE, while ICE has ignored or delayed the processing of all the requests to it.

Arresting people who voluntarily appear at their immigration court hearing creates a dangerous chilling effect. It erodes fundamental democratic principles, deters others from seeking justice, and inflicts profound human harm.

“The public has a right to know when our government rewrites the rules to make mass arrests and deny people of due process — especially inside the very courtrooms meant to deliver justice,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is separately litigating to challenge these arrests. “The administration cannot hide guidance that turns immigration courts into traps and accelerates deportations without fair hearings. We will not allow these agencies to operate in the shadows. Transparency is the first safeguard against abuse of power, and we’re in court to demand accountability.”

“Our FOIA requests seek to shine a light on how ICE operates in immigration courts, where families are fighting to keep their families together and for their future,” said Rex Chen, Supervising Counsel for Immigrant Rights, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “Instead of transparency, they have chosen secrecy, stonewalling, or have provided inadequate responses to our request. It is unacceptable to prolong this urgent matter.”

“Families’ futures are on the line. That’s why we need to better understand how these arrests at immigration courts are being carried out, and the degree to which supposedly independent and neutral agencies like the EOIR are pushing a mass deportation agenda. The public has a right to know what the EOIR and ICE are doing behind closed doors,” said Chris Opila, Staff Attorney for Transparency at the American Immigration Council.

This lawsuit seeks to compel the four agencies to comply fully with FOIA and turn over all the documents responsive to 9 of the requests. It also demands the expedited disclosure of guidance directives and correspondence between ICE, DHS, EOIR, and the DOJ. 

Read the lawsuit here, and the Spanish version of this release here.

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.