Washington, D.C, October 15 — Today, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the American Immigration Council, and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, demanding the release of critical records the government has unlawfully withheld about arrests at immigration courts and the dismissal of immigration cases.
Since May 20, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) and Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), have been taking part in a coordinated effort to detain noncitizens appearing for hearings in immigration courts nationwide.
Arresting people who voluntarily show up for their immigration court dates in search of protection is a deeply problematic practice. Immigration courts are not criminal courts and are supposed to be places that guarantee fair hearings, not act as pipelines into detention. When those who show up seeking a fair day in court are instead arrested, it undermines core tenets of our democracy, discourages people from pursuing their legal rights, and inflicts serious human costs.
Additionally, ICE attorneys have been asking immigration judges to dismiss cases and shift people into expedited removal, a fast-track process with fewer due process protections and no path to permanent residence. The EOIR, the agency which runs the immigration courts, has directed immigration judges to grant these dismissals on the spot, even though this violates agency policy and long-standing practice.
Seeking to better understand how and why arrests at immigration courts are taking place, LatinoJustice and the American Immigration Council filed a total of 11 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, six with the EOIR and five with ICE on July 28 and 29, 2025. The requests seek basic information about arrests and dismissals around immigration courts, and communications between and within the agencies coordinating these activities. LatinoJustice and the Council also asked for these requests to be handled quickly through expedited processing.
Yet to date, the government has failed to provide timely and adequate responses to ten of these FOIA requests, in violation of the law. The EOIR has declared that it cannot find any guidance it issued to immigration judges about dismissing cases and courthouse arrests, even though a copy of applicable guidance has been leaked to the public. 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.
“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 at 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.
“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.”
The lawsuit seeks to compel the four agencies to comply fully with FOIA and turn over all the documents responsive to 7 of the requests. It also demands the expedited disclosure of guidance directives and correspondence between ICE and the EOIR.
About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org
About Democracy Forward Foundation
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
About the American Immigration Council
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on BlueSky @immcouncil.org and Instagram at @immcouncil.
The post National Immigrant Rights Organizations Sue the Federal Government Over Withheld Records on ICE Arrests in Immigration Courts appeared first on American Immigration Council.
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