Attorney General Becerra Sues DHS for Failure to Comply with FOIA Request

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). On June 29, Attorney General Becerra and nine attorneys general sent a letter to three agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking information about changes to federal immigration enforcement practices under the Trump Administration. More than three months later, the agencies have failed to make the required disclosures. 

“Federal authorities have a clear legal obligation to respond to our FOIA request,” said Attorney General Becerra. “The Trump Administration’s secrecy tied to changes in its immigration enforcement practices is sowing confusion and increasing anxiety among immigrants. That’s why we’re asking the Administration to be transparent to the public and tell us what it is doing in this area. As Attorney General, I am committed to helping inform Californians about how federal policies have actually changed and how those changes affect their rights.” 

Specifically, the attorneys general’s FOIA request asked DHS about: 

• The mixed messages the Trump Administration has sent regarding enforcement against individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the initiative providing relief to Dreamers that the Administration is now seeking to rescind;

• Whether immigration enforcement has occurred at schools, hospitals, and places of worship, which the Trump Administration says remain protected as “sensitive locations,” and to what extent it has increased at courthouses and worksites, where federal enforcement appears to be on the rise; and

• The return to the most controversial aspects of the “Secure Communities” program, under which immigration authorities target immigrants regardless of whether or not they have been convicted of any crime, and request that local police and sheriff departments hold individuals beyond their ordinary release, often without providing a judicial warrant or probable cause as required under the Constitution.  

This FOIA request was directed to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – all part of DHS. They were required to respond within 20 business days. ICE and USCIS both sought time extensions, while CBP merely confirmed receipt of the letter. Even after having ample time to gather the documents requested, ICE, USCIS, and CBP have failed to make the required disclosures. 

Joining Attorney General Becerra in filing today’s lawsuit were the attorneys general of Hawai’i, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the FOIA lawsuit is attached to the electronic version of this release at oag.ca.gov/news