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The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to demand transparency about the agency’s deportation operations.
What’s the deal: According to lawyers representing the ACLU, the lawsuit seeks to force ICE to disclose information about its deportation operations, including contracts for privately chartered ICE Air flights, ground transportation logistics, and access to airfields. The legal action follows ICE’s failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted in August, which aimed to shed light on how the agency plans to expand its operations.
Why does the ACLU want the info?: The ACLU is seeking information from ICE to uncover the agency’s preparations for mass deportations, which they argue could harm immigrant communities and raise ethical concerns. Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s national prison project said, “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. A second Trump administration underscores the urgency of our litigation.”
Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at ACLU SoCal, added, “Little is known about how President-elect Trump would carry out its mass deportation agenda, but what we do know is that this proposal has already instilled fear among immigrant communities. The public has a right to know how its taxpayer dollars could be used to fund deportation flights that would tear apart not only families, but also our communities.”
This all comes as President-Elect Donald Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportations of millions of undocumented migrants. Trump has proposed declaring a national emergency to mobilize military resources and expand ICE’s operational capacity, signaling a drastic escalation in deportation efforts. Unlike past enforcement priorities that focused on recent arrivals or those with criminal convictions, Trump has indicated that his plan will target anyone who is illegally in the US.
