“The Records Rule has placed most records about county-held immigration detainees in an impenetrable black box, shielding them from public scrutiny,” the ACLU said in its lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that county jails and federal officials in Michigan are exploiting a “legal loophole” to keep immigration detention records “completely secret” and shielded from public scrutiny.
According to The Detroit Free Press, the lawsuit was filed earlier this week by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The complaint names defendants including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In court filings, attorneys for the ACLU said that an “obscure federal regulation” lets county jails across Michigan refuse to provide records requested under the state Freedom of Information Act.
The ACLU says that ICE, even when in possession of requested records, routinely declines Freedom of Information Act requests.
“Public scrutiny of government conduct is a hallmark of our democracy,” said Ramis Wadood, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. “This is especially true for jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers, where government officials have almost total control over the daily lives of incarcerated people — and where they exercise that control behind closed, locked, and guarded doors.”
“ICE has been wrongly misusing an obscure federal regulation to thwart scrutiny by keeping what should be public information secret,” he said.
The ACLU highlighted a case from Calhoun County. In 2019, Jilmar Ramos-Gomez was wrongfully detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the suspicion that he was undocumented.
However, Ramos-Gomez is a U.S. citizen who had previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
The ACLU of Michigan filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Calhoun County, but the jail refused to provide any records on Ramos-Gomez’s detention. Instead, they said that a federal “Records Rule” prevented them from disclosing documents that ICE did not want disclosed.
“The Records Rule has placed most records about county-held immigration detainees in an impenetrable black box, shielding them from public scrutiny,” the ACLU said in its lawsuit.
Wadood told WCMU Public Media that this apparent misuse of the “Records Rule” makes it more difficult for attorneys and activists to determine if detainees are being subject to abuse behind bars.
“This is impeding our ability to investigate civil rights abuses. This is impeding immigrant legal services providers’ ability to effectively represent clients. And it’s impeding the public’s ability to truly understand how detention centers are being run,” Wadood said.
Wadood told WCMU Public Media that, while he expects the lawsuit will take years to resolve, its outcome will likely have nationwide repercussions.
Sources
ACLU sues ICE, Homeland Security over access to immigrant detention records
ACLU of Michigan sues ICE over rule used as ‘impenetrable black box’ for jail records
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