“We’ve been preparing for a mass detention and deportation agenda for the last nine months,” said A.C.L.U. senior staff attorney Kyle Virgien. “Now that Trump is the president-elect, it’s become apparent that this is a fight that we’re going to need to have.”
Activists and civil rights advocates have filed a lawsuit seeking information about how the federal government might enact the sort of mass-deportation plan proposed by President-elect Donald Trump.
According to The Washington Post, the federal lawsuit alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has largely failed to respond to requests for basic information about its existing contracts with the private airlines that collectively make up “I.C.E. Air,” as well as related ground transportation services, regulations, and policies.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that say that obtaining information is urgent, given that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take office in January.
“Despite the critical role these flights play in the removal system—in many instances, serving as the mechanism for deportation—I.C.E. Air remains shrouded in secrecy,” said attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California. “This secrecy has masked responsibilities for serious abuses and danger on I.C.E. Air flights.”
Although Trump has said that he will enact the deportation of undocumented immigrants on a mass scale, he has shared few—if any—concrete plans about how such an operation could or would be conducted.
“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,” said Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. “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.”
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump administration’s transition team, reaffirmed on Monday that the president-elect intends to “marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering the costs of families.”
Trump, notes the Washington Post¸ made similar promises before taking office for the first time in 2016. Ultimately, his administration deported fewer than 1 million of the estimated 11 million people living in the United States without legal authorization.
“We’ve been preparing for a mass detention and deportation agenda for the last nine months,” said A.C.L.U. senior staff attorney Kyle Virgien. “Now that Trump is the president-elect, it’s become apparent that this is a fight that we’re going to need to have.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said that the federal government, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has a responsibility to answer questions about policies and plans.
“The Freedom of Information Act requires federal agencies to disclose information requested by the public,” said Sophie Mancall-Bitel, a partner and attorney at Mayer Brown LLP, a private law firm that has joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff. “It’s more important than ever that we understand what federal resources could be used to forcibly remove people from the United States.”
Sources
ACLU files lawsuit seeking details on Trump’s plan for mass deportation
ACLU files lawsuit to gain information about Trump mass deportation plans
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