The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit today, demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans.
Today’s action is one of 13 FOIA lawsuits filed by ACLU affiliates across the country. The ACLU of Iowa lawsuit is seeking records from the Chicago Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In particular, the Iowa lawsuit seeks records related to CBP’s implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans at O’Hare International Airport.
The ACLU first sought this information through FOIA requests submitted to CBP on February 2. Since the government has failed to substantively respond, the ACLU is now suing.
The ACLU of Iowa has joined the ACLU affiliates in Illinois and seven other Midwestern states in the jurisdiction of the CBP Chicago Field Office in bringing this important case. Rita Bettis, ACLU of Iowa Legal Director, said the legal action is necessary to enforce the right to obtain records related to the implementation of President Trump's illegal Muslim ban orders here in the Midwest.
“In Iowa, we saw a number of families and individuals whose lives were temporarily thrown into chaos because of the deeply unAmerican bans,” Bettis said. “We believe obtaining the records we are seeking is critical to get the full story of how the orders have played out on the ground in Chicago."
Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, which is also participating with a lawsuit, said, “CBP has a long history of ignoring its obligations under the federal Freedom of Information Act — a law that was enacted to ensure that Americans have timely access to information of pressing public concern. The public has a right to know how federal immigration officials have handled the implementation of the Muslim bans, especially after multiple federal courts have blocked various aspects of these executive orders.”
Each lawsuit seeks unique and local information regarding how CBP implemented the executive orders at specific airports and ports of entry in the midst of rapidly developing and sometimes conflicting government guidance.
The coordinated lawsuits seek information from the following local CBP offices:
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Chicago
- Detroit
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Portland
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Tampa
- Tucson
A copy of the complaint filed by the ACLU of Iowa can be found here.
A news release from the ACLU nationally can be found here.
The release of the original FOIA requests is here.
More background on CBP’s FOIA practices is here.
