Council Sues Government to Compel Release of Records about ‘Remain in Mexico' Program

STATUS:
Pending

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)—also known as the "Remain in Mexico" program.

The suit seeks records about the implementation of the program after multiple Department of Homeland Security agencies failure to respond to FOIA requests submitted on December 21, 2019.

MPP has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, compelling thousands of people to live in camps along the border in dangerous and squalid conditions as they await their asylum hearing. The FOIA suit is a way to pursue agency accountability as plaintiffs seek to understand the impact of the MPP on uniquely vulnerable asylum seekers. As challenges to MPP continue to wind through the courts, it is critically important that we have a full picture of how the program has been designed and implemented.

The American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Human Rights Watch, and the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP filed this lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California.

Read our analysis and see document excerpts

Follow this case:

  • May 14, 2020
    The American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Human Rights Watch, and the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California today to compel the release of records about the US Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program.
  • January 27, 2021
    Newly released government records reveal U.S. immigration agencies' efforts in 2019 to rapidly deport thousands of people from the United States through the little-known Electronic Nationality Verification program.

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