Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have pursued an aggressive enforcement agenda leading to increased immigration-related arrests.
The American Immigration Council filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with ICE and CBP on October 13, 2017, seeking data on enforcement actions and outcomes since January 2016. With this data, the Council will be able to assess who is being targeted for removal and what the consequences are of the current enforcement framework.
Specially, the FOIA request asked for:
- Data on apprehensions and encounters for each individual apprehended by CBP or encountered by ICE in the United States;
- Data on arrests for each individual arrested by ICE or CBP; and
- Data on removals and returns for each individual removed or returned from the United States.
Because ICE and CBP failed to respond to this request in a timely manner, the Council filed a suit on July 9, 2018 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Following suit, ICE and CBP have begun to produce some, but not all, of the requested data.
The American public deserves to understand the government’s actions related to immigration enforcement. The need for transparency has never been greater.
