ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties Files Lawsuit Demanding Documents on Implementation of Trump Muslim Ban

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2017

CONTACT:
Edward Sifuentes
esifuentes@aclusandiego.org
619-398-4497

ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties Files Lawsuit Demanding Documents on Implementation of Trump Muslim Ban

SAN DIEGO — The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit today demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans.

Today’s action is part of a total of 13 FOIA lawsuits filed by ACLU affiliates across the country. The ACLU of San Diego lawsuit is seeking records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego Field Office. In particular, the lawsuit seeks records related to CBP’s implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans at San Diego 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.

“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,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

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:
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
Portland
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tampa
Tucson

All of the affiliate FOIA lawsuits will be available here:

https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-cbp-foia-lawsuits-regarding-muslim-ban-implementation

The ACLU national release is here:

https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-files-lawsuits-demanding-local-documents-implementation-trump-muslim-ban

The release on the original FOIA requests is here:

https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-files-demands-documents-implementation-trumps-muslim-ban

More background on CBP’s FOIA practices is here:

https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-letter-cbp-re-foia-practices-july-2016