Comment on Human-rights nonprofit sues ICE, Homeland Security

The Human Rights Defense Center, formerly known as Prison Legal News, has sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement in federal court in Seattle, alleging the agency violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to turn over records involving court settlements. The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, is also named in the complaint. The center asked ICE in March to disclose any litigation filed against the agency and its employees since 2010. The request specifically asked for traffic-related cases that cost the government at least $50,000 and for other cases that cost the government $10,000 or more. The complaint says ICE considered the request too broad and asked HRDC to narrow and clarify it. When the nonprofit declined, ICE did not process the FOIA request, determining it to be “vague, overbroad, and unduly burdensome.” Deb Golden, an attorney for HRDC, said the information would help the nonprofit understand why records show the government has used more than $51 million in taxpayer money to defend DHS and ICE in court. That number comes from the U.S.