Florida ACLU Chapters File Trump Travel Ban Suits

TAMPA, FL — The Tampa and Miami chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union have joined 11 others across the country in suing the federal government. They’re demanding records related to the implementation of travel rules meant to limit immigration from six predominately Muslim countries. The suits have been filed in federal district courts in states across the country.

The lawsuits are meant to target U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order. The ACLU chapters say the suits were filed due to a lack of adequate response to their Feb. 2 request for records.

"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," said Mitra Ebadolahi, border litigation project staff attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

"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."

Aside from Tampa and Miami, the following ACLU chapters have filed individual suits: Atlanta, Tucson, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

The ACLU says that 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.

In Arizona, the suit was filed in Tucson where the Custom's Field Office oversees Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport as well as enforcement actions at the border with Mexico.

"Volunteer attorneys spent many nights at Sky Harbor, waiting to assist passengers who were detained because of the Muslim ban executive orders," said ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Kathy Brody. "Although no one appears to have been held at Sky Harbor, it’s impossible for us to know what happened in the secure areas of the airport without transparency from the federal government.

"Restricting a person’s ability to travel is a severe action for the government to take and we all should know when and how it is being done."

Among the records being sought are:

• The total number of individuals who remain detained or subject to secondary screening, extended questioning, an enforcement examination, or consideration for a waiver;
• The total number of individuals who have been detained or subjected to secondary screening, extended questioning, an enforcement examination, or consideration for a waiver for any length of time;
• Records containing the "guidance" that was "provided to DHS field personnel" shortly after President Trump signed the Executive Order;
• Records that show the number of individuals who have arrived at the airport since January 27 with valid visas or green cards who subsequently agreed voluntarily to return, and the number of individuals who have been removed from the airport since January 27; and
• Records concerning the number of individuals who have been removed from January 27 to date.

By Patch’s Colin Miner

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