Full Breakdown
Lawsuit Challenges ICE Policy That Conceals Detainee Locations
By Drooid · · How we work
In this breakdown
01
Core Event
Legal service organizations filed a federal lawsuit in Boston on Wednesday seeking an injunction against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy that removes detainees with final removal orders from the agency’s Online Detainee Locator System. The plaintiffs argue the change “impedes… lawyers’ rights” by making it difficult or impossible for counsel to locate clients.
02
Background & Context
The policy was adopted “last month” as part of a broader effort to accelerate deportations. Historically, since 2010, attorneys and families have used the online locator to track detainees as they move among ICE facilities. According to the complaint, the shift now affects more than 16,000 of the roughly 69,000 individuals held in ICE custody who face final orders of removal.
03
Official Statements & Responses
Agency officials deny that detainees are being “disappeared,” asserting that individuals remain free to make phone calls. ICE also noted it is confronting a “historic number of injunctions” from courts blocking its enforcement actions.
04
Criticism & Opposition
The lawsuit is brought by four groups that provide legal services to immigrants, including Greater Boston Legal Services. The complaint further alleges violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and the First Amendment because the rule was adopted without explanation and restricts lawyers’ ability to advise clients.
05
Verbatim Quotes
- “No one should be denied a meaningful opportunity to defend their rights because the government has made it impossible for their lawyer to find them,” — Jacquelynne Bowman