PEP FOIA Lawsuit Filed: NDLON v. ICE

Adolfo Flores, Jan. 19, 2016 - "Three immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against several federal agencies who failed to turn over information on a deportation program after the group filed repeated Freedom of Information Act requests.  The lawsuit centers around information regarding the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), a new deportation program announced in 2014 meant to replace its predecessor the Secure Communities program.  But the groups involved in the lawsuit allege that federal agencies have released next to nothing after they filed a FOIA request for information on how PEP is being implemented and the termination of Secure Communities.  After filing a request to 10 government agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice, twice last year, the groups received “only 35 pages of records, which revealed only information that was publicly available,” the complaint said."