FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2008
4:48 PM

CONTACT: ACLU
Will Matthews, ACLU,
(212) 549-2582 or 2666;
media@aclu.org

ACLU Sues Department of Homeland Security For Information on Deaths in Immigration Detention Centers
Lawsuit Comes After Repeated Refusals by DHS to Provide Expedient Access to Public Information

WASHINGTON - June 25 - The American Civil Liberties Union today sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for refusing to turn over thousands of public documents in their possession detailing the deaths of immigration detainees held in U.S. custody.

The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, comes after repeated rejections by DHS officials of requests by the ACLU for critical information about the deaths of dozens of people in immigration detention.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring DHS to expedite the processing of the document request and conduct a reasonable search of the records in its possession in an effort to fully comply with the ACLU’s requests.

“We know that the medical care provided in many immigration detention centers is grossly inadequate and has resulted in unnecessary suffering and death,â€