SAN FRANCISCO—A number of non-profit legal organizations are suing the U.S. government claiming it is unlawfully withholding records on how expedited immigration cases are handled.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed suit on Feb. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Executive Office for Immigration Review and United States Department of Justice, alleging that they failed to disclose records concerning how the fast-track immigration docket is undertaken to properly protect the rights of those involved.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area sought records under the Freedom of Information Act, but the defendants allegedly failed to produce them despite being compelled to do so by law.
In addition to the release of the information, the plaintiffs are seeking compensation for legal costs and attorney's fees. They are represented by Thomas R. Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle; Jayashri Srikantiah of Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law School in California; and Travis Silva of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 4:16-cv-00544-KAW