The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine has sued two federal agencies over an unfulfilled public records request related to citizenship checks at major transportation hubs.
The civil liberties organization asked federal officials in January to hand over records related to citizenship checks at two major transportation hubs in Maine. The request came after passengers boarding a Concord Coach bus at the Bangor Transportation Center were met by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents asking about their citizenship.
In the months since, the organization has not received a response from Customs and Border Protection or its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Now, the ACLU of Maine argues that the agencies have failed to respond to the request as required by the Freedom of Information Act, and the lawsuit seeks to compel the government to release the records.
“The public has the right to know how immigration agents are operating in our state,” staff attorney Emma Bond said in a statement. “Yet CBP has a long history of disregarding the law and ignoring public records requests.” Read more…