DHS and its agencies did not respond to public records requests within the time the law requires. Protect Democracy is asking a court to compel disclosure.

Today, Protect Democracy filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release records they have denied or refused to provide by the deadline set by law. The requested records concern whether the federal government used public money to produce and distribute favorable content about its own immigration operations, and whether it granted access to commentators who cover it favorably while excluding independent journalists.

The requests seek information about both halves of the administration’s propaganda strategy: manufacturing favorable content and suppressing the independent reporting that would contradict it. 

“Protect Democracy has sued to enforce Freedom of Information Act requests asking the Department of Homeland Security a straightforward question: whether the federal government used public money or special access to create favorable coverage of its immigration operations,” said Katie Schwartzmann, Special Counsel at Protect Democracy. “Americans have a right to know whether our tax dollars are funding a propaganda effort — one that distorts the news, pumps out flattering coverage, and freezes out reporters who would scrutinize the Administration’s narratives.”

In Portland, Oregon, the government has not disputed deploying chemical munitions in a way connected to creating content, including staged video, to support a false narrative about the city. Elsewhere, agencies have invited favorable commentators on immigration ride-alongs and into facilities while turning away reporters who requested the same access. DHS has also manufactured slick, in house videos and social media reels that do not fairly represent its immigration operations. 

The lawsuit does not ask a court to rule on that conduct; it asks the court to enforce the public’s right to see the records. Protect Democracy is represented by Loevy + Loevy in the litigation.