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Uncovering how public money funds government propaganda

Protect Democracy v. ICE et al.

On August 20, 2026, Protect Democracy filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enforce Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records about whether the federal government used public money and official access to manufacture favorable content about its own immigration operations — while shutting out the independent journalists who would scrutinize them.

The requests asked DHS and its sub agencies for the contracts, communications, payments, and access agreements between the department and the content creators it has invited to cover its operations.

The Freedom of Information Act required ICE and CBP to respond within the deadline the law sets and ICE denied the request, while CBP did not comply. Because of that, Protect Democracy is asking the court to order ICE, CBP and DHS to search for and release the records.

Protect Democracy is represented by Loevy + Loevy.

Background

Background

As the federal government has expanded its immigration enforcement campaign to cities across the country, it has increasingly moved from spinning coverage of that campaign to producing it. DHS and its components have invited sympathetic social-media influencers on enforcement ride-alongs and into detention facilities, and have circulated glamorized, selectively edited depictions of raids. In Portland, the government has not disputed deploying chemical munitions at an ICE facility in a way tied to creating content — including staged video — to support a false narrative about the city.

That is only half of the pattern. The same operation that elevates favorable content works to suppress the reporting that would contradict it. The government has granted privileged access — ride-alongs, facility tours, interviews — to commentators who cover it favorably, while denying that same access to independent journalists who requested it. Doling out access to government operations based on the viewpoint of a journalist’s coverage raises a serious First Amendment concern.

The Freedom of Information Act is one of the basic tools Americans use to see what their government is doing in their name. As of August 20, 2026, ICE has denied our request, CBP failed to comply in time, and DHS has yet to respond. Failing to meet their obligations under that law, Protect Democracy is asking a federal court to enforce them.

“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, rewards flattering coverage and freezes out reporters who would scrutinize the Administration’s narratives.”
Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs

  • Protect Democracy
Defendants

Defendants

  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Case documents

Case documents

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