SAN DIEGO — The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with its local U.S. Customs and Border Protection office to expose how Trump administration officials are interpreting and executing the president’s Muslim ban, acting in violation of federal courts that ordered a stay on the ban’s implementation. The filing today is part of a coordinated effort from 50 ACLU affiliates, which filed 18 FOIAs with CBP field offices and its headquarters spanning over 55 international airports across the country.

Media reports indicate that CBP officials detained and deported individuals, even after federal courts ordered officials to stop enforcing the executive order following a court challenge from the ACLU and other organizations. “It is imperative that the public learn if federal immigration officials are blatantly defying nationwide federal court orders that block President Trump’s unconstitutional Muslim ban,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. “To shed light on this critical issue of pressing public concern, 50 ACLU affiliates are using the Freedom of Information Act to expose Customs and Border Protection’s abuse of power.”

The Trump administration has yet to inform the public of how many refugees, visa holders, and legal permanent residents have been affected by this action.

The following ACLU affiliates participated in this coordinated FOIA filing:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Colorado
Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii
Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan
Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
North Carolina North Dakota Northern California Ohio Oregon
Pennsylvania San Diego, California South Carolina Southern California Tennessee
Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington
Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin

The ACLU national FOIA request can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/cbp-foia-filing-trump-immigration-ban

The ACLU national release is available here: https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-files-demands-documents-implementation-trumps-immigration-ban

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