The Abridged version:
Assemblymember Maggy Krell filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday alleging a lack of transparency surrounding arrests at the immigration court in Sacramento.
Krell is seeking public records detailing arrests at the John Moss Federal Building, which federal authorities have declined to produce.
The lawsuit alleges that the lack of information about the immigration court arrests has “led to fear and confusion in local communities.”
Assemblywoman Maggy Krell sued federal immigration authorities this week to force them to share more information about arrests at the immigration court in downtown Sacramento.
Krell, a Sacramento Democrat, filed the lawsuit against the Executive Office for Immigration Review on Wednesday in federal court.
Federal immigration officers began ramping up arrests at the John Moss Federal Building last May. Dozens of reports have surfaced about people being detained and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after attending seemingly routine immigration court hearings.
The lawsuit, citing reporting by The Sacramento Bee, contends authorities arrested at least 39 people after immigration court hearings in Sacramento. Last December, officers arrested Afghan immigrants at “routine” court hearings, according to advocates.
Journalists blocked from court, suit says
As the number of arrests rose in June, federal authorities blocked off access to journalists, attorneys and family members attempting to observe immigration court hearings.
The lawsuit asserts Krell then sought records detailing the justification for closing the John Moss Federal Building to the public. The complaint states that Krell eventually received a “heavily redacted” response that “left more questions than answers.”
“Hiding information from the public in the context of cruel and sometimes unlawful immigration arrests amounts to a coverup,” the complaint alleges.
The assemblywoman also made made 24 requests for public information detailing the circumstances of the arrests, incident reports and security camera footage, but that no documents have been produced yet. The lawsuit seeks a court order for immigration officials to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.
“We’re here to demand basic transparency from the government for what they’ve been doing in this courthouse and around the country,” Krell said, at a press conference Thursday.
“Why was it appropriate to ambush families in a courtroom hallway, to tackle families in front of their children and their spouses?” Krell said.
‘Fear and confusion’
The lawsuit alleges that these policies have “led to fear and confusion in local communities.” The complaint also states that many individuals are no longer attending their immigration hearings out of fear that they will be detained.
Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra, who attended the press conference, said it was a “falsehood” that immigrants were not getting “in line” and that many were trying to do things the “right way.”
“This is the the time where we have to protect our constitutional fundamental rights to due process,” Guerra said.
Representatives from ICE and EOIR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.