The ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) filed suit today against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in federal court to enforce its right to a waiver of fees associated with its request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for government records related to ICE’s worksite enforcement policies and practices. In a dramatic departure from well-established FOIA law and practice that grants non-profit organizations fee waivers for FOIA requests made in the public interest, ICE denied the ACLU/SC a fee waiver for its request.
The availability of the public interest fee waiver is the cornerstone of FOIA that ensures public access to government records and fosters government transparency. However, in the past several years, ICE and other federal agencies have denied fee waivers to nonprofit public interest groups, such as the ACLU/SC. ACLU offices around the country complain that federal agencies have similarly denied their fee waiver requests.
The FOIA mandates that the government waive search and duplication fees where the request “is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government,” and is “not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” The so-called “public interest” fee waiver has enabled non-profits, like the ACLU/SC, to obtain critical information about how our government functions and to expose government wrongdoing.
“ICE has delayed or prevented the release of important information about how the government operates by denying fee waivers to the ACLU/SC and other nonprofits,” said staff attorney Michael Kaufman. “This unfortunate trend is directly contrary to the Obama Administration’s stated commitment to FOIA, and threatens to undermine the FOIA’s promise of openness and transparency in government.”
The ACLU/SC’s FOIA request sought ICE’s policies and procedures for worksite immigration enforcement, and records pertaining to a worksite raid at Terra Universal, Inc., a factory in Southern California, in June 2010. The ACLU/SC sought the records to enable the public to better understand ICE’s new worksite enforcement policies and how they work in practice, and to determine whether the Terra worksite raid complied with those new policies and federal and state law.
In response to the request, ICE denied the ACLU/SC a fee waiver and assessed over $10,000 in search fees, and required payment of half up-front before it would begin processing the request. As a result, nearly a year after the ACLU/SC first submitted its request, ICE has still not released a single document, much less begun the process of producing responsive documents.
“ICE’s worksite enforcement practices have been subject to intense public scrutiny in recent years,” said staff attorney Jennie Pasquarella. “The public is entitled to know about ICE’s policies, and whether the agency acted lawfully during the Terra Worksite raid. This is precisely the type of request for which the FOIA fee waiver exists.”
The suit asks the court to order ICE to issue a fee waiver for ACLU/SC’s request.
The case is ACLU v. ICE. Pro bono attorneys Jason Russell and Stacy Horth-Neubert are co-counsel on the lawsuit.

Chaz Bono doing the samba on Dancing with the Stars and Isis King posing fiercely on the All Stars cycle of America’s Next Top Model may mark the first time two positive transgender role models have broken through to the mainstream at the same time. That’s real progress for the widespread acceptance of the trans community, but not all trans people have the support that Chaz and Isis enjoy.
On Transgender Day of Remembrance we celebrate our transgender role models while remembering that members of the trans community are constantly targeted for harassment and violence. This year there have been eight reported murders of transgender individuals, and the violence continues against the trans youth in our schools. Gender variant students are regular targets for harassment by their fellow students.
According to a 2009 survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), school is a real struggle for LGBT students. More than sixty percent have been verbally harassed at least once because of their gender expression, and more than a quarter reported frequent verbal harassment. More alarming is that twenty-seven percent had been physically harassed at school because of their gender expression; almost a tenth (8.7%) often or frequently.
GLSEN also reports that schools are getting better over the years and clubs like Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) are improving school climates. The It Gets Better Project has over 450,000 pledges to stop hate and violence and over 22,000 videos of individuals, organizations and celebrities proclaiming how life for queer youth can and will get better.
Our Student Rights Project focuses on stopping the unlawful bullying and harassment of students. We educate school officials on how to protect LGBT students and how to celebrate students for who they are and the communities they come from. The ACLU has been fighting for the protection and freedoms of all people, including in the sixties when it was illegal in Los Angeles for performers to dress as members of the “opposite sex.” Along side Sir Lady Java, who refused to give up her right to work and express herself, the ACLU fought the blatant transphobia of Rule Number 9.
As we reflect on the struggles of our trans community, it is crucial that we tackle the problems that are affecting trans youth. Bullying and harassment in schools continue to have adverse and catastrophic consequences on LGBT youth. Through our student rights project, the ACLU is working relentlessly to ensure that every students’ freedom of expression is protected and that all students can say that their school is a safe environment.