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Tag: request

  • DHS faces lawsuit from conservative group over Biden-era request

    DHS faces lawsuit from conservative group over Biden-era request

    FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to get what it says is “maximum transparency” about the agency’s handling of criminal illegal immigrants during the Biden administration.

    The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing DHS for records it requested in October during the Biden administration about the release of data on noncitizens on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with criminal backgrounds.

    The data, released to lawmakers in September, stated that there were 425,431 convicted criminals on ICE’s non-detained docket, and an additional 222,141 with pending criminal charges.

    ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ 

    This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

    Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions, and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions. 

    There were an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges.

    At the time, the Biden DHS said the data was being misinterpreted, noting it goes back decades, and includes those who are not only free but also those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities but who are not in ICE custody.

    CASA requested internal communications and records from ICE and Customs and Border Protection related to the data and the release of the data, including meeting requests, call logs and communications with media outlets. It requested the documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

    TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER CONVICTIONS IN US: ICE DATA

    mayorkas-drones

    Alejandro Mayorkas is pictured next to a sighting of a drone in New Jersey. (AP Images/Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)

    The group did not receive a response and so has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia to compel compliance from the agency.

    “Through DHS’s failure to make a determination within the time period required by law, CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit says.

    “The American people deserve maximum transparency regarding the government’s handling of all illegal aliens, but particularly about those aliens with serious criminal convictions,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. 

    “This lawsuit will force DHS to provide records and communications related to the release of these illegal alien criminals into communities throughout the country,” he said.

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

    It is unclear how DHS under the Trump administration will handle the request, given the administration’s significantly different attitude to the release of illegal immigrants. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The Trump administration has largely stopped the release of migrants into the U.S., in part due to President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That, in turn, has meant that migrants can be removed without being offered the ability to claim asylum.

    In addition, the administration has launched a mass deportation campaign and has been making significant steps to not only conduct arrests, but also to house illegal immigrants without releasing them and to increase the rate of deportations.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

    Fox News Digital reported last week that the arrests of illegal immigrants have skyrocketed in the first weeks of the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under former President Biden.

    Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

    He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.

  • Federal judge hears Labor Department’s renewed request to block DOGE access

    Federal judge hears Labor Department’s renewed request to block DOGE access

    A federal judge on Friday indefinitely delayed a final ruling on the Labor Department’s request to block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing internal system data, telling both parties only that “you will hear from me,” while declining to promise an exact time or date. 

    The update from U.S. District Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, comes just one week after he rejected an earlier attempt from the Labor Department to issue a temporary restraining order to block DOGE access to internal system data, saying that the plaintiffs lacked standing, and failed to show they would suffer sufficient harm as a result of the actions. 

    In response, unions amended their complaint to broaden the scope of the lawsuit, adding the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

    LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

    Protesters demonstrate in support of federal workers outside of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on February 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Organizers held the protest to speak on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. ( (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

    Arguments on Friday stretched for more than three hours, with plaintiffs arguing that DOGE employees were accessing their information illegally, since DOGE is not technically a U.S. government agency.

    “There has been reporting that DOGE is directing the cuts of agency staff and contracts, not simply advising the president,” one lawyer for the plaintiffs told Judge Bates, “The situation is extremely fluid and changing,” plaintiffs argued.

    They urged Judge Bates to grant a temporary request to block DOGE’s access to the information, which they said would “force the agency to implement a more thoughtful process.”

    Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued in response that the DOGE personnel in question are “detailed” U.S. government employees, who have access to the information under provisions of the Economy Act.

    Judge Bates declined to rule from the bench, telling both sides only that “You will hear from me.”

    The update will likely do little in the near-term to assuage concerns at the Labor Department and other federal agencies over DOGE’s access to sensitive internal data. 

    Attorneys for Labor Department unions argued during last week’s hearing that, absent court intervention, DOGE could access protected agency information, including the financial and medical records of millions of Americans, and employee safety and workplace complaints.

    Plaintiffs noted that Labor Department systems contain sensitive information about investigations into Musk-owned companies Tesla and SpaceX, as well as information about trade secrets of competing companies, plaintiffs noted— sparking concerns about Elon Musk’s possible access.

    Attorney Mark Samburg argued that DOGE access to this information could have a “chilling effect” on new employees coming forward, due to fear of unlawful disclosure or retaliation.  

    “The sensitive information of millions of people is currently at imminent risk of unlawful disclosure,” Samburg said.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

    Judge Bates suggested Friday that DOGE’s creation and its hierarchy were “odd,” noting that it “was created in a way to get it out of OMB [Office of Management and Budget], and instead answering to the chief of staff of the president.”

    DOGE “took great effort to avoid being an agency, but in this case, you’re an agency,” he said of DOGE. “It just seems to strain credulity.” 

    This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates. 

    Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.