At a Glance
Date Filed:
Current Status
Complaint Filed August 9th 2019
Counsel:
- Ghita Schwarz
Co-Counsel
Sienna Fontaine and Paige Austin (Make the Road New York)
Client(s)
Make the Road New York
Case Description
The Trump administration has been dedicated to closing all avenues for immigration, from blocking asylum-seekers at the border to ending protections for Dreamers to constricting the availability of lawful permanent residence to long-time immigrants. One of its priorities has been to transform the system of family-based immigration by redefining millions of immigrants as future public charges and to deny them green cards as a result. In 2018 and 2019, in response to the administration's development of regulations redefining the public charge bar, Make the Road New York and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies for information and documents. When DHS, ICE, USCIS, and the DOJ failed to produce a single document, Make the Road New York and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a case in the Eastern District of New York to enforce their rights under the FOIA.