The lawsuit seeks to compel both the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release documents pertaining to “Operation Palladium,” an aggressive immigration enforcement program that is part of a Trump administration effort to target sanctuary cities that have enacted measures to protect immigrant residents and prevent federal immigration enforcement practices from disrupting state and local systems and services. The New York Times described "Operation Palladium" as a “supercharged arrest operation.” 

ICE and DHS refused to release information on the program in response to an urgent FOIA request, filed in June 2020, over concerns about the program’s legality, so IDP and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed our lawsuit in December 2020 seeking a court order to force the agencies to produce any records they have.