ACLU Sues Federal Agencies for Records Unveiling Conditions at Federal Prisons and Tent-Like Structures Used to Detain Immigrants

The American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, and Farella Braun + Martel filed a lawsuit against several federal agencies to obtain records revealing the policies and standards at federal prisons and temporary soft-sided facilities used by immigration authorities to detain people who are immigrants. The lawsuit comes weeks after the agencies – which include the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – failed to respond to two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted by ACLU SoCal in September 2024. The litigation is the ACLU’s latest effort to prepare for potential anti-immigrant actions in future presidential administrations. Learn more here.

New documents obtained in June 2025 by the ACLU affirm widespread media reports of unsafe and inhumane conditions at tent facilities used by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to detain people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border during President Trump’s first term. Learn more here.