WASHINGTON—The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seeking the release of any emails that may have been exchanged with radical anti-borders activist prior to her appointment as the Biden Administration’s Immigration Detention Ombudsman.
Before joining the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Michelle Brané spent decades working for extremist organizations that oppose any reasonable enforcement of America’s immigration laws. She has publicly called ICE “abusive,” and claims that removing illegal aliens from the U.S. makes it look “like a police state.”
On hearing of her appointment, former ICE chief of staff John Feere compared Brané’s appointment to “putting an arsonist in charge of conducting oversight of the U.S. Forest Service.”
Former ICE field office director John Fabbricatore elaborated, saying ICE’s decision to tap Brané for the role "raises critical questions about the direction and priorities of ICE under the current administration," and that “[t]his isn’t the first hire at DHS that has raised concerns and there seems to be a growing number of activists and advocates of an open-border, anti-ICE philosophy.”
IRLI sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to ICE asking for relevant public records shortly after Brané was appointed in April. Under FOIA, federal agencies are legally required to provide requested public records within twenty working days of a request. However, after the requisite twenty days had elapsed, ICE had still provided nothing to IRLI, making the lawsuit necessary to compel production.
”Joe Biden promised transparency four years ago, so why do we have to sue his administration to see public records?” said Dale L. Wilcox. IRLI’s executive director and general counsel. “Biden’s team has filled this administration with anti-borders radicals like Michelle Brané, and is now concealing information about her hiring that the American people have a right to see. We will pursue this to the full extent.”
“Brané has repeatedly and publicly stated that she wants to limit ICE’s detention powers. Did the Biden Administration appoint her in order to keep alien law-breakers out of detention and on America’s streets? The public deserves to know. We filed suit to compel production of information that might shed some light on this paradoxical appointment.” said Matt O’Brien, IRLI’s director of investigations.
The case is Federation for American Immigration Reform v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, No. 1:24-cv-02524 (D.D.C.).
