February 2026

Greetings. This installment of Immigration Disclosures highlights new audio in our Family Separation Project; the Council’s analysis on a policy allowing ICE to enter homes without an administrative warrant; a video series on immigration enforcement by our partners at SITU Research; our Deputy Legal Director’s recent interview about the national crisis on the lack of immigration transparency; and our latest litigation efforts to investigate USCIS’ failures in responding to noncitizens’ request for their immigration records.

Initial Disclosures:

This month, the Council added new audio to our FOIA project “A Look Back at the Family Separation Policy - The Struggle to Uncover the Truth Behind the Trump Administration's Wrongdoings.” The audio features an interview with Kristen Cates, an immigration lawyer at the front lines of the family separation crisis of 2018, and Kristin’s essay titled “An Immigration Lawyer vs. The Law,” read by none other than actress Busy Philipps. Listen to the new content here.
On January 27, the Council’s Deputy Legal Director Emma Winger published a blog on ICE’s secret new policy allowing the agency to enter homes with just an administrative warrant. The memo, which came to light because two whistleblowers came forward, is contrary to decades of agency policy and practice and even its current written training materials. A second legal memo justifying the policy may avoid public scrutiny under FOIA. Read the Council’s analysis of ICE’s secret new policy here.
On January 26, Deputy Legal Director of Transparency, Raul Pinto, spoke with NC Newsline about the mass raids, arrests, and violence launched by the Trump administration in numerous communities across the country and the lack of transparency surrounding these actions. The interview discusses how the numerous changes to immigration policy — many of them adopted without public knowledge or input — have made an already complex system more opaque and confusing than ever. Listen to the interview here.
Our partners at SITU Research published a video series called Deportation Inc. in collaboration with Lawfare that examines how U.S. immigration enforcement has evolved into a rapidly growing multibillion-dollar industry shaped by private profit and political power. The videos show a system in which profitability increasingly dictates policy and enforcement priorities. They also interviewed our Policy Director, Nayna Gupta, to discuss why the government outsources the critical immigration enforcement functions of deportation and how that outsourcing evolved into this multibillion-dollar industry. Watch their first two documentaries here, and listen to their podcast here.

The Council Files a Lawsuit Against USCIS and DHS for Records USCIS Receives and Creates When Processing a FOIA Request for a Noncitizen’s A-File

On February 3, 2026, the American Immigration Council sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records that USCIS receives and creates when processing a FOIA request for a noncitizen’s A-file or other immigration records. These case supporting documents (CSDs) will shed light on the searches that the agency performs before determining that it cannot locate immigration records.

An Alien File (A-File) contains a noncitizens’ immigration history. Its records are crucial to noncitizens fighting deportation or seeking immigration benefits. Currently, the only way noncitizens can obtain their A-Files is by filing requests under FOIA with USCIS.

However, reports from immigration attorneys have long suggested that USCIS is not searching all its databases for a noncitizen’s immigration records before determining it cannot locate them, let alone each system as required by its own guidelines. In November 2024, the Council sent a letter to the USCIS Ombudsman to address these issues. But advocacy efforts stalled under the Trump administration — likely due to the administration cutting the USCIS Ombudsman down to three employees (only one of whom is full time).

Faulty searches are not the only issue preventing noncitizens from obtaining their records through FOIA. Immigration lawyers have reported, and a whistleblower has confirmed, several changes to USCIS FOIA processing of dubious legality: the agency withholds key records under FOIA exemptions even though they contain nonexempt information. Other times the agency interprets the A-File to exclude vital records in foreign languages and other documents despite immigration agencies requesting and reviewing these documents in immigration processes. Sometimes the agency even closes FOIA requests for listing an attorney’s address as a noncitizen’s mailing address or where optional information provided to verify the noncitizen’s identity does not match exactly with information in USCIS records.

The Council’s new litigation is part of its ongoing efforts to publicize and combat issues in USCIS processing of FOIA requests for immigration records. (Practitioners wishing to report withholding and search issues should complete this withholding form and search form respectively.)

Why does this matter?

Immigration records contain crucial information for contesting deportation or applying for an immigration benefit. FOIA requests are the only way for noncitizens and their attorneys to obtain this information in these civil proceedings — unlike criminal proceedings where defendants have a right to obtain the records and evidence the prosecution has about them.
According to the whistleblower, USCIS may have changed its FOIA processing to "manufacture compliance” with a court order that requires it to process FOIA requests for A-files within 30 business days of receipt. The agency’s new policies prioritize fast request closures over giving noncitizens access to their immigration records.

Read our lawsuit here.

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