Boston court hears suit over ICE hiding locations of 16,000 detainees

A federal court in Boston reviewed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to stop the Trump administration from concealing the whereabouts of thousands of immigrants facing deportation.

The four plaintiffs, who provide legal services to immigrants, claim a new policy adopted abruptly last month makes it difficult, or sometimes impossible, for lawyers to find their clients. The suit asks a judge to block what the groups describe as an unlawful and inhumane shift designed to speed up removals.

The policy targets a decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove the locations of people with final removal orders from its Online Detainee Locator System. Staff were also instructed not to disclose where those individuals are held. As of last month, the change affected more than 16,000 of the nearly 69,000 people in ICE custody.

Jacquelynne Bowman, executive director of Greater Boston Legal Services, said no one should be denied a meaningful opportunity to defend their rights because the government has made it impossible for their lawyer to find them. She added that the arbitrary new administrative change leaves hundreds of thousands of people at risk of potentially life-altering consequences without essential legal help.

The lawsuit alleges the change violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it was adopted without explanation. The groups also argue it violates the First Amendment, which protects lawyers' ability to advise people of their legal rights and to seek prospective clients. Since the policy took effect, lawyers have spent significantly more time tracking down clients, and calls to ICE lines reportedly lead to long wait times or sudden hang-ups.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agencies have not publicly confirmed the change but said they are prioritizing people with final removal orders for deportation. They noted they are dealing with a historic number of injunctions from courts that block their efforts and denied that they are disappearing detainees, noting that detainees can still make phone calls.

Approximately 1.4 million people in the United States are subject to final orders of removal. These individuals can still contest their detention by asking to reopen their cases or seeking relief from removal. Federal judges have ruled thousands of times that detainees should be released or given bond hearings.