National Immigration Litigation Alliance et al. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, No. 1:2021-cv-11094 (D. Mass., filed July 1, 2021)

Since 2019, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has engaged in the practice of expelling from the United States migrants who recently gave birth, along with their U.S. citizen infants, often without birth certificates. CBP has even expelled individuals from the United States who were in active labor. The National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Al Otro Lado, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance (Plaintiffs) submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on March 18, 2021 to CBP seeking records relating to policies, guidance, or statistics regarding the treatment of pregnant people in CBP custody, people in CBP custody who have given birth within the United States within the last six months, U.S. citizen children in CBP custody who are under the age of six months, and non-U.S. citizen children of parents in CBP custody while their parent is giving birth at a U.S. hospital or other medical facility. Plaintiffs sought these records to better understand the scope and extent of CBP’s practice of expelling migrant parents and their infant children without considering the merits of their asylum applications.

When CBP failed to produce any responsive records or provide any other substantive response to the request, Plaintiffs filed suit on July 1, 2021. CBP filed their answer on August 13, 2021. CBP produced documents in August, October, and November 2021. The case was dismissed on May 4, 2022.

Documents:

• Complaint
• Answer
• Select CBP Productions

Counsel: Proskauer Rose LLP; National Immigration Litigation Alliance; Al Otro Lado; Haitian Bridge Alliance

Contact: Trina Realmuto, National Immigration Litigation Alliance | trina@immigrationlitigation.org

Additional Links:

• ACLU of San Diego & ACLU Border Rights Center Administrative Complaint re Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol’s Abuse and Mistreatment of Detained Pregnant People (Jan. 22, 2020)
• ACLU of San Diego, ACLU National Prison Project, and ACLU Border Rights Center Addendum to January 22, 2020 Administrative Complaint re Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol’s Abuse and Mistreatment of Detained Pregnant People (Mar. 4, 2020)
• ACLU of San Diego & Jewish Family Service Administrative Complaint re U.S. Border Patrol’s Abuse and Mistreatment of Jane Doe (Apr. 8, 2020)
• DHS OIG Review of the February 16, 2020 Childbirth at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station (July 20, 2021)
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection Pregnancy and Childbirth Guidance (Aug. 18, 2021)