On November 12, 2008, the Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, together with the National Immigration Law Center, the ACLU of Southern California and the National Lawyers Guild of San Francisco filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to gain access to agency records about stipulated removal from DHS and its sub-agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The lawsuit also seeks access to records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR).

Stipulated removal allows the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to remove a non-citizen, even one with valid defenses against deportation, as long as the non-citizen signs an order. DHS appears to target non-citizens in immigration detention for stipulated removal, and does not allow the non-citizen to appear before a judge prior to being deported. Advocates have expressed concerns that immigrants signing these orders do not realize they are giving up their rights to challenge their deportation. For more information about stipulated removal, see the Backgrounder. Click here for the First Amended Complaint.

In response to Plaintiffs’ FOIA request, the government has released the following documents:

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (August 2007)
• Executive Office for Immigration Review (June 2008)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (September 2008)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (September 2008)
• Customs and Border Protection (September 2008)

If you have been affected by stipulated removal, please contact the IRC at immigrants.rights@law.stanford.edu.