Portland Press Herald asks to unseal records in database lawsuit against DHS
The Portland Press Herald is asking to intervene in a federal lawsuit that four Maine residents have filed against the Department of Homeland Security, for the purpose of unsealing court records.
The Press Herald is asking that dozens of court filings be unsealed, including excerpts of depositions with federal agents and documents detailing the government’s activities in Maine during the January U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge. The paper is also challenging the redactions of federal agents’ names.
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Four Maine residents who observed federal agents during the surge have accused the agency of illegally adding people to a law enforcement database, and driving by observers’ homes, as retaliation for what they have said is activity protected by the First Amendment.
“The Press Herald has reported extensively on this case and the underlying government surveillance practices at issue, but its reporters’ ability to do so fully and accurately is impaired by their inability to access judicial records at the center of the case,” attorneys for the Press Herald and from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press wrote in a motion filed Friday.
Motions justifying the government’s request for the redactions and sealing were also filed under seal.
The plaintiffs have asked the court in the motion to issue an injunction before trial, barring agents from retaliating against observers with threats of a database and other tactics, like driving by protesters’ homes or calling them. The government is asking that the lawsuit be dismissed, arguing that the actions alleged were committed only by a couple of random agents during an isolated time frame in January.
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Maine ICE observers added to DHS database, unsealed court records say
Redacted filings in the lawsuit last month confirmed at least one plaintiff was added to a database. As a result, the plaintiffs state, she was held at the Canadian border for at least an hour in March before she was allowed to enter the United States.
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Tagged: first amendment, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, surge, us district court
Emily Allen covers courts for the Portland Press Herald. It's her favorite beat so far — before moving to Maine in 2022, she reported on a wide range of topics for public radio in West Virginia and was. More by Emily Allen
