Federal ICE Officials Lawlessly Foil FOIA Request

Governor Kate Brown
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum

Because Governor Kate Brown and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum pushed for adoption in 2017 of House Bill 3464, which made it almost impossible to discover Oregon public records that reveal the identify “a person’s citizenship or immigration status,” researchers have turned to federal records on illegal aliens to compare those records with Oregon’s public voter registration database.

Unfortunately, even under President Trump, federal agencies continue to resist any efforts that could assist in identifying illegal alien voting. In fiscal year 2017, some ninety-five illegal aliens were prosecuted in Oregon for illegal re-entry after deportation.

When researchers asked the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to produce documents referring these cases for prosecution, ICE responded that the records were protected under the Federal Privacy Act, which protects the records of “individuals”. However, “individuals” are defined under the Federal Privacy Act to include “a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence” (5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(1)), which cannot possibly refer to illegal aliens being prosecuted for illegal entry. Moreover, under the United States Constitution, secret trials are generally forbidden, and the public has the right to know the identity of criminal defendants.

Media interested in the federal government’s remarkable contortions to avoid any attempts to correlate illegal aliens with voting records are invited to contact Fernando Pineiro, ICE’s FOIA Public Liaison (866-633-1182).

Background

FOIA Request Documents

Additional Contacts:

Janice Dysinger

Janice Dysinger, Oregonians for Fair Elections, 503-757-0670

IP5 Chief Petitioner James Buchal

IP5 Chief Petitioner James Buchal, 503-227-1011

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