SEATTLE (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to a request for information about the telephone costs for immigrant detainees.
The Seattle Times reports (https://bit.ly/1K5JGoG ) that U.S. District Chief Judge Marsha Pechman criticized the department and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for ignoring a request from Prison Legal News, a publication for prisoners, for information about how the agency determines telephone-call rates for detainees.
Pechman says Homeland Security failed to respond to the first POIA request even though the law says an agency must provide a response within 20 days. A second request also went unacknowledged.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, which represented the agencies, said it is reviewing Pechman’s order and had no comment.
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