An Alien File (A-File) is a record that holds a noncitizens’ immigration history. It includes copies of forms they may have filed, information about their immigration arrests (if they have had encounters with immigration enforcement), and some immigration court records. This file is crucial to immigrants and their legal representatives when applying for immigration benefits or defending themselves against potential deportations. Unlike in criminal courts, where defendants have the right to access their criminal files, noncitizens in immigration proceedings must obtain their A-Files by filing requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Recently, immigration attorneys filing these requests have been reporting increased incidents of USCIS rejecting requests, determining it cannot locate A-files, or withholding information contained in them. A whistleblower reports that these practices reflect new, unannounced changes to agency policies for processing FOIA requests for immigration records. Such unannounced changes not only act as roadblocks to individuals’ understanding of their immigration history, but also stymie legal representatives’ ability to provide noncitizens with adequate legal advice.
Previously, the Council wrote a letter to the CIS Ombudsman about USCIS determining that it cannot locate A-files without searching on locations likely to contain them. But after the Council discussed these failures with the Ombudsman, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reduced the Ombudsman’s office to three employees (only one of whom is full-time), effectively ending its investigation.
Practitioners need this information to file requests that adhere to the new guidelines, and the public deserves to know whether USCIS is deviating from prior protocols.
Obtaining the Information
In June and October 2025, the Council filed FOIA requests for records that USCIS created when processing twenty-one FOIA requests where USCIS determined that it could not locate any records—including screenshots of the agency’s searches. Then, on November 24, 2025, the Council filed a third FOIA request with USCIS for updated guidance materials the agency uses to process FOIA requests for A-Files. The request seeks current agency guides and other records of updates to the procedures, documents of new training, and other related records. It builds on documents that other FOIA practitioners obtained from USCIS through FOIA.
On February 3, 2026, the Council sued USCIS and DHS in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri for not responding to the first two FOIA requests.
On March 27, 2026, the Council supplemented its complaint to add the third FOIA request to this litigation.
