WASHINGTON, D.C., October 28, 2026 — The American Immigration Council, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), and researcher Meghan Conley filed a lawsuit today seeking information about what ICE is telling local police and sheriffs about sharing immigration enforcement records with the public.
The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee, seeks details of ICE’s instructions to state and local law enforcement agencies about whether to release records requested under state laws. The requested records would shed light on what ICE tells state police and other local law enforcement to do when they receive public record requests regarding their collaboration with ICE.
According to the lawsuit, ICE has told local police and sheriffs they need to check with federal officials before sharing certain records with the public, even when state transparency laws say otherwise. This raises concerns that ICE may be making it harder for journalists, advocates , and the general public to find out how local police and sheriffs are working with federal immigration authorities.
In August, the plaintiffs in this lawsuit filed a FOIA request with ICE seeking records of the instructions ICE gave to state and local law enforcement. ICE did not produce the records sought.
The lawsuit comes as ICE is working with a growing number of police and sheriff departments across the country to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, an effort that is increasingly unpopular with Americans and is inflicting enormous harm on families and communities across the country.
“As ICE works with more local police and sheriffs across the country, more people are going to have questions about what these partnerships mean for their communities. How is taxpayer money being spent? What role are local police officers playing in immigration arrests? How are people being treated in detention? The public deserves answers to these questions, and ICE shouldn’t be making it harder to get them,” said Raul Pinto, deputy legal director for transparency at the American Immigration Council.
In Tennessee, the push for answers is particularly urgent. ICE has rapidly expanded its partnerships with local law enforcement across the state, with 163 agreements in place as of September 2026. This has led to a four-fold increase in immigration arrests and detentions, the majority involving people with no criminal record.
“Families across Tennessee are living with the consequences of this horrific immigration crackdown. Longtime U.S. residents are being arrested in their neighborhoods, families are being separated, mothers pulled away from their children, and local police and sheriffs are playing a growing role in making it all happen. Tennesseans deserve to know what their local law enforcement agencies are doing and who is being affected. We can’t hold our government accountable if we can’t even get basic information about what’s happening in our communities,” said Spring Miller, Senior Legal Strategy Director at TIRCC.
The American Immigration Council works to create a more welcoming and fair immigration system. Through litigation, research, and programs that expand access to legal assistance, the Council helps ensure immigrants are embraced, communities are enriched, and justice prevails for all. Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
