RCFP urges federal district court in Pennsylvania to lift restrictions on accessing immigration records

As immigration enforcement operations ramp up in Pennsylvania, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is urging a federal district court in the state to immediately rescind restrictions on accessing immigration records so that members of the press and public can more easily monitor the government’s actions.

In a Feb. 12 letter to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Reporters Committee raised serious concerns that court officials recently told a journalist that she could not make copies of certain immigration records, including detainee petitions challenging the legality of their detentions. Court officials incorrectly claimed that a federal court rule restricting electronic access to immigration records also applied to the copying of records at the courthouse.

As the Reporters Committee’s letter points out, the press and public have a common law and constitutional right to not only view court records but also copy them. “Whether the Western District of Pennsylvania has adopted a written order or informal policy denying copies,” the Reporters Committee argues, “this arbitrary barrier limits reporters’ ability to access immigration case records and raises significant constitutional concerns.”

Last year, the Reporters Committee sent letters to several federal district courts, including the Western District of Pennsylvania, asking them to lift their restrictions on accessing immigration records via PACER, the electronic system for federal court records. The Pennsylvania court has not yet responded to that letter.