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.