ACLU Foundation of CT Challenges Hartford Immigration Court Over Denial of Access to Public Court Documents

Hartford, Conn. – The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU) of Connecticut filed suit today against U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Angela Munson, Chief of Immigration Judge of the Hartford Immigration Court, challenging the court’s refusal to provide access to basic immigration court records that the ACLU-CT believes are open to the public under the First Amendment. This includes: case numbers, case names, and orders issued when people did not appear for their hearings.

The lawsuit follows months of attempts to obtain these records.

In July, the ACLU-CT asked the Hartford Immigration Court for information about cases heard between May and July 2026, as well as orders issued during that period when people were ordered removed from the United States after missing their hearings. The ACLU-CT followed up in September but received no response and was not given an explanation for why the records were being withheld.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the U.S. Department of Justice, oversees the nation’s immigration courts. These courts decide whether people who are not U.S. citizens can remain in the country or must leave. The Hartford Immigration Court’s caseload has grown significantly since President Donald Trump took office, with Connecticut journalists reporting that the court now hears dozens of cases a day, sometimes making removal decisions after hearings lasting only minutes. Some people are ordered removed without being present in court, a decision known as an “in absentia” removal order.

“The First Amendment guarantees that we the people have access to documents used to adjudicate cases like these,” said Dan Barrett, Legal Director for the ACLU-CT. “The Immigration Court’s judgments and dockets are no more secret than those of the Connecticut Superior Court two blocks across town,” he said.
Alexa Millinger, a partner at Hinckley Allen, who is working with the ACLU-CT on the case, said public access is essential to government accountability.
“The cornerstone of democracy is knowing what the government is up to,” Millinger said. “Information about what the government is doing can be useless if it can’t be obtained reasonably quickly. Connecticut residents cannot fully participate in democracy if they only learn how the government is operating years after the fact.”
Immigration courts decide whether people are permitted to stay in our country or will be forced to leave. The ACLU-CT says access to basic court records allows journalists, advocates, and attorneys, to understand how these proceedings are being conducted and identify potential problems.
"These aren't just case files, they're records of life-altering decisions,” said David McGuire, Executive Director for the ACLU-CT. "That's a family losing a parent, an employer losing an employee, a community losing a neighbor. The public has a right to know how the government is making these decisions in a courthouse within their own community."
The suit asks the United States District Court to issue a declaration that the Immigration Court is bound by the First Amendment right of public access, and to enjoin Blanche and Munson from blocking the ACLU’s records requests.

The ACLU Foundation of Connecticut is represented in the suit by Alexa Millinger and William Fish of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder’s Hartford office, as well as Dan Barrett, Jaclyn Blickley, and Joseph Gaylin of its legal department.

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