ACLU-CT lawsuit alleges DOJ's Hartford immigration court withheld docket, removal-order data for months, blocking public oversight of removals

On September 9, 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut sued U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Angela Munson, chief immigration judge of the Hartford, Connecticut immigration court, alleging the court had withheld basic records from the public. According to the complaint, ACLU-CT twice requested all docket numbers and case captions for May through July 2026 court activity, plus all in-absentia removal orders issued in that window, and received no response to either request.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut before Judge Vernon D. Oliver, seeks a declaration that the immigration court is bound by the First Amendment right of public access and an order barring Blanche and Munson from continuing to withhold the records. ACLU-CT argues this information should be available without going through the Freedom of Information Act process, which can take months and undercuts the purpose of near-real-time public oversight of what happens inside the courts — including in-absentia and third-country removals. ACLU-CT legal director Dan Barrett said that while the public can attend court hearings and see the day's docket, that is not a practical way to get a broad picture of case outcomes in aggregate.

A request for comment from the Department of Justice was not immediately returned, according to CT Mirror. The case has the potential to set precedent that could affect immigration-court records access elsewhere in the country, Barrett said.