Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara says the federal government can’t meet a judge’s demands to quickly deliver documents so a civil-liberties group can analyze why thousands of people have been detained for months, if not years, as their immigration status is reviewed.
A letter from Bharara to federal District Judge Richard Berman was made public on Wednesday.
It was written five days after Berman criticized the government, saying its “continued refusal to produce the documents” requested by the American Civil Liberties Union had delayed the group’s ability to expose and help reform a system in which thousands of immigrant detainees languish in immigration jails longer than six months.
The government said it is “not feasible” to produce 22,000 records on a timely basis.