(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for all records about Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents welding open “flood gates” in the border wall in Arizona(Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-00742)).
In the lawsuit Judicial Watch cites an August 22, 2023, report by the New York Post in which the U.S. Border Patrol admits it was responsible for a decision to weld open more than 100 “flood gates” in the wall at the U.S. southern border in Arizona, allowing access points for illegal aliens to unlawfully enter the U.S.
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after the Department of Homeland Security failed to comply with an August 28, 2023, FOIA request for:
All documents and communications from August 25, 2022 to August 25, 2023, relating to welding open 114 flood gates in the border wall in Arizona.
The New York Post’s report cites Border Patrol data showing the border sector at Tucson, which includes the area with the open flood gates, had become the busiest in the country with the Border Patrol encountering 42,561 individuals trying to cross legally and illegally into the country in July 2023.
The report states: “About 1,400 migrants a day from as far away as China and Egypt as well as Central and South American countries are walking through the open gates, then looking for a Border Patrol agent to surrender to and claim asylum.”
“The Biden administration is unlawfully hiding records about literally opening the flood gates for the Biden border invasion,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
In November 2022, Judicial Watch published records the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) detailing the nighttime transportation of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) by air from Texas to Tennessee, as well as two other flights making multiple stops across the country.
In September 2021, Judicial Watch revealed HHS documents that list 33 separate incidents of alleged sexual abuse in a one-month time period tied to unaccompanied alien children shelters.