Las Vegas police dept. sued for release of immigration enforcement records at county jail

Ricardo Torres-Cortez, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jul 9, 2025

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The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has been sued in an effort to compel release of public records related to expanded federal immigration enforcement at the county jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed the complaint Wednesday in Clark County District Court.

“The Nevada Public Records Act exists to ensure that government agencies, including law enforcement, are open and transparent,” ACLU of Nevada senior staff attorney Sadmira Ramic wrote in a news release.

Ramic said the civil rights organization had requested records “months ago to better understand how (Metro’s) policies are affecting our community but we have been delayed or blocked at every turn.”

The ACLU filed records requests related to Metro’s immigration policy two days after President Donald Trump took office and in early June after the police department signed up for a voluntary 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Clark County Detention Center.

The federal program allows Metro staff to execute immigration warrants for “foreign born” inmates booked at the jail, giving ICE up to 48 hours after they’re set to be released on local charges.

Before the 287(g) agreement went into effect in mid-June, Metro flagged certain migrant inmates accused of violent crimes, domestic violence, and DUI.

The list of reportable crimes was expanded to include theft-related arrests under the Laken Riley Act, which Trump signed into law in late January.

‘Foreign born’ clarification

The ACLU lawsuit seeks clarity on the “foreign born” classification.

The organization alleges that “this vague policy increases the likelihood that U.S. citizens and documented individuals could be wrongfully detained by ICE.”

Metro did not immediately return a message seeking comment about the suit.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he didn’t foresee the need of 287(g) powers being invoked because ICE already conducts daily pickups at the jail.

He maintained that the agreement with ICE would continue to be limited to the jail and that Metro officers wouldn’t collaborate with immigration authorities outside of it.

ICE has been mum about immigration enforcement activity in Southern Nevada, failing to confirm operations after they happen or to release arrest numbers.

An ICE database that breaks down regional numbers hasn’t been updated since late December, even though the agency states the figures are supposed to be updated on a quarterly basis.

Metro previously denied a Review-Journal records request seeking the number of inmates flagged for ICE, citing confidentiality and privacy.

The 287(g) agreement mandates that Metro coordinate with ICE before releasing any data to media outlets.

The Deportation Data Project at the University of California was able to obtain national ICE arrest numbers following a Freedom of Information Lawsuit.

The project said that ICE reported 940 arrests in Nevada between Jan. 20 and mid-June, according to the New York Times. That was a 289% increase compared with the same time period in 2024 and the 11th largest year-over-year increase in the U.S.

“Nevadans have the right to know what their local police agencies are doing when it comes to cooperation with ICE,” ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah said in the release.

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