ACLU of Nevada v. LVMPD (2025)

We are suing the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to get public records about the full extent of its involvement with federal immigration enforcement.

In January 2025, in response to the passage of the Laken Riley Act, LVMPD posted a policy which expanded the list of charges that must be reported to ICE when a “foreign born” person is booked into the jail, regardless of their immigration status. This vague policy increases the likelihood that U.S. citizens and documented individuals could be wrongfully detained by ICE. Then, just months after publicly denying any intention to cooperate with ICE, LVMPD quietly signed a formal 287(g) agreement. The agreement authorizes officers to serve and execute civil immigration warrants and to detain individuals up to 48 hours past their scheduled release.

ACLU of Nevada submitted public records requests on January 22, 2025, and June 4, 2025, seeking clarity around the policy shift and 287(g) agreement. Despite its obligations under the Nevada Public Records Act (NPRA), LVMPD has failed to provide any of the requested documents. The refusal to disclose these records raises serious concerns of a deliberate attempt to hide the full extent of LVMPD’s involvement with ICE.

ACLU of Nevada and other civil rights and immigration advocacy groups have raised flags regarding the risk of cooperation with ICE broadly and have stated that LVMPD’s foreign born policy for U.S. citizens could be used as a pretense to attack naturalized citizens and others. ACLU of Nevada has stated that these public records, like most public records, are one of the best ways to shed light on what government actors, including local police, actually intend to do versus what they say they will do.