Two civil rights groups are suing the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security for issuing what it called a “misleading, biased and harmful” government report asserting that foreign born individuals make up 73 percent of individuals convicted of international terrorism.
The complaint from Muslim advocates and Democracy Forward asserts that the Trump Administration distorts the facts “to fabricate a threat posed by immigrants,” especially Muslims.
“The Trump administration’s relentless persecution of immigrants, minorities, and American Muslims has taken many outlandish, unconstitutional, and unlawful forms over the past year and a half. This so-called report is blatantly false, purposefully misleading, and it’s illegal,” said Johnathan Smith, Legal Director of Muslim Advocates. “The government has an obligation to be truthful and transparent, and we plan to hold this administration to that standard.”
The groups charge that the report violates a law designed to ensure the quality of data-the Information Quality Act or IQA. They says the report “flagrantly violates” requirements under the act.
The lawsuit says the 73 percent figure used by DOJ and DHS is based on “unreliable methodology and misleading presentation” of the data.
A government source told the Daily Beast that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions took charge of the data and sent it to DHS Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen. The methodology used to collect the data was designed to achieve desired results.
The Justice Department called the Daily Beast story “categorically false.”
“For those of us who were actually involved, this story is as bizarre as it is fictional,” Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores said.
One former FBI agent backed up the Daily Beast story.
“This kind of bureaucratic manipulation of what should be objective, professional analysis is what undermines confidence in these institutions,” said Michael German, a former FBI special agent now with New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.
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