Handbooks

Reporter’s Field Guide: Immigration Enforcement

By Paloma Esquivel

This guide is designed to help reporters covering immigration enforcement in California understand access to state and local public records, immigration courts and detention centers.

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While immigration enforcement is largely a federal matter, this guide explains how reporters in California can use state and local records available under the California Public Records Act to report on immigration enforcement. It also provides information on immigration courts and detention centers across the state. Links to guides for accessing federal records through the Freedom of Information Act can be found in Section IV.

The explainer is divided into five sections:

Section I: California Laws that Create Public Records Related to Immigration Enforcement

Section II: An Overview of Access to Immigration Courts

Section III: California Detention Centers and Media Access

Section IV: Additional Resources, Including Links to Glossaries of Terms

Section V: Examples of Immigration Reporting Using State/Local Records