Government scolded over immigrant documents

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the government was trying to hide or obscure something by failing to give information to a civil rights group about thousands of immigrant detainees held for long periods.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman’s written decision came days after government attorneys insisted they needed more time to comply with his September order granting the American Civil Liberties Union’s Freedom of Information Act request.

The ACLU has said it wants to expose a flawed system that keeps thousands of detainees behind bars for long periods while their eligibility to remain in the country is adjudicated.

Berman wrote that the government “continues, quite obviously, to drag its heals in providing disclosure about immigrant detentions. Hopefully, it is not also trying to hide or obscure a distressing system or set of facts.”