The ACLU filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to obtain information about the federal governments’ ability to detain immigrants in large numbers and then deport them.

The lawsuit was filed during an election season where immigration played a major role in the U.S. presidential campaign. Republican Donald Trump promised a mass deportation of unauthorized migrants, while Democrat Kamala has pushed harder restrictions on asylum seekers.

If a mass deportation system is established by a new administration, there are many concerns as to how it could affect the civil rights and liberties of immigrants, said Kyle Virgien. Senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Prison Project.

The ACLU claims that the federal government spends billions of dollars each year on detention and removal infrastructure. Yet, “much of this specific information about the detention and removal apparatus’s operation is not available to the public.”

The ACLU requested documents under the Freedom of Information Act for the first time in August. However, the requests were not answered, Virgien stated.

The lawsuit is against the Department of Homeland Security and the agencies that fall under its jurisdiction, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol as well as Department of Justice. USA TODAY has contacted DHS and DOJ to get their comments on the lawsuit.

According to a new study by the nonpartisan American Immigration Council, a mass deportation program aimed at removing 1 million people each year could cost up to $88 billion per annum. The council’s report said that it could take up to 10 years to remove the undocumented population from the U.S., and cost upwards of $900 billion.

According to Pew Research Center estimates, there are approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lists 91 detention sites nationwide on its website. These include federal “processing” and detention centres, as well county jails where immigrants apprehended by the U.S. may be kept in custody. Marshals.

A 2018 report by the American Immigration Council revealed that ICE used many more detention centers. According to the organization, ICE held people in 630 locations and “individuals detained were often held in privately-operated and remote facilities far from basic community support networks and legal advocacy network.”

According to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which requests federal records via standing FOIA requests, as of September 8, ICE detained 37,395 immigrants. TRAC reported that 60% of the immigrants in ICE’s detention facility had no criminal records.

ICE’s website states that “detention does not constitute a punishment” and that all detention centers owned or operated either by ICE or by a local or state entity, or by governmental contractors “must adhere to one of several detention standards.”

USA TODAY, among others, has repeatedly conducted investigations that have revealed issues regarding medical care and detention.

The ACLU wants records that show the government’s ability to house, detain and transport immigrants. The lawsuit seeks information about ICE’s maximum beds, including those under hotel contracts, DHS’s ability to transfer personnel from one agency to another, and the department’s capabilities for ground transportation, among others.

If the next administration decides that it will increase detentions and deportations of immigrants, “we are concerned about real problems in how they ramp up,” Virgien stated.