Immigrant advocates in Miami are suing the federal government to access documents about the decision to resume deportations to Haiti amid a cholera epidemic in the Caribbean country.

   Americans for Immigrant Justice filed its lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Washington against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

   The agency suspended deportations to Haiti after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Deportations of convicted criminals to Haiti resumed last January.

   The agency denied the group's Freedom of Information Act request seeking information surrounding that decision. A fee waiver request also was denied.

   The group formerly known as the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center says the denials were arbitrary and violate the Freedom of Information Act.

   The group argues that unsanitary conditions in Haitian jails where deportees are routinely held pose life-threatening risks.