Am. Immigration Lawyers Ass'n v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec.
Am. Immigration Lawyers Ass'n v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec.
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA") is a non-profit organization that provides to the public continuing legal education and information regarding immigration issues and policy. Compl. ¶ 20, ECF No. 2. This content includes agency guidance, interpretations, and policy memoranda. Id. In July 2013, AILA submitted a Freedom of Information Request ("FOIA") to the United States Customs and Border Protection ("CBP"), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (collectively, the "Government"), seeking documents pertaining to any instructions disseminated to customs officers at United States ports-of-entry about the discontinuation of the Inspector's Field Manual ("IFM"), the implementation of the Officer's Reference Tool ("ORT"), as well as the "portions of the ORT that have been finalized and implemented for use in the field-ports-of-entry." Id. ¶ 30.
After more than three years without receiving the requested information, AILA filed a Complaint seeking an order requiring the Government to process and produce records responsive to its request. Id. at 11. The Government produced responsive records to AILA between March and June 2017, the sum total of which consisted of: (i) a one-page memorandum and one-page muster
Upon consideration of the Government's Motion for Summary Judgment, the pleadings, relevant law, and related legal memoranda in opposition and in support, I find that the Government has not "demonstrate[d] beyond material doubt that its search was reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents."
*164Nation Magazine, Washington Bureau v. U.S. Customs Serv. ,
With respect to AILA's request for the "finalized and implemented portions of the ORT," since the ORT was not yet finalized at the time of the Government's search, the Government liberally construed the request as seeking a working substitute. Defs.' Mot. for Summary J. 9; see also Nation Magazine ,
*165The Government's position is too clever by half. While it properly liberally construed AILA's request to produce a working substitute in lieu of a finalized manual, the Government adopted a hyper-technical approach to the contents of the manual. It is clear that AILA, as an organization that provides information about immigration issues and policy to the public, sought the Government's policies and procedures with respect to entry into the United States. Thus, a reading that constrains AILA's request merely to an index of applicable policies of documents, but not a review, at minimum, of those policies or documents for responsiveness is too narrow. The Government is obligated to review and disclose responsive records-to include the underlying policies or documents that make up the ORT-unless the records fall into one of FOIA's statutory exemptions or there is another recognized legal objection to this disclosure.
Given these determinations, I reserve judgment on whether the Government's redactions on select titles of memorandums, musters, and other documents listed in Chapter 11's index are appropriate. See Decl. of James Ryan Hutton ¶¶ 9-11. Although it may be that some responsive information may be properly withheld under FOIA's law enforcement exemption, in light of my determination that the Government's search and review of documents responsive to AILA's request was insufficient to merit summary judgment, it is premature at this stage to conduct this analysis. Instead, this question is properly considered, if still applicable, upon completion of an adequate search and response to AILA's request. Additionally, given my determination that the Government has not explained its search methodology "with the specificity [that] precedent requires," Reporters Comm. ,
For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby
ORDERED that the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. It is further
ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Discovery is DENIED.
SO ORDERED .
A muster is a briefing document that is communicated to CBP personnel at the beginning of a work shift or on a regular basis. Pl.'s Combined Opp. to Defs.' Mot. for Summary J. and Mem. in. Supp. of Mot. for Limited Discovery ("Pl.'s Opp.") 4 n.4, ECF No. 17.
The index was originally produced with 66 document titles redacted; the Government thereafter produced a second version of the document which removed 35 of the redactions. Pl.'s Opp. 18-19.
Steinberg involved a FOIA request seeking information about the United States' release of information to Swedish authorities about the 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published