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THE LATEST FILINGS
- Investigating CBP’s Implementation of the Mobile Application CBP One
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a mobile application, known as CBP One, in October 2020. While CBP has published some information related to CBP One, details about the app’s uses and efficiency remain obscure and difficult to find.
To advance the public’s understanding of this new tool operated by CBP, the Council filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking records on the creation of CBP One, its implementation, and purpose.
Read More: Requesting Information About CBP One
NOTEWORTHY
- FOIA Litigation Impacted USCIS FOIA Funding Request
Defendants continue to file quarterly compliance reports with the court in Nightingale v. USCIS. The case, filed in June 2019 in the Northern District of California, challenges USICS and ICE’s pattern or practice of failing to respond to requests for A-Files under FOIA within the statutory timeframe. After the court granted class certification in the case and ruled in favor of Plaintiffs on the motions for summary judgment, Defendant agencies were required to 1) adhere to FOIA statutory deadlines for responding to FOIA requests; 2) eliminate USCIS’s and ICE’s A-File FOIA backlog; and 3) submit quarterly compliance reports.
In the two compliance reports submitted to date, agency officials outlined efforts to hire new permanent, part-time, and contract staff. Officials also described other measures to reduce the backlog and improve FOIA A-File processing times.
In reporting to the court, USCIS disclosed that it requested additional funding for its FOIA program at the court’s behest. USCIS stated that it submitted an “above guidance” appropriations request to DHS for $150 million to support USCIS’s FOIA program for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2026. DHS denied this request. USCIS then indicated that it submitted a new request to DHS on June 14, 2021, for $188.5 million to support its FOIA program for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027. The defendants provided no explanation as to why DHS decided not to comply with USCIS’ request for more FOIA funding or how the $150 million and $188.5 million would have been allocated to support USCIS’s FOIA program.
Read more: Lawsuit Challenges Systemic USCIS and ICE FOIA Delays
DOCUMENT DIVE
- Government Documents Provide In-Depth Look at ICE’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
In response to a lawsuit and a successful motion for a preliminary injunction, the Council and the Immigrant Legal Defense (ILD) secured multiple productions of government documents that illustrate ICE’s chaotic response to COVID-19 in ICE detention. The documents also detail widespread changes ICE was forced to implement following a court order in Fraihat v. ICE, a case challenging detention conditions and lack of medical treatment for individuals in ICE jails around the country. Following an injunction in Fraihat, ICE was forced to address various deficiencies in its response to COVID-19.
The records obtained through FOIA demonstrate ICE’s confusion in its early response to the COVID-19 outbreak. For example, correspondence from the Committee on Appropriations to DHS officials demonstrates the Committee’s uncertainty and concern about ICE’s slow response at the outset of the pandemic. The documents also provide insight into the agency’s decision to continue removing individuals from the United States during the pandemic.
Also among the documents is pre-pandemic agency guidance regarding outbreaks of infectious diseases, records depicting ICE’s early response to COVID-19, and the pervasive impact of the pandemic on ICE operations and staff.
Finally, records reveal ICE’s expansive overhaul of its own COVID-19 response following the court’s injunction in Fraihat v. ICE. In Fraihat, a federal judge issued an order on April 20, 2020 requiring ICE to establish a process to identify and track people in ICE custody with relevant “Risk Factors”; conduct custody redeterminations for any detained people with Risk Factors; update internal ICE protocols for responding to the pandemic; and ensure that the order be implemented at every detention facility in the United States, among other actions.
Read More: Council Sues ICE to Make ICE COVID-19 Plans Public
The American Immigration Council works to hold the government accountable on immigration issues. We harness freedom of information requests, litigation, and advocacy to expose wrongdoing and promote transparency within immigration agencies.
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