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NOTEWORTHY
- Council and Partners Recommend Greater Clarity in USCIS FOIA Request Process
The Council, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) submitted comments in response to USCIS’ proposed changes to the G-639 Form, the form used to submit FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by mail, and Form Instructions.
The comments suggest the agency change language in the Instructions that heavily promotes FIRST, USCIS’ online FOIA system. Although there are advantages to a more efficient and streamlined process for submitting FOIA requests, FIRST is still a relatively new program and USCIS has not shared assessments or data explaining its efficiencies in detail. Language promoting FIRST should not be the focus of Instructions for the Form G-639—a form used when an individual chooses not to use FIRST, but instead to mail a request. In addition, the comments suggest that USCIS clarify the timeframes for responding to any form of FOIA are the same, so the agency must respond within 20 or 30 days when a FOIA request is submitted in any format. The comments also suggest that the field “Country of Birth” be removed from the Form because it is unnecessary and intrusive for the purposes of filing a FOIA request.
Read More: Providing Recommendations on USCIS FOIA Request Process
DOCUMENT DIVE
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First Look at Documents Demonstrating the Development and Implementation of MPP
The Council recently uncovered additional documents that describe the initial implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico program. The documents provide insight into the development of the program as early as 2017; emails displaying a desire to implement the program at a “rapid pace” and to meet quotas for returns to Mexico; and early cost estimates for the program.
Read more: Finding Records About the Migrant Protection Protocols Program
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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