ICE correspondence w/MDH

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Maryland Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Copies of all email correspondence, including images and attachments, that the following MDH staff members

—Dennis Schrader
—Bryan Mroz
—Jinlene Chan
—Atif Chaudhry
—Tom Andrews
—Office of the Secretary staff members

have sent to or received from an @ice.dhs.gov email address between 12/1/2020 and the date this request is processed.

2. Any records of calls or meetings (including virtual or video meetings) between MDH staff and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including calendar entries, meeting notes, reports, guidance, and any other relevant documents.

I am submitting this request as a member of the news media who works full-time as an editor at Insider Inc. in New York City.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Daniel Gross

Good morning,

Thank you for your response to my request under the Maryland Public Information Act. I hereby request a fee waiver on the grounds that this request is in the public interest.

These records will inform the public about the ongoing pandemic, its impact on marginalized communities, and the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the state of Maryland. It will help the public understand the role of the federal government, if any, in helping direct vaccines to the incarcerated immigrants who in its custody in Maryland facilities.

These records will be made available to the public and are part of media reporting for my employer, the news outlet Business Insider.

If narrowing the details of the request would speed up your timeline, I would be glad to speak by phone to discuss ways that this could be achieved. Thank you very much for your time.

Daniel Gross
562-276-3316

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your response!

I am happy to narrow my request by striking #2: Any records of calls or meetings (including virtual or video meetings) between MDH staff and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including calendar entries, meeting notes, reports, guidance, and any other relevant documents.

I am also happy to remove "Office of the Secretary staff members" from my list of senders/recipients.

That would restrict my request to:

1. Copies of all email correspondence, including images and attachments, that the following MDH staff members

—Dennis Schrader
—Bryan Mroz
—Jinlene Chan
—Atif Chaudhry
—Tom Andrews

have sent to or received from an @ice.dhs.gov email address between 12/1/2020 and the date this request is processed.

Please let me know if this narrows the request sufficiently to extinguish the fee. If any processing fees remain, I would first ask that your office make a determination on my previous request for a public interest fee waiver, as I am a member of the news media.

Thank you and have a good day,

Daniel Gross

Hi Ms. Shek,

Thank you very much for completing this request. Apologies for the prior email—it was an automated reminder from the public records platform MuckRock, which is why it included a mistaken date. Have a nice day,

Daniel Gross