Case Decision Information For Imbacuan, Bruce

Dear Brooke Bischoff: This response acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) dated 08/01/2021 and received 08/01/2021.  Your request has been assigned control number 2021-46494. The FOIA requires an agency to respond within 20 working days after receipt of the request, and EOIR endeavors to meet this standard.  The FOIA permits a ten-day extension of this time period, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B), based on unusual circumstances.  Your request involves “unusual circumstances,” and EOIR is extending the time period to respond by an additional 10 working days because your request requires the collection of records from field offices, or involves a search, collection, and review of voluminous records, or requires consultation with another agency or two or more agency components. Please be advised that due to necessary operational changes as a result of the national emergency concerning the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, there may be significant delay in the processing of your request. EOIR FOIA requests are placed in one of three tracks. Track one is for those requests that seek and receive expedited processing pursuant to subsection (a)(6)(E) of the FOIA. Track two is for simple requests that do not involve voluminous records or lengthy consultations with other entities.  Track three is for complex requests that involve voluminous records and for which lengthy or numerous consultations are required, or those requests that may involve sensitive records.  Your request has been placed in track three for complex requests. If you have filed an application for a fee waiver, EOIR will address your request in a separate letter. Additionally, if you have requested expedited processing, EOIR will contact you in a separate letter. If you have any questions regarding unusual circumstances, you may contact the EOIR FOIA Service Center or FOIA Public Liaison at (703) 605-1297 to discuss reformulation or an alternative time frame to process your request, or for any further assistance regarding any aspect of your request. Alternatively, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer.  The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at (202) 741-5770; toll free at (877) 684-6448; or facsimile at (202) 741-5769. Sincerely, FOIA Intake

Dear Ms. Bischoff : This correspondence is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated 08/01/2021 to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in which you seek certain information described in the attached request. The FOIA requires federal agencies to make records “available to any person.” See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A).  The term “person”, as defined by the Administrative Procedure Act and incorporated into the FOIA, is defined as “an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or public or privacy organization other than an agency.” See 5 U.S.C. § 551(2). Please note that the “Deportation Accountability Project, a non-profit initiative” identified in your request does not meet the definition of a proper FOIA requester. Your request category has been determined to be a commercial use request, or a “request that asks for information for a use or purpose that furthers a commercial trade, or profit interest, which can include furthering those interests through litigation.” See 28 C.F.R. 16.10(b)(1). In that regard, you are responsible for all direct costs associated with processing your request, including search (if document volume exceeds 5000 pages), review and duplication fees. See 28 C.F.R. 16.10(b)(2). The agency makes a “commercial use request” determination on a case-by-case basis based on the requester’s “intended use.” See 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(b)(1). We have determined that this request is being made by Las Americas. We note that Las Americas is engaged in active litigation matters in the field of immigration law. In that regard, we determined that the intended use of the requested records is for litigation matters in which Las Americas is a Plaintiff-party, a commercial trade or profit interest. To the extent that you are seeking a public interest waiver or reduction in fees pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(k)(1)-(2), you have not provided sufficient information to determine whether the requested records are not primarily in the commercial interest of Las Americas. An unsupported statement that the “requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes,” is insufficient.  Therefore, your request for a public fee waiver or reduction in fees is denied. Your request is on hold until a fee agreement is reached. The cost estimate to process your request as-filed is approximately $160.00, which includes search and review time. 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(c)(3). If you agree to the cost estimate, please notify EOIR is writing that you agree to pay fees within 30 days of the original notice. 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(e)(2). If you do not agree, please contact EOIR to amend your request to reduce the necessary costs to process your request as-filed. If we do not hear from you within 30 days of this notice, we will assume that you are no longer interested and your request will be administratively closed. You may contact the EOIR FOIA Public Liaison by e-mail at EOIR.FOIArequests@usdoj.gov or by telephone number (703) 605-1297 for any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. Please reference the FOIA control number.

Sincerely,

Shelley O'Hara
Attorney Advisor (FOIA)

Dear Ms. Bischoff:

Thank you for clarifying with respect to your organization. For future requests, I recommend that you submit FOIA requests using your non-profit organization’s e-mail and address rather than through the MuckRock platform. First, filing through the MuckRock platform anonymizes the actual requester and makes it difficult for the agency to determine the actual requester. Second, the MuckRock platform does not include the FOIA control no. in the Subject line when the requester replies to correspondence (see above). EOIR receives over 50,000 FOIA requests every year and twice that amount of e-mail. E-mail correspondence received with no FOIA control no. in the Subject line is more likely to be inadvertently overlooked than those with a FOIA control no. in the Subject line. Finally, when EOIR launches its Public Access Link (PAL) portal for our requester community next month allowing the requester community to create an account, file on-line, and download responsive records directly, we will no longer accept FOIA requests through e-mail. The MuckRock platform will likely not be compatible because each PAL account will only associate with a single e-mail address.

Your request is off hold and is being processed.

Sincerely,

Shelley M. O’Hara
Attorney Advisor (FOIA)

Dear Ms. Bischoff:

This correspondence is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) dated 08/01/2021 in which you seek information related to IJ Imbacuan's adjudications.

A search was conducted and records responsive to your request were located. You are granted full access to the records. In an e-mail correspondence dated 08/07/2021, you agreed to pay fees up to $160.00 to process your request. Please remit a check or money order for $160.00 payable to the “Treasury of the United States” and mail to U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Attn: FOIA Service Center, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2150, Falls Church, Virginia 22041. Please note that failure to pay agreed to fees may prohibit a requester from filing requests until the debt is satisfied.  28 C.F.R. § 16.10(i)(3).
For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c) (2006 & Supp. IV 2010). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist. See http://www.justice.gov/oip/foiapost/2012foiapost9.html.
You may contact the EOIR FOIA Public Liaison at (703) 605-1297 or EOIR.FOIArequests@usdoj.gov for any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at (202) 741-5770; toll free at (877) 684-6448; or facsimile at (202) 741-5769.
If you are not satisfied with the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s determination in response to this request, you may administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice, 441 G Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20530, or you may submit an appeal through OIP’s FOIA STAR portal by creating an account following the instructions on OIP’s website https://www.justice.gov/oip/submit-and-track-request-or-appeal.Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.”
Sincerely,
Shelley O'Hara
Attorney Advisor (FOIA)