Communications between ICE and Mayor's Office of Public Safety

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request for expedited processing under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Any and all emails, memos, memos of understanding, and all drafts thereof sent from and/or received by: Immigration and Customs Enforcement's national office, ICE's Philadelphia office, and Mayor Michael Nutter's Office of Public Safety.

The time frame for this request includes any and all responsive documents from 1 January 2014 up to and including the date in which this request is officially processed.

I have provided the following keywords to assist records staff in their search: "Delaware Valley Intelligence Center", "DVIC", "immigration detainers", "fusion center", "Michael Resnick", "Everett Gillison", and "Walt Smith".

Please include all processing notes associated with this request.

This request is not meant to be exclusive of any other records which, thought not specifically requested, would have a reasonable relationship to the subject matter of this request.

If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the FOIA. I will also expect to be provided with all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. Please separately state your reasons for not invoking your discretionary powers to release the requested documents in the public interest.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage. In making a determination for this fee waiver, please be consider MuckRock's mission statement:

MuckRock is a "unique form of investigative and accountability journalism...recognized by the Sunlight Foundation, The Freedom of the Press Foundation, and hundreds of local and national news outlets for its groundbreaking work in areas such as government spending, surveillance, and public safety.

In addition, MuckRock works with journalists to help conceive, pursue, and publish original stories on issues that matter with exclusive primary materials obtained via public records law."

In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dustin Slaughter

Dear Miss Pavlik-Keenan,

This is a response to your office's request for a narrower FOIA request regarding case #2014FOIA15687.

The edited expedited processing request is as follows:

All emails and memorandums sent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Philadelphia office to Mayor Nutter's Office of Public Safety containing the following keywords: "Delaware Valley Intelligence Center", "DVIC", "immigration detainers", "fusion center", "Michael Resnick", "Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison", and "Inspector Walt Smith".

The time frame for this request includes aforementioned communications between 1 February 2014 up to and including the date this request is officially processed.

All processing notes related to #2014FOIA15687 should be included.

This request is not meant to be exclusive of any other records which, thought not specifically requested, would have a reasonable relationship to the subject matter of this request.

If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the FOIA. I will also expect to be provided with all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. Please separately state your reasons for not invoking your discretionary powers to release the requested documents in the public interest.

I also ask that fees be waived, as this request is made in the interest of newsgathering and will be disseminated to the public free of charge. MuckRock News, as its description makes clear, is:

"...a collaborative news site that brings together journalists, researchers, activists, and regular citizens to request, analyze & share government documents, making politics more transparent and democracies more informed.

The site provides a repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials, information on how to file requests, and tools to make the requesting process easier. In addition, MuckRock staff and outside contributors do original reporting and analysis of many of the documents received through the site.

MuckRock's unique form of investigative and accountability journalism has been recognized by the Sunlight Foundation, The Freedom of the Press Foundation, and hundreds of local and national news outlets for its groundbreaking work in areas such as government spending, surveillance, and public safety.

In addition, MuckRock works with journalists to help conceive, pursue, and publish original stories on issues that matter with exclusive primary materials obtained via public records law.

Government materials on MuckRock are available free of charge."

With regard to my request for expedited processing, this should also be granted, because the subject of relationship between local municipalities and fusion centers continues to be a matter of significant interest among the press, public, and legal advocacy circles. Below is a small sampling of examples to support this argument:

"Fusion Centers' Collection of Local and State Data Worries Civil Libertarians, Others": http://somd.com/news/headlines/2014/18055.shtml

"Fusion Center Data Raises More Privacy Questions": http://www.bradenton.com/2014/04/14/5102279/fusion-center-data-raises-more.html

"Why Fusion Centers Matter": https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/04/why-fusion-centers-matter-faq

"What It Really Means to Be Safe in a Democracy": http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2014/04/12/marathon-bombing-carol-rose

Lastly, the subject of immigration detainers in particular has been of great interest to local press in Philadelphia. I have included a sampling of stories generated around this topic:

"Nutter to Limit Police Cooperation With Immigration Officials": http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/04/15/nutter-limit-police-cooperation-immigration-officials/

"Advocates press Phila. to end immigrant detainer pact": http://articles.philly.com/2014-02-22/news/47563047_1_draft-order-councilwoman-jannie-l-deportation

"Philadelphia Ends Local Cooperation With ICE Detainers": http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/04/16/philadelphia-ends-local-cooperation-with-ice-detainers/

Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to your response within the time frame mandated by the FOIA.

Sincerely,
Dustin Slaughter

Dear Miss Pavlik-Keenan,

I am contacting you to find out the status of case #2014FOIA15687. Please confirm that you received it, whether further clarification is needed, and when I can expect an estimated date of completion as required by 5 U.S.C. § 552.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Dear Miss Pavlik-Keenan,

Thank you for your response. I should remind you, however, that case #2014FOIA15687 was submitted with a request for expedited processing, which your letter does not address and for which I provided ample reasons why this request should be placed on a different processing track.

Please let me know why this case is not being treated as such. As always, I appreciate your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Dustin Slaughter

Dear Miss Pavlik-Keenan,

This is to follow up regarding case #2014FOIA15687. Your office's last communication neither granted or denied my request for expedited processing. Please clarify the expedited processing status for this request.

In addition, your office is required to give an estimated date of completion, per the FOIA.

If your office refuses to issue a final determination as to expedited processing, I will be forced to refer this case to OGIS for mediation.

I look forward to your response shortly, and as always, thank your for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Dustin Slaughter

Dear Miss Pavlik-Keenan,

I am inquiring as to the status of my request for expedited processing pertaining to case #2014FOIA15687. Your last communication, dated 15 May, did not address this in any way.

Additionally, I would appreciate an estimated date of completion, per FOIA mandate.

Thank you.

Dustin Slaughter

Hello,

Please clarify whether records for this case were sent by mail, as no partial release has been received to date.

Thank you.