Copies of all written decisions issued by Immigration Judges 10/01/2021 through 10/31/2021.
| Submitted | Dec. 11, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Brooke Bischoff
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Copies of all written decisions issued by Immigration Judges 11/01/2021 through 11/30/2021.
I understand that due to an ongoing backlog, written decisions that are not already electronically filed may be difficult to locate at this time. For that reason, should EOIR be unable to furnish all records in a timely manner, I request that all written decisions that are electronically stored (ie; those stored on ECAS and those which have been transmitted to the BIA for appeal) be produced for the sake of expediency.
This request is made on behalf of the Deportation Accountability Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to make deportation data publically available. These records will be made available to the public on our website www.deportationaccountabilityproject.org and will be also available to the public through Muckrock.
Further, I request that if one portion of this request will take significantly longer than the other, please release the documents as they become available.
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 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Brooke Bischoff
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Dear Brooke Bischoff: This response acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) dated 12/11/2021 and received 12/11/2021. Your request has been assigned control number 2022-15182. 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
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Dear Ms. Bischoff: This correspondence is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated 12/11/2021 to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in which you seek certain records described in your request. Your request as filed is on hold because it would require EOIR toconduct an unreasonable burdensome search. Even when these decisions are electronically stored outside of hard-copyRecord of Proceedings (ROPs), we will still need to pull each decision from theelectronic system individually to be able to process them and we are unable toaccommodate the scope of such request at this time even assuming we areprocessing electronically stored records only. Due to the pandemic, EOIR has asignificant backlog of record requests for ROPs requested by Respondentscurrently undergoing immigration proceedings and/or their attorneys. In view ofthe backlog and pandemic, processing of First Party requests for ROPs takesprecedent over all Third Party requests for records implicating. I would like to understand better what youare really interested in receiving, this way we can work together to narrow thescope of this request. If we are to process every written decision that iselectronically stored for the designated period (11/01/2021 through 11/30/2021)we will still need to process hundreds of decisions. Therefore, I would like to discuss differentoptions to help you narrow the scope of this request. For example, we can start by providing you asampling of 20 decisions. We can choose4 decisions from 5 of some of the busiest courts: Miami, Atlanta, Houston, New York City and Los Angeles. Please let me know if you would like to set up a timeto discuss your request or if you agree to with what is proposed above. If wedo not hear from you within 30 days, we will assume that you and your request will be administratively closed. Sincerely, Jeniffer Perez Santiago
Attorney Advisor
From: Brooke Bischoff
Dear Ms. Perez Santiago -
Thank you for your response to my FOIA; we are willing to narrow our request and appreciate the opportunity to discuss how best to make these requests.
Our goal is to obtain copies of all the written decisions issued by immigration judges for the period of 11/01/2021 through 11/30/2021 (and generally each month at a monthly level). I narrowed this request to electronic decisions due to the fact that I know that you are short-staffed and behind due to covid. It is my understanding that electronic decisions are easier to access than paper decisions? If it is still not possible to provide all the the ECAS stored decisions, could you please let me know how is easiest on your end to narrow it? For example, would it be easier if I requested the decisions by court or by specific judge? The Deportation Accountability Project will be continuing to seek these records on a monthly basis so I would love to figure out the best way for us to request them that is easiest for you to provide them.
Thank you in advance and happy holidays,
Brooke Bischoff
Deportation Accountability Project
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Good morning Mr. Bischoff,
I appreciate your quick response and your willingness of working with us to narrow the scope of this request. Please let me know when would you like to set up a call to discuss this request. I’m available today until 4:00 PM. Feel free to call or provide the best time to discuss and a phone number.
Thank you,
Jeniffer Perez Santiago
Attorney Advisor (FOIA)
Office of the General Counsel
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Department of Justice
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, VA 22041
Cell: (571)326-4838
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Good afternoon Ms. Bischoff,
I’m following up on my previous email. Even if you are requesting the decisions by court or by specific judge it would still require EOIR to conduct an unreasonable burdensome search. Please keep in mind that even if they are electronically stored, we will still need to pull each decision from the electronic system individually to be able to process them.
Please feel free to call me or provide the best time to discuss and a phone number.
Thank you,
Jeniffer Pérez Santiago
Attorney Advisor (FOIA)
Office of the General Counsel
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Department of Justice
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, VA 22041
Cell: (571)326-4838
-
~WRD0000
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Dear Ms. Bischoff:
This correspondence is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated 12/11/2021 to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in which you seek certain records described in your request.
As you will recall, EOIR notified you by written correspondence dated 12/21/21 that your request required clarification and was placed on hold. See 28 C.F.R. § 1 6.3(b). EOIR also notified you that your request would be closed within 30 days if we did not hear from you. You reached out to EOIR but your proposal was still broad. EOIR send two additional follow up emails on 12/29/21 and 1/12/22. Because we have not heard from you, we presume that you are no longer interested in the processing of this request. Therefore, your request has been administratively closed. 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. 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. 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 correspondence and the envelope should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.”
Sincerely,
Jeniffer Perez Santiago
Attorney Advisor