DHS & ICE COVID19 Contingency Plans (Department of Homeland Security)

Andrew Free filed this request with the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America.
Tracking #

2023-HQAP-00651

2020-ICFO-28855

2020-HQFO-00657

Multi Request DHS & ICE COVID19 Contingency Plans
Due July 20, 2020
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Andrew Free

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Any record reflecting a contingency plan for addressing instances of COVID19 in ICE detention facilities.
2. Any record reflecting a plan to test individuals entering ICE custody for COVID19.
3. Any record reflecting agency discussions, meetings, teleconferences, or other preparations for addressing COVID19 occurrence in ICE Service Processing Centers, Contract Detention Facilities, Inter-Governmental Service Agreement Facilities, or contract facilities for any person detained by ICE longer than 72 hours.
4. Any record reflecting a COVID19 test performed on an ICE detainee between February 1, 2020 and March 9, 2020.
5. Any record reflecting guidance from the Centers for Disease Control regarding ICE's detention activities with respect to COVID19 prevention.
6. Any record reflecting guidance from IHSC to ICE detention and medical contractors.

The following custodians are likely to possess responsive records, however, searches should be tasked to all other offices identified by the FOIA office to be reasonably likely to possess responsive records:
1. ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations - Immigrant Health Services Corps.
2. ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations - Office of Detention Policy and Planning
3. ICE HQ - Office of the Director, Assistant Director, Associate Director
4. DHS - Office of the Secretary

I hereby request expediting processing as this request is made on behalf of media requestor clients who are primarily engaged in the dissemination of information to the public, and based on the urgent risk to the health, safety, and due-process rights of individuals who are now or will soon enter into ICE custody.

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,

Andrew Free

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Afternoon, Attached is our final response to your request.  If you need to contact this office again concerning your request, please provide the DHS reference number. This will enable us to quickly retrieve the information you are seeking and reduce our response time. This office can be reached at 866-431-0486. Thank you! Regards, DHS Privacy Office
Disclosure & FOIA Program
STOP 0655
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20528-0655
Telephone:  1-866-431-0486 or 202-343-1743
Fax:  202-343-4011
Visit our FOIA website

From: Department of Homeland Security

March 23, 2020 Andrew Free MuckRock News DEPT MR 90170 411A Highland Ave Somerville, MA 02144 RE:     ICE FOIA Case Number 2020-ICFO-28855 Dear Mr. Free: This acknowledges receipt of your March 17, 2020, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for various categories of records pertaining to detention facilities and COVID19 (see request for details).  Your request was received in this office on March 20, 2020. Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Per Section 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R. Part 5, ICE processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although ICE’s goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, the FOIA does permit a 10- day extension of this time period. As your request seeks numerous documents that will necessitate a thorough and wide-ranging search, ICE will invoke a 10-day extension for your request, as allowed by Title 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If you care to narrow the scope of your request, please contact our office. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner. Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request.  We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS Interim FOIA regulations, as they apply to media requesters.  As a media requester, you will be charged 10 cents per page for duplication; the first 100 pages are free.  We will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted before any further fees are accrued. We have queried the appropriate program offices within ICE for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the processors in our office will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.
Your request has been assigned reference number 2020-ICFO-28855. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. To check the status of an ICE FOIA/PA request, please visit . Please note that to check the status of a request, you must enter the 2020-ICFO-28855 tracking number. If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please contact the FOIA office. You may send an e-mail to ice-foia@ice.dhs.gov, call toll free (866) 633-1182, or you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison, Fernando Pineiro, in the same manner. Additionally, you have a right to right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769. (http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status) http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status
Regards,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009
Telephone: 1-866-633-1182
Visit our FOIA website at www.ice.gov/foia

From: Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Free,

Please see the attached correspondence related to your FOIA request, 2020-ICFO-28855, for various categories of records pertaining to detention facilities and COVID19.

Sincerely,
ICE FOIA

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Evening,
Attached is our acknowledgment of your DHS FOIA request.  If you need to contact this office again concerning your request, please provide the DHS reference number. This will enable us to quickly retrieve the information you are seeking and reduce our response time. This office can be reached at 866-431-0486.

Thank you!
Regards,
DHS Privacy Office
Disclosure & FOIA Program
STOP 0655
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20528-0655
Telephone:  1-866-431-0486 or 202-343-1743
Fax:  202-343-4011
Visit our FOIA website (http://www.dhs.gov/foia)

  • Ack - Conditional Grant - Fee Waiver (Other Non-Commercial)1

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Morning, Attached is our final response to your request.  If you need to contact this office again concerning your request, please provide the DHS reference number. This will enable us to quickly retrieve the information you are seeking and reduce our response time. This office can be reached at 866-431-0486. Regards, DHS Privacy Office
Disclosure & FOIA Program
STOP 0655
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20528-0655
Telephone:  1-866-431-0486 or 202-343-1743
Fax:  202-343-4011
Visit our FOIA website

  • Final - Transferred to Component - (1) Letter to Requester

From: Department of Homeland Security

March 29, 2021 Andrew Free MuckRock News DEPT MR 90170 411A Highland Ave Somerville, MA 02144 RE:     ICE FOIA Case Number 2021-ICFO-33336 Dear Mr. Free: This acknowledges receipt of your March 09, 2020, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for any records reflecting a contingency plan for addressing instances of COVID19 in ICE detention facilities, records reflecting a plan to test individuals entering ICE custody for COVID19, records reflecting agency discussions, meetings, teleconferences, or other preparations for addressing COVID19 occurrence in ICE Service Processing Centers, Contract Detention Facilities, Inter-Governmental Service Agreement Facilities, or contract facilities for any person detained by ICE longer than 72 hours, records reflecting a COVID19 test performed on an ICE detainee between February 1, 2020 and March 9, 2020 as well as records reflecting guidance from the Centers for Disease Control regarding ICE's detention activities with respect to COVID19 prevention any record reflecting guidance from IHSC to ICE detention and medical contractors.  Your request was received in this office on March 29, 2021. Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Per Section 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R. Part 5, ICE processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although ICE’s goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, the FOIA does permit a 10- day extension of this time period. As your request seeks numerous documents that will necessitate a thorough and wide-ranging search, ICE will invoke a 10-day extension for your request, as allowed by Title 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If you care to narrow the scope of your request, please contact our office. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner. Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request.  We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS Interim FOIA regulations, as they apply to media requesters.  As a media requester, you will be charged 10 cents per page for duplication; the first 100 pages are free.  We will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted before any further fees are accrued. We have queried the appropriate program offices within ICE for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the processors in our office will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.
Your request has been assigned reference number 2021-ICFO-33336. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. To check the status of an ICE FOIA/PA request, please visit . Please note that to check the status of a request, you must enter the 2021-ICFO-33336 tracking number. If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please contact the FOIA office. You may send an e-mail to ice-foia@ice.dhs.gov, call toll free (866) 633-1182, or you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison, Fernando Pineiro, in the same manner. Additionally, you have a right to right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769. (http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status) http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status
Regards,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009
Telephone: 1-866-633-1182
Visit our FOIA website at www.ice.gov/foia

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Morning, Attached is our final response to your request.  If you need to contact this office again concerning your request, please provide the DHS reference number. This will enable us to quickly retrieve the information you are seeking and reduce our response time. This office can be reached at 866-431-0486. Regards, DHS Privacy Office
Disclosure & FOIA Program
STOP 0655
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20528-0655
Telephone:  1-866-431-0486 or 202-343-1743
Fax:  202-343-4011
Visit our FOIA website

From: Andrew Free

Good afternoon,

I hereby appeal the adequacy of search, timing of production, and all withholdings.

Thank you,

Andrew

From: Department of Homeland Security

March 02, 2023 Andrew Free MuckRock News DEPT MR 90170 411A Highland Ave Somerville, MA 02144 RE:     ICE FOIA Case Number 2020-ICFO-28855 Dear Mr. Free: This acknowledges receipt of your March 17, 2020, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for various categories of records pertaining to detention facilities and COVID19 (see request for details).  Your request was received in this office on March 20, 2020. By letter, dated March 20, 2020, we advised you that due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we could encounter some delay in processing your request. We sincerely apologize for the delay and any inconvenience it may have caused. However, we want to let you know that we have been making earnest and diligent efforts to reduce the backlog of cases, and that your file is scheduled to be reviewed in the near future. Before we begin the time-consuming review process, we want to ensure that you are still interested in continuing the processing of this request. Please indicate your continued interest in pursuing these records within 30 business days from the date of this letter, or we will assume you are no longer interested in this FOIA request, and the case will be administratively closed.
Your request has been assigned reference number 2020-ICFO-28855. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. To check the status of an ICE FOIA/PA request, please visit . Please note that to check the status of a request, you must enter the 2020-ICFO-28855 (http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status) http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status tracking number. If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please contact the FOIA office. You may send an e-mail to ice-foia@ice.dhs.gov, call toll free (866) 633-1182, or you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison in the same manner. Additionally, you have a right to right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
Regards,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009
Telephone: 1-866-633-1182
Visit our FOIA website at www.ice.gov/foia

From: Andrew Free

Yes. We are still interested.

From: Department of Homeland Security

This request is closed.

Sincerely,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009

From: Andrew Free

Reopen it. That’s how this works.

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Afternoon,

On February 19, 2021 Headquarters issued a final response that stated the following:

Due to the subject matter of your request, I am transferring this request to the FOIA Officer for
the US. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), Washington, D.C. 20528, for processing under the FOIA and direct response to you.
You may contact this office directly if you seek further information at:

United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, SW, Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009
Phone: 866-633-1182 | Fax: 202-732-4265 | E-mail: ice-foia@dhs.gov
ICE Website

Upon further review, we have determined that most COVID-19 related requests, including yours,
should be handled at the Component-level rather than processed at Headquarters. Accordingly,
you should expect to receive your final response directly from the Component. Please note that
the Component is already in the process of searching for potentially responsive records to your
request. We do not expect this administrative change to delay your response.

Therefore, you must appeal the response with ICE not Headquarters. In addition, your appeal must be within 90 days of ICE's adverse determination letter. Please send your appeal in writing to:

* GILDFOIAAPPEALS@ice.dhs.gov<mailto:GILDFOIAAPPEALS@ice.dhs.gov>
or
* Office of the Principal Legal Advisor
Government Information Law Division
500 12th Street SW, Stop 5900
Washington, DC 20536-5900
Your appeal determination letter will advise you of your rights to seek judicial review.
Judicial Review
You may also file a lawsuit in federal district court if you believe that ICE's determination on your FOIA request was improper. You may file (1) where you reside, (2) where you have your principal place of business (if any), (3) in the District of Columbia, or (4) where the records are located, if they are not located in the District of Columbia. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Kelly J. Davis

Privacy Office, Mail Stop 0655
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. AVE SE
Washington, DC 20528-0655

'202-343-1743 | '866-431-0486 | 7 202-343-4011
* foia@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:foia@hq.dhs.gov>

This is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.
[cid:image001.jpg@01D9AA93.C7202F70]

From: Andrew Free

We are appealing your referral decision—not the response.

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Afternoon,

To clarify are you appealing the adequacy of the search for FOIA case 2020-HQFO-00657? Thank you.

Respectfully,

Kelly J. Davis

Privacy Office, Mail Stop 0655
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. AVE SE
Washington, DC 20528-0655

'202-343-1743 | '866-431-0486 | 7 202-343-4011
foia@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:foia@hq.dhs.gov>

This is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.
[cid:image001.jpg@01D9AA9E.BC10C2B0]

From: Andrew Free

No. We are appealing the determination that DHS had no records responsive to this request, or that all responsive records would have originated at ICE, and the subsequent referral based on that decision.

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good Afternoon,

This case is has been processed and is awaiting to be assigned. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Kelly J. Davis

Privacy Office, Mail Stop 0655
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. AVE SE
Washington, DC 20528-0655

'202-343-1743 | '866-431-0486 | 7 202-343-4011
foia@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:foia@hq.dhs.gov>

This is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.
[cid:image001.jpg@01DA3E3F.412B27E0]

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good afternoon,

I was asked to provide you with a status check for your Freedom of Information Act appeal request 2023-HQAP-00651. This request is currently pending review and assignment to a judge.

For your awareness, the Privacy Office uses the services of the United States Coast Guard Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) to handle all appeals. One of the benefits of this arrangement is all of our decisions when initially processing your request are thoroughly and independently reviewed and assessed. Since the USCG ALJ does not process requests in our system, we log your request in for tracking purposes, assign it an HQAP tracking number, and send the USCG ALJ the complete administrative file. We can associate the HQAP tracking number with the USCG ALJ response and to your original request, but the number gives us no insight into where your request is in the USCG ALJ’s process or when you can expect an answer to your appeal. Please note, though, that response times vary, and it may take additional time to receive your response.

To ensure you receive the response as efficiently as possible, the USCG ALJ will send you its decision directly and send us a copy. If the request is fully or partially remanded, we will log the request back in for additional processing and send you a new tracking number that you can use in our system for updates on the request. Please be aware that we are doing all we can to process your request as fast as we can.

Due to the system change, the status of your FOIA request can now be accessed at SecureRelease<https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/demo.securerelease.us/account-page/sign-in/?redirect_url=*create-request__;Lw!!BClRuOV5cvtbuNI!BBtMo9st1t-OQWKCXEoB306g_utBYLBbHSTqsc3X9BCI7KELKejWIjHDiAn_ehTDceGvBLJSawEqd3dG7ss9$>TM<https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/demo.securerelease.us/account-page/sign-in/?redirect_url=*create-request__;Lw!!BClRuOV5cvtbuNI!BBtMo9st1t-OQWKCXEoB306g_utBYLBbHSTqsc3X9BCI7KELKejWIjHDiAn_ehTDceGvBLJSawEqd3dG7ss9$> Portal<https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/demo.securerelease.us/account-page/sign-in/?redirect_url=*create-request__;Lw!!BClRuOV5cvtbuNI!BBtMo9st1t-OQWKCXEoB306g_utBYLBbHSTqsc3X9BCI7KELKejWIjHDiAn_ehTDceGvBLJSawEqd3dG7ss9$>, by using the assigned FOIA appeal request number.

Respectfully,

Claudia Cisneros

Government Information Specialist

U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Privacy Office

Claudia.Cisneros@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:Claudia.Cisneros@hq.dhs.gov>

This is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.

From: Department of Homeland Security

Good afternoon,

Your appeal case 2023-HQAP-00651 is currently assigned to a judge for review and a decision to be issued.

To ensure you receive the response as efficiently as possible, the USCG ALJ will send you its decision directly and send us a copy. If the request is fully or partially remanded, we will log the request back in for additional processing and send you a new tracking number that you can use in our system for updates on the request. Please be aware that we are doing all we can to process your request as fast as we can.

Respectfully,

Claudia Cisneros

Government Information Specialist

U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Privacy Office

Claudia.Cisneros@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:Claudia.Cisneros@hq.dhs.gov>

This is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.

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