DHS report: UAS and airspace restrictions

To Whom It May Concern:

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

A copy of the report required under Section 501 of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012:

Sec. 501. Report on airspace restrictions for use of unmanned aerial vehicles along
the border of the United States and Mexico

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on whether restrictions on the use of airspace are hampering the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the Department of Homeland Security along the international border between the United States and Mexico.

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 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,

Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 5, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Ms. Burroughs:

Per the attached, this request has been forwarded to your attention. Please confirm receipt, as I have had considerable difficulty communicating with the CBP FOIA office.

Best,
Shawn

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 5, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2014-IAFO-00035.

Thank you for your help.

Hello,

Please confirm whether the below request has been forwarded to CBP from DHS I&A, as was indicated several weeks ago.

Respectfully,
Shawn

Ms. Burroughs:

This request has gone several weeks without acknowledgement or provision of a tracking number. OI&A indicated that this request was transferred to CBP (see attached). Please confirm.

Please note also that this followup was attempted via fax several times without success.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 24, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Associate General Counsel (General Law)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Mailstop 0655,
Washington, D.C. 20528

May 7, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal of constructive denial of the FOIA below, which DHS I&A indicated was transferred to CBP FOIA on January 24, 2014 (see attached). I have yet to receive so much as an acknowledgement or tracking number from CBP, much less a substantive response, despite a number of communications.

Please remand this request to CBP for processing immediately.

Thank you,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Ms. Burroughs and Ms. Tell -

Please see below for an appeal of constructive denial sent to the indicated address. I have yet to receive any acknowledgement or confirmation of receipt despite several attempts to contact, as well as I&A FOIA's indication that this request was transferred to your attention in January.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave

Associate General Counsel (General Law)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Mailstop 0655,
Washington, D.C. 20528

September 17, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

I still have yet to receive any acknowledgement whatsoever for this request from either CBP or the Associate General Counsel regarding this FOIA request or appeal, despite having submitted an appeal in May. I insist upon a response immediately.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Ms. Burroughs and Ms. Tell -

As indicated below, I have now sent an appeal for constructive denial to two different components of the DHS legal team: the Associate General Counsel (General Law) as well as the Policy and Litigation Branch, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. With any luck, one of these appeals will now prompt some sort of response from your agency. I have attached the transfer letter sent by I&A in January — and by me on several occasions — for your reference.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Associate General Counsel (General Law)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Mailstop 0655,
Washington, D.C. 20528

October 23, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

Respectfully, it is entirely unacceptable by both the spirit and letter of the Freedom of Information Act that I have yet to receive an acknowledgement not only for my FOIA request forwarded to CBP in January 2014 by DHS I&A (see attached), but also for my appeal for constructive denial, which I've submitted twice now: once in May and once in September.

Your office is charged with responding to FOIA appeals. To be unmistakably clear, this is one such appeal for constructive denial by virtue of extensive delay. I insist upon a response, and will be sending this complaint to the DHS Chief FOIA Officer, Deputy Chief FOIA Officer and Director of FOIA Operations. Your total lack of responsiveness is negligent, and compounds the complete lack of attention of CBP even further.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

FOIA Appeals, Policy and Litigation Branch
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
90 K Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20229

October 23, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal of constructive denial of the FOIA below, which DHS I&A indicated was transferred to CBP FOIA on January 24, 2014 (see attached). I have yet to receive so much as an acknowledgement or tracking number from CBP, much less a substantive response, despite a number of communications. I have previously appealed this constructive denial to the DHS Associate General Counsel (General Law), without response.

Please remand this request to CBP for processing immediately.

Thank you,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock