Origins of Proposed Fee Increases (Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy)

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOJ-2020-002075&type=request)

* Tracking Number: DOJ-2020-002075
* Requester Name: David Light
* Date Submitted: 03/02/2020
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. Any memorandum or email sent between 1/20/2017 and 2/28/2020 & originating from: A) the Office of the Attorney General; B) the Office of the Deputy Attorney General; or C) Executive Office of Immigration Review Director James McHenry, requiring the Executive Office for Immigration Review to review (or to increase) the fees charged for certain appeals and applications, as listed in the EOIR’s press release: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/pr/executive-office-immigration-review-proposes-rule-fees

2. Any emails to or from Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director, Office of Policy, EOIR, which were sent between 8/2018 and 2/2020 & contain any of the following non-case-sensitive text strings: “EOIR-26”; “EOIR-29”; “ EOIR-40"; "EOIR-42A”; “EOIR-42B”; “EOIR-45”; “revenue”; “fee increase”; “due process”; or “fee waiver”.

3. Any Word or Excel files attached to emails described in items 1 and 2 above.

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,

David Light

Attached is correspondence from the Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy, which is associated with the above-referenced Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Please do not reply to this e-mail, as this account is not monitored.

Thank you,
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Initial Request Staff
Office of Information Policy
U.S. Department of Justice

202-514-3642 (Main Line)

David Light:

Good evening, this is in response to your inquiry below. Excuse this delayed response as I was away and now catching up on all matters, including requester inquiries. Unfortunately, the backlog queue for eDiscovery searches is extensive and the search for this request remains ongoing. This Office is searching thirty-three custodians of the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General. Accordingly, I am estimating an additional two to three months for the search to be completed. This search estimation is not based on any issue with your FOIA request, but the backlog queue for ediscovery searches, which consists of FOIA requests that were received ahead of your FOIA request and are being searched, as well as the number of custodians being searched. Since the number of Department custodians subject to the records search is a factor in how long a records search takes to be completed, you may decide to narrow the parameters of the records search, such as limiting the custodians to search to Office leadership. Please be advised, you are not required to do so, I am only providing you an option that might help facilitate the search.

Regarding your inquiry below seeking “when you can expect to receive a response,” and given the search remains ongoing, I estimate a response in five to six months. Please be advised estimates are subject to change. Once the search is completed, the estimated date of completion will be updated. Furthermore, this Office will work to provide interim responses, when able to do so.

Lastly, for future communications you need only reference administrative tracking number FOIA-2020-00447. I have checked our tracking system and currently there is no DOJ-2020-002075 within our system nor similar FOIA request connected to you.

I understand the passage in time since this request was submitted and appreciate your continued patience and communication with this Office as we work towards completing our processing of your FOIA request. Should you have additional questions or concerns regarding this request, please feel free to contact this Office.
Thank you,
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Valeree Villanueva
Supervisory Government Information Specialist &
FOIA Public Liaison
Office of Information Policy
U.S. Department of Justice
Main: (202) 514-3642

David Light:

Good evening, this is in response to your inquiry on January 10, 2024 and below. Excuse this delayed response as I was away and now catching up on all matters, including requester inquiries. Unfortunately, the backlog queue for eDiscovery searches is extensive and the search for this request remains ongoing. This Office is searching thirty-three custodians of the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General. Accordingly, I am estimating an additional one to two months for the search to be completed. This search estimation is not based on any issue with your FOIA request, but the backlog queue for ediscovery searches, which consists of FOIA requests that were received ahead of your FOIA request and are being searched, as well as the number of custodians being searched.

The number of Department custodians subject to the records search is a factor in how long a records search takes to be completed, you may decide to narrow the parameters of the records search, such as limiting the custodians to search to Office leadership. Another factor is the type of records being searched, searching email does not take as much time as search documents. Please be advised, you are not required to do so, I am only providing you an option that might help facilitate the search.

Regarding your inquiry below seeking “when you can expect to receive a response,” and given the search remains ongoing, I estimate a response in four to five months. Please be advised estimates are subject to change. Once the search is completed, the estimated date of completion will be updated. Furthermore, this Office will work to provide interim responses, when able to do so.

I understand the passage in time since this request was submitted and appreciate your continued patience and communication with this Office as we work towards completing our processing of your FOIA request. Should you have additional questions or concerns regarding this request, please feel free to contact this Office.
Thank you,
-----------------------------------------
Valeree Villanueva
Supervisory Government Information Specialist &
FOIA Public Liaison
Office of Information Policy
U.S. Department of Justice
Main: (202) 514-3642