Public Comments Related to Proposed Rule, "Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children"

Submitted on Monday, August 26, 2019 - 05:35
Submitted by user: Anonymous
Submitted values are:

Select the DHS component you wish to submit your request to: : U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Title:
First Name: Muira
Middle Initial:
Last Name: McCammon
Suffix:
Email Address: requests@muckrock.com
Country: United States
Address 1: MuckRock News, DEPT MR 79386
Address 2: 411A Highland Ave
City: Somerville
State: Massachusetts
Zip Code: 02144
Telephone Number: 6172991832
Fax Number:
Are you requesting records on yourself? No
If yes, you must check the perjury statement:
By initialing here you are providing your electronic signature.:
Please describe the records you are seeking as clearly and precisely as
possible:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request

Dear Freedom of Information Officer:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C.
§ 552, to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau on my own behalf as
a journalist and as an academic researcher.

Requested Records
I request all agency records from September 7, 2018 to August 25, 2019
concerning public comments submitted to the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Bureau related to the proposed rule, “Apprehension, Processing,
Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children.” The
agency lists the total comment/submissions received on the document as
100,073 but only lists 98,200. I seek records related to the submissions that
the agency chose to “redact, or withhold…such as those containing private
or proprietary information, inappropriate language, or duplicate/near
duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign.”

I believe the records that I are located, inter alia, within agency
headquarters, in email records, and in third-party platforms used to manage
the Agency’s public comments.

The I request include but are not limited to:

1. Records of the public comments submitted to the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Bureau, which were NOT posted on Regulations.gov for public
viewing.
2. Records related to the decision to redact or withhold certain public
comments from the public comment section of Regulations.gov – as it
specifically relates to the proposed rule “Apprehension, Processing, Care,
and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children.”
a. including:
i. Any correspondence or record of correspondence regarding the redaction or
withholding of public comments sent through official government email
addresses or messaging services; and
ii. including correspondence sent through private third-party services such
as Gmail or Slack; and
iii. Including any messages, notes, or annotations created on a third-party
social media management platform.
b. Documentation of the agency’s existing policy regarding the preservation
and maintenance of tweets as per the Federal Records Act, and Federal Records
Management Bulletin 2014-02 (available at
https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2014/2014-02.htm), which
stated that “… A complete Federal record must have content, context, and
structure along with associated metadata (e.g., author, date of creation).
The complete record must be maintained to ensure reliability and
authenticity.”
c. Any briefings, reports, memoranda, legal opinions, policy statements, or
talking points used or disseminated within the Agency regarding the redaction
or withholding of specific or general public comments.

I urge [Agency] to process this request consistent with “a general
philosophy of full agency disclosure [under FOIA] unless information is
exempted under clearly delineated statutory language,” United States Dep't
of Def. v. Fed. Labor Relations Auth., 510 U.S. 487, 494 (1994), and the
Justice Department’s policy directing a presumption of disclosure. See
Dep’t of Justice Office of Information Policy, President Obama’s FOIA
Memorandum and Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines: Creating a “New
Era of Open Government” (2009), available at
https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-post-2009-creating-new-era-open-government).

Request for Public Interest Fee Waiver

I request a waiver of fees because disclosure of the requested records is in
the public interest. It “is likely to contribute significantly to the
public understanding of the activities or operations of the government and is
not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. §
552(a)(4)(A)(iii).

First, the records concern the operations or activities of the government.
Disclosure of the requested information is likely to contribute significantly
to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government.
Specifically, the requested records will reveal substantial new information
about how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau defines and manages
public comments. They will allow the public to see what public messages have
been rescinded and the process by which these statements were retracted as
compared to the processes employed by other agencies.
For example, my research on the Twitter account of the Guantanamo Bay Naval
Base revealed to the public that the account had systematically deleted
controversial tweets. See Brady Dale, To What Extent is a Tweet a Federal
Record?, TECHNICAL.LY BROOKLYN (October 24, 2017),
(https://technical.ly/brooklyn/2017/10/24/muira-mccammon-talks-gitmo-radical-networks/).

Finally, the records are not primarily in my own commercial interest. I seek
the requested information for newsgathering purposes, and expect to
incorporate it into journalistic work product to be disseminated to the
public, like those already produced. See Muira Mccammon, Trouble @JTFGTMO,
SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html;
Muira McCammon, Can They Really Delete That?, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html.

For the reasons above, I respectfully request that the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Bureau grant a public interest fee waiver for this
request, and that all fees related to the search, review, and duplication of
the requested records be waived. If the fees will not be waived, I agree to
pay up to $100 for the processing of this request. If the estimated fees will
exceed this limit, please inform me before you begin processing.
Request for “News Media” Fee Status

As a freelance journalist, I am a representative of the news media and do not
seek the records requested for commercial use. Therefore, if the agency does
not find that my request meets the standards required for a public interest
fee waiver, I request that fees associated with the processing of my request
be limited to reasonable duplication costs. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II).
I am a representative of the news media because I “gather[] information of
potential interest to a segment of the public, use[] [my] editorial skills to
turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distribute[] that work to an
audience.” Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). I can “demonstrate a solid basis
for expecting publication… by a… past publication record.” Id. §
552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II).

My work has been featured in publications including Slate, VICE, the
Massachusetts Review, Kill Screen, and more. I have previously requested
documents obtained via FOIA from a range of federal agencies and government
officials regarding the deletion of tweets from official Twitter accounts. I
used that information to write a series of articles outlining both how
individual agencies decided whether or not to delete tweets and more broadly
how the government regards Twitter statements. These articles have been
published, disseminated, and further reported upon to a broad audience. See
Muira Mccammon, Trouble @JTFGTMO, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html;
Muira Mccammon, Can They Really Delete That?, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html..
Therefore, if this request is not classified as being in the public interest,
I respectfully request to be classified as a “news media” requester for
purposes of fee assessments.
***
I request that responsive electronic records be provided electronically in
their native file format, if possible. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(B). I
further request that you provide an estimated date on which you will finish
processing this request. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B).
Thank you for your consideration of this request. As per 5 U.S.C. §
552(a)(6)(A)(i), I expect your determination on whether to comply with this
request within twenty (20) days. If you have any questions or concerns,
please do not hesitate to contact me at the email address listed below.

Yours,
Muira McCammon

Upload documents directly:
https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAVK9mH4BSG8tmO0HOip57Abyc%3A1i2AwP%3Aaficzi1EviGB9Jv2QeC11Gpx4iU&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fimmigration-and-customs-enforcement-133%252Fpublic-comments-related-to-proposed-rule-apprehension-processing-care-and-custody-of-alien-minors-and-unaccompanied-alien-children-79386%252F%253F
I am willing to pay fees for this request up to the amount of: $: 25
Select from the list below: A representative of the news media seeking
information as part of a news gathering effort and not for commercial use.
I request a waiver of all fees for this request.: I request a waiver of all
fees for this request.
Please provide an explanation for your request for a fee waiver:
I request a waiver of fees because disclosure of the requested records is in
the public interest. It “is likely to contribute significantly to the
public understanding of the activities or operations of the government and is
not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. §
552(a)(4)(A)(iii).

First, the records concern the operations or activities of the government.
Disclosure of the requested information is likely to contribute significantly
to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government.
Specifically, the requested records will reveal substantial new information
about how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau defines and manages
public comments. They will allow the public to see what public messages have
been rescinded and the process by which these statements were retracted as
compared to the processes employed by other agencies.
For example, my research on the Twitter account of the Guantanamo Bay Naval
Base revealed to the public that the account had systematically deleted
controversial tweets. See Brady Dale, To What Extent is a Tweet a Federal
Record?, TECHNICAL.LY BROOKLYN (October 24, 2017),
(https://technical.ly/brooklyn/2017/10/24/muira-mccammon-talks-gitmo-radical-networks/).

Finally, the records are not primarily in my own commercial interest. I seek
the requested information for newsgathering purposes, and expect to
incorporate it into journalistic work product to be disseminated to the
public, like those already produced. See Muira Mccammon, Trouble @JTFGTMO,
SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html;
Muira McCammon, Can They Really Delete That?, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html.

For the reasons above, I respectfully request that the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Bureau grant a public interest fee waiver for this
request, and that all fees related to the search, review, and duplication of
the requested records be waived. If the fees will not be waived, I agree to
pay up to $100 for the processing of this request. If the estimated fees will
exceed this limit, please inform me before you begin processing.
Request for “News Media” Fee Status

As a freelance journalist, I am a representative of the news media and do not
seek the records requested for commercial use. Therefore, if the agency does
not find that my request meets the standards required for a public interest
fee waiver, I request that fees associated with the processing of my request
be limited to reasonable duplication costs. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II).
I am a representative of the news media because I “gather[] information of
potential interest to a segment of the public, use[] [my] editorial skills to
turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distribute[] that work to an
audience.” Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). I can “demonstrate a solid basis
for expecting publication… by a… past publication record.” Id. §
552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II).

My work has been featured in publications including Slate, VICE, the
Massachusetts Review, Kill Screen, and more. I have previously requested
documents obtained via FOIA from a range of federal agencies and government
officials regarding the deletion of tweets from official Twitter accounts. I
used that information to write a series of articles outlining both how
individual agencies decided whether or not to delete tweets and more broadly
how the government regards Twitter statements. These articles have been
published, disseminated, and further reported upon to a broad audience. See
Muira Mccammon, Trouble @JTFGTMO, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html;
Muira Mccammon, Can They Really Delete That?, SLATE (April 17, 2018),
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/why-did-the-joint-task-force-of-guantanamo-start-deleting-tweets.html..
Therefore, if this request is not classified as being in the public interest,
I respectfully request to be classified as a “news media” requester for
purposes of fee assessments.
Please select and describe in detail if you believe your request warrants
expeditious handling:
Please provide information to support your selection:

July 14, 2020 Muira McCammon MuckRock News MuckRock News, DEPT MR 79386 411A Highland Ave Somerville, MA 02144 RE:     ICE FOIA Case Number 2020-ICFO-63387 Dear Ms. McCammon: This acknowledges receipt of your July 9, 2020, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for all agency records, from September 7, 2018 to August 25, 2019, concerning public comments submitted to ICE related to the proposed rule, “Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children” (see request for details).  Your request was received in this office on July 9, 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-63387. 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-63387 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

Good afternoon,

In response to your email requesting a status update on case 2020-ICFO-63387, it has been assigned to a processor. Cases are processed on a first in/first out bases and it could take an additional 6-9 months for completion. We apologize for the delay and inconvenience.

Thank you,
ICE FOIA