Records Regarding Grants of Withholding of Removal and CAT Relief since Jan. 1, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

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

The records since January 1, 2014 to the date of processing of this request that reveal the grants of Withholding of Removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (withholding of removal or deferral of removal under CAT) by any Immigration Judge. I am primarily looking for the following fields of data relating to each decision to grant: (1) the Immigration Judge; (2) the location of the hearing/base city; (3) the date of the decision; (4) the country of citizenship/nationality of the Respondent; (5) whether Withholding of Removal was granted; (6) whether withholding or deferral of removal under the CAT was granted (this latter field could be one field for both forms of relief, or preferably two separate fields, depending on how the information is coded in EOIR’s databases); (7) whether appeal was waived or reserved; and (8) which party reserved/waived appeal (Respondent or DHS).

If there is a report that can be run from a database with these data, I would prefer these data in an Excel spreadsheet. It is not necessary to reveal A numbers or names of individuals granted Withholding of Removal or CAT relief, as those data points are likely exempt from FOIA disclosure. We are trying to avoid the EOIR generating a report with names and A numbers and then having to produce it as a PDF because those fields need to be redacted. If you have any questions about the scope of this request or how to produce these data as an Excel spreadsheet, please contact me before production.

To clarify my request, FOIA requests for database records naturally require a "report" which is nothing more than the results of a database inquiry. I am asking for information I believe to be contained in EOIR's CASE Database. The only mechanism in CASE for producing those data is to run a "report" from within CASE. If the agency has a different way to produce the data about grants of Withholding of Removal and CAT Relief without running a database inquiry, it could respond to the request that way.

Furthermore, running a database report is not creating a new record, because the record is the data itself, and the report only represents what data are contained in the database on that date and time. Of course, the agency is not required to edit its database information or edit its reports with different information to respond to a FOIA request. Ctr. For Pub. Integrity v. F.C.C., 505 F. Supp. 2d 106, 114 (D.D.C. 2007). But no court has held the agency can withhold database data by claiming running a database inquiry would be creating a new record.

If it is your position that any portion of the requested records is exempt from disclosure, I request that you provide an index of those documents as required under Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1974). The index must describe each document claimed as exempt with sufficient specificity “to permit a reasoned judgment as to whether the material is actually exempt under FOIA.” Founding Church of Scientology v. Bell, 603 F.2d 945, 949 (D.C. Cir. 1979). Moreover, the index “must describe each document or portion thereof withheld, and for each withholding it must discuss the consequences of disclosing the sought-after information.” King v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 830 F.2d 210, 223–24 (D.C. Cir. 1987). Further, “the withholding agency must supply ‘a relatively detailed justification, specifically identifying the reasons why a particular exemption is relevant and correlating those claims with the particular part of a withheld document to which they apply.’” Id. at 224 (citing Mead Data Central, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Air Force, 566 F.2d 242, 251 (D.C. Cir. 1977)).

In the event some portions of the requested records are properly exempt from disclosure, please contact me so that we can work on limiting this request to only those records that are not exempt. If it is your position that a record contains non-exempt segments, but that those non-exempt segments are so dispersed throughout the document as to make segregation impossible, please state what portion of the document is non-exempt, and how the material is dispersed throughout the document. Mead Data Central, 566 F.2d at 261. Claims of nonsegregability must be made with the same degree of detail as required for claims of exemptions in a Vaughn index. If a request is denied in whole, please state specifically that it is not reasonable to segregate portions of the record for release.

You should institute a preservation hold on information responsive to this request. I intend to pursue all legal avenues to enforce my right of access under the FOIA, including prompt litigation if that becomes necessary. Accordingly, EOIR is on notice that litigation is reasonably foreseeable. To ensure that this request is properly construed, that searches are conducted in an adequate but efficient manner, and that extraneous costs are not incurred, I welcome an opportunity to discuss this request with you before you undertake your search or incur search or duplication costs. By working together at the outset, we can decrease the likelihood of costly and time-consuming litigation in the future. If it will accelerate release of responsive records to me, please also provide responsive material on a rolling basis.

Fee Waiver Request:

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii) and 6 C.F.R. § 5.11(k), I request a waiver of fees associated with processing this request for records. The subject of this request concerns the operations of the federal government, and the disclosures will likely contribute to a better understanding of relevant government procedures by the general public in a significant way. 6 C.F.R. § 5.11(k)(1)(i). These data will be used for academic research and news reporting, and this entirely and fundamentally for non-commercial purposes. 6 C.F.R. § 5.11(k)(1)(ii). As the requested records relate to Respondents who are afraid to return to their home country, many of whom may have otherwise been seeking asylum before the immigration court, the disclosure of these records will contribute to the public’s understanding of the immigration court system and our country's obligations under international law.

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,

Evan Benz

Dear Mr. Schaaf:

I object to your baseless determination that my FOIA is a commercial use request, and reserve my right to challenge that determination on appeal. While it is true that my office is engaged in the practice of law, the request does not relate to any specific client which my office represents. It boggles the mind to imagine how I could use the anonymized data I am seeking to further a profit interest. My goal in this request is to complement the very similar data that is compiled and published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which regularly publishes data relating to EOIR asylum decisions and features criteria similar to the ones requested herein. I deliberately choose to submit this FOIA request via the MuckRock channel (rather than through my firm's FOIAonline account) to demonstrate clearly that my request is being made in the public interest, and that the disclosure and dissemination of the responsive records via MuckRock will educate the public about the workings of the federal government in general, and the immigration court system in particular -- a matter of great public interest, now more than ever.

I recognize that this request may be a complex one, although I suspect the data requested should be compilable from running a few database reports. Pursuant to the FOIA statute and normal operating procedures, I am entitled to the first 100 pages of duplication and first two hours of search to be provided without cost. Beyond those parameters, if you estimate that search or duplication costs will be over $25, you must notify me. In terms of your desired "fee agreement," I agree to pay no more than $50 total for your office's processing of my request, after the initial two hours of search and first 100 pages of duplication.

Please provide the responsive records as expeditiously as possible. Any further delay over more than 30 days will be construed as a constructive agency denial, and will oblige me to exercise my rights of appeal.

Sincerely,

Evan

Dear Mr. Schaaf:

Thank you for your response. I look forward to receiving the responsive records in a timely manner.

Best,

Evan

That's great to hear, thank you for the update!

Excellent, thank you!

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Evan Benz