Trump Winery's Use of H-2A Guest Workers

Att: Employment and Training Administration

Dear ETA:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

RECORDS REQUESTED

I hereby request the following records:

1. All records related to the following ETA case numbers:

a. H-300-18011-145597
b. H-300-17326-719925
c. H-300-17039-274277
d. H-300-16344-057415
e. H-300-16041-509221
f. H-300-15044-165490
g. H-300-13350-921523
h. H-300-19020-423989
i. H-300-18331-843796

2. All processing notes and any other records related to DOL FOIA request No. 870626.

3. All other records related to:

a. Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC
b. Trump Winery
c. Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC

REQUEST FOR FEE WAIVER

I respectfully request that any fees related to this request be waived. The FOIA provides for a fee waiver when the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

Public Interest:

1. The subject concerns the operations or activities of the U.S. Government, because it seeks records related to the federal government's decision to certify the employment of foreign workers by Trump Winery, a winery controlled by the President of the United States and his associates.

2. The disclosure is likely to contribute to the public understanding about the operations and activities of the U.S. Government, because it will show how the federal government treats businesses in which the President of the United States and his associates have a personal financial interest.

3. The disclosure will contribute significantly to the public understanding, because it will allow the public to compare records generated before Donald Trump became the President of the United States and after he became the President of the United States.

4. There is no other source from which these records can reasonably be obtained.

5. The records will be of interest to a broad spectrum of the public, as opposed to being primarily of interest to the requester alone. Trump Winery has inspired journalists and other members of the news media to report on the company's use of H-2A workers. (See, e.g., https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/spill-the-wine-how-trump-is-using-his-vineyards-to.html), and there has been intense public interest in the relationship between the Trump Organization and the Trump Administration. (See, e.g., https://www.npr.org/podcasts/583340964/trump-inc).

6. I will make available online all records produced, free of charge.

No Commercial Interest:

1. I have no commercial interest in this request.

2. The public interest outweighs the commercial interest because I have no commercial interest in this request.

3. I will make available online all records produced, free of charge.

If you do decide to charge me fees, please inform me of the total charges before fulfilling my request.

FORM OF PRODUCTION

I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank very much for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the FOIA requires.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Marritz

Dear Ms. Karamoko,

Thank you for your email. I'm fine with you assigning a new tracking number to this request. I do find it strange that you don't have a copy of my previous FOIA request related to Trump Winery. I've attached some correspondence related to it to this email in case that helps jog anyone's memory.

Thanks again, and I look forward to your response to this request.

My best,

Nick Marritz

Dear OFLC:

I would appreciate an update regarding my FOIA Request, which was assigned tracking number 884097. I sent the request over four months ago and have yet to receive any responsive documents. And I'm no longer able to track its progress at http://www.dol.gov/foia because it's been pending for over 90 days. Please let me know when I should expect to receive OFLC's response to my request.

Many thanks,

Nicholas Marritz

Dear OFLC:

I would appreciate an update regarding my FOIA Request, which was assigned tracking number 884087. According to DOL's FOIA tracking website, responsive records were released on 14 November 2019. But I have yet to actually receive any records. Could you please confirm if the responsive records were actually sent to me, and if so, how?

Thank you very much,

Nicholas Marritz

Hello,

Thank you for your help with this request. I'm not sure what happened, but we do not have the responsive records in our office. Is it possible to have them sent again?

The address again is:
MuckRock News DEPT MR884087
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144

Let me know if I can provide any more information.

Sincerely,
Kiera Murray
MuckRock