Ideological Screening at the Border
Documents released in our FOIA lawsuit for records on the "extreme vetting" program
This Reading Room contains all of the documents produced to date in Knight Institute v. DHS, a FOIA lawsuit the Knight Institute filed on October 4, 2017, seeking records on how the Trump administration is implementing the president’s call for an “extreme vetting program."
Our FOIA lawsuit sought records from the agencies charged with developing the program: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of State (DOS). We requested documents concerning the program and the government’s asserted power to exclude individuals on the basis of their speech, beliefs, or associations.
In response, the agencies released over 300 documents, many heavily redacted, and hardly any referencing the extreme vetting program itself.
How to use this Reading Room: The collection below can be searched by keyword, or filtered using the criteria in the left-hand column. In addition, any search can be filtered for “Key Documents,” which are the documents that Knight Institute staff have flagged as the most significant disclosed.
Showing 131–140 of 341
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DOS Memo: Inadmissibility Determinations for Syrian Government Official and Syrian Government Officials' Immediate Family Members
Memorandum discussing visa policy against Syrian officials and family members, which is almost entirely withheld.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Inadmissibility Determinations for Syrian Government Official and Syrian Government Officials' Immediate Family Members
Memorandum discussing visa policy against Syrian officials and family members, which is almost entirely withheld.
6/28/2018
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CBP Memo: Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy Statement
Memorandum outlining CBP's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
3/27/2018
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DOS Memo: Visa Restrictions on Venezuelan Officials and Others
Memorandum proposing tightening visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Russian and Ukraine Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing visa restrictions on Russian officials associated with the invasion of Ukraine.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Russian and Ukraine Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing visa restrictions on Russian officials associated with the invasion of Ukraine.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Venezuelan Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing tightened visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
6/28/2018
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DOS Cover Page: Imposing Visa Restrictions on Venezuela
Cover page for memorandum on visa restrictions related to Venezuela.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Venezuela [redacted]
Memorandum proposing tightening visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Venezuelan Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing tightened visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
6/28/2018