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 161–170 of 341
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DOS Memo: Denying Visas for Incoming Syrian Embassy Diplomats and the [redacted]
Memorandum discussing the potential denial of visas for incoming Syrian diplomats.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Denying Visas for Incoming Syrian Embassy Diplomats and the [redacted]
Memorandum discussing the potential denial of visas for incoming Syrian diplomats.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Denying Visas for Incoming Syrian Embassy Diplomats and the [redacted]
Memorandum discussing the potential denial of visas for incoming Syrian diplomats.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Denying Visas for Incoming Syrian Embassy Diplomats and the [redacted]
Memorandum discussing the potential denial of visas for incoming Syrian diplomats.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Updating Visa Restrictions Against Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy against high-level Syrian officials.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Updating Visa Restrictions Against Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy against high-level Syrian officials.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Updating Visa Restrictions Against Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy against high-level Syrian officials.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Updating Visa Restrictions Against Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy against high-level Syrian officials.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Updating Visa Restrictions Against Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy against high-level Syrian officials.
6/28/2018
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USCIS Report re: Secretary's Application of the Discretionary Authority Contained in Section 212(d)(3)(B)(i) of the INA
Congressional report providing aggregate statistics on Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemptions granted.
6/29/2018