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 171–180 of 341
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DOS Chart: Name List for Embassy Personnel with Dependents
Chart listing names and other personal information of Syrian embassy employees in Washington, D.C.
6/28/2018
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DOS Chart: Name List for Embassy Personnel with Dependents
Chart listing names and other personal information of Syrian embassy employees in Washington, D.C.
6/28/2018
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USCIS Training Module re: Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate
Training module describing how RAIO officers should approach immigration cases that raise national security concerns––including, but not limited to, Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds––in the context of the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP). There are brief references to, but no substantive discussion of, the endorse-or-espouse provision. While the module includes discussion of Internet resources for research in national security cases, it does not mention social media. Attached documents summarize Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds provisions and exemptions.
5/30/2018
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USCIS Guide re: Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Guide used in the USCIS Academy's basic course overviewing Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds set out in the INA.
6/29/2018
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USCIS Guide re: Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Guide used in the USCIS Academy's basic course overviewing Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds set out in the INA.
6/29/2018
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DOS Memo: Removing Visa Restrictions for Certain Hondurans Associated with the 2009 De Facto Regime
Memorandum discussing the lifting of visa restrictions on individuals associated with the 2009 coup in Honduras.
6/28/2018
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USCIS Presentation re: Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Presentation used in the USCIS Academy's basic course overviewing Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds set out in the INA.
6/29/2018
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DOS Memo: Waiver of Possible Visa Ineligibility of [redacted] of Uzbekistan
Memorandum waiving an individual's inadmissibility under a statutory provision barring the entry of individuals associated with human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Waiver of Possible Visa Ineligibility of [redacted]
Memorandum waiving an individual's inadmissibility under a statutory provision barring the entry of unnamed individuals.
11/9/2018
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USCIS Chart: USCIS TRIG NGO Meeting
Chart summarizing exemptions granted and denied under various Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds authorities.
6/29/2018