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 191–200 of 341
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DOS Memo: Restoring Visa Eligibility to 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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DOS Memo: Exemption Authority for Individuals Associated with the African National Congress
Memorandum discussing the Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for individuals associated with the African National Congress.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Exemption Authority for Individuals Associated with the African National Congress
Memorandum discussing the Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for individuals associated with the African National Congress.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Exemption For Individuals Associated with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Under the Immigration and Nationality Act
Memorandum discussing a Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for the Kosovo Liberation Army.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Request for State Views on Proposed Exemption for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
Memorandum discussing the State Department's views on a proposed Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for the Kosovo Liberation Army, an undesignated terrorist organization.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation of Travel Sanctions Against Persons Who Have Participated in Serious Human Rights Violations and Other Abuses
Memorandum discussing and circulating a draft presidential proclamation barring entry of individuals involved in certain human rights abuses.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Travel Sanctions Against Persons Who Participate in Serious Human Rights Violations and Other Abuses
Memorandum discussing and circulating a draft presidential proclamation barring entry of individuals involved in certain human rights abuses.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Modifications to [redacted] Restrictions
Memorandum discussing carving out an exception to visa restrictions targeting an unnamed country for officials attending international conferences.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Modifications to [redacted] Restrictions
Memorandum discussing carving out an exception to visa restrictions targeting an unnamed country for officials attending international conferences.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Fiji Visa Restrictions
Memorandum detailing the implementation of a policy restricting issuance of visas to “all sitting government officials who actively facilitated” the 2006 military coup in Fiji.
2/26/2019