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 211–220 of 341
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DOS Memo: Promoting Democracy in Guinea through Visa Restrictions
Memorandum proposing a policy restricting issuance of visas to "persons who promote the rule of the military junta in Guinea."
6/28/2018
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DHS & DOS Notice of Determination re: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Notice establishing a Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for certain individuals associated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
6/28/2018
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DHS & DOS Notice of Determination re: Kurdistan Democratic Party
Notice establishing a Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemption for certain individuals associated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Promoting Democracy in Honduras through Restriction of Non-Immigrant Visas (NIVs) to De Facto Regime Officials and Supporters
Memorandum proposing a policy restricting the issuance of visas to individuals serving in the 2009 de facto Honduran government.
6/28/2018
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Foreign Affairs Manual Vol. 9 § 40.32: Terrorist Activities
Manual reproducing in full INA § 212(a)(3)(B), setting out the terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Promoting Democracy in Mauritania through Visa Restrictions
Memorandum proposing a policy restricting the issuance of visas to "persons who . . . impede the return to constitutional rule in Mauritania" after the 2008 coup.
6/28/2018
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Foreign Affairs Manual Vol. 9 § 40.32: Terrorist Activities
Manual reproducing in full INA § 212(a)(3)(B), setting out the terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility.
6/28/2018
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ICE Memo: Guidance Relating to INA § 235(c): Removal of Aliens on Security and Related Grounds
Memorandum providing guidance on how to initiate an INA § 235(c) proceeding to remove an alien from the United States.
8/7/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Fiji Visa Restrictions
Memorandum detailing the implementation of a policy restricting issuance of visas to “persons who willfully participated in the overthrow of the lawfully elected government” of Fiji in 2006.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Fiji Visa Restrictions
Memorandum detailing the implementation of a policy restricting issuance of visas to “persons who willfully participated in the overthrow of the lawfully elected government” of Fiji in 2006.
2/26/2019