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 231–240 of 341
-
Drafting Legislation re: Border Security
Drafting legislation regarding border security, immigration and law enforcement personnel, emergency port of entry and infrastructure spending, etc. The legislation is withheld in full.
9/28/2017
-
CBP Presentation: Immigration Priorities
Slide deck setting out broad talking points on the Administration's immigration policy (e.g. "Sanctuary cities allow criminal aliens to remain on our streets and re-offend.").
3/28/2018
-
ICE Memo re: INA's Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Memorandum containing opinions, analysis, guidance and legal advice provided by attorneys in the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), regarding the INA's Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds section.
6/29/2018
-
ICE Memo: Inadmissibility Based on Money Laundering that Occurs Entirely Outside of the United States
Memorandum discussing inadmissibility based on money laundering offenses. The memorandum is almost entirely withheld.
6/29/2018
-
ICE Memo: Application of INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) to Foreign Convictions
Memorandum discussing the INA's "crime of moral turpitude" provision as applied to foreign convictions.
6/29/2018
-
ICE Memo: Extreme Vetting
Memorandum proposing an expansion of ICE's Pre-Adjudication Threat Recognition and Intelligence Operations Team (PATRIOT). The memorandum references the social media pilot program, though it does not include any information on the pilot not already public.
3/7/2018
-
Letters from DOS to the S. Comm. on Foreign Rels., H. Comm. on Foreign Affs., S. Comm. on the Judiciary, H. Comm. on the Judiciary re: Report of Visa Denial
Letters disclosing to members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees and the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees an invocation of the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
-
Letters from DOS to the S. Comm. on Foreign Rels., H. Comm. on Foreign Affs., S. Comm. on the Judiciary, H. Comm. on the Judiciary re: Report of Visa Denial
Letters disclosing to members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees and the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees an invocation of the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
-
ICE Memo: Inadmissibility Based on Endorsing or Espousing Terrorist Activity – First Amendment Concerns
Draft legal memorandum addressing First Amendment concerns raised by the endorse-or-espouse provision.
4/30/2018
-
ICE Memo: Inadmissibility Based on Endorsing or Espousing Terrorist Activity – First Amendment Concerns
Draft legal memorandum addressing First Amendment concerns raised by the endorse-or-espouse provision.
3/7/2018