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 251–260 of 341
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing the implementation of visa policies connected with the conflict in Yemen, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Legal Authority, Criteria, and Consequences of Foreign Terrorist Organization Designations
Memorandum overviewing the INA's Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds provision.
11/9/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing the implementation of visa policies connected with the conflict in Yemen, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Previously Approved Policies to Scrutinize and Generally Deny Visas
Memorandum summarizing past policies of denying visas to classes of individuals under the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Previously Approved Policies to Scrutinize and Generally Deny Visas
Memorandum summarizing past policies of denying visas to classes of individuals under the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Honduras Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing the implementation of a policy to lift visa restrictions on individuals associated with the 2009 coup in Honduras, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Burundian Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing the implementation visa restrictions against Burundian officials, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Mauritania Visa Restrictions
Memorandum discussing the implementation of a policy restricting the issuance of visas to "persons who . . . impede the return to constitutional rule in Mauritania" after the 2008 coup, noting the need to rely on the INA's foreign policy provision in denying visas to immediate family members on the basis of association alone.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Visa Restrictions on Syrian Arab Republic Government Officials
Memorandum discussing the implementation of visa restrictions against Syrian officials.
2/26/2019
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DOS Memo: Implementation Guidelines for Visa Restrictions on Individuals Responsible for or Complicit in Human Rights Abuses in Syria
Memorandum discussing visa policy for Syrian government officials responsible for or complicit in human rights abuses.
2/26/2019