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 331–340 of 341
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DOS Memo: List of Recommended Visa Denials for Officials and Supporters of the Honduran De Facto Regime
Memorandum listing individuals subject to a policy restricting the issuance of visas to individuals serving in the 2009 de facto Honduran government.
6/28/2018
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USCIS Memo re: "Request to Investigation" about an immigration fraud suspect
Memo from USCIS to another federal law enforcement agency requesting an investigation into an individual and organization suspected of immigration fraud and money laundering.
7/27/2018
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DOS Memo: Proposed List of Hondurans for the Removal of U.S. Visa Restrictions
Memorandum listing individuals subject to the lifting of visa restrictions on individuals associated with the 2009 coup in Honduras.
6/28/2018
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USCIS Paper: Exercises of Authority Relating to the Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Paper describing three approaches to Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds exemptions that could be taken in response to President Trump's March 2017 executive order. It is almost entirely withheld.
5/30/2018
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DOS Memo: [redacted]
Memorandum containing a list of names proposed for visa restrictions.
6/28/2018
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ICE Memo re: Updated Homeland Security Investigations Programs
Draft memorandum containing questions and answers related to most recent updates for several ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) programs, including the Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU), the National Counterterrorism Center, the Visa Security Program (VSP), and the Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert program (BITMAP). The memorandum is withheld in full.
9/28/2017
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ICE Memo: Extreme Vetting
Memorandum containing detailed requirements for worldwide expansion of the VSP, the challenges that VSP faces, funding needs to sustain and expand the program, and descriptions of other programs (e.g., social media expansion) working in conjunction with VSP to help identify visa applicants with some nexus to terrorism or criminal activity. The memorandum is withheld in full.
9/28/2017
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Letter from DOS to the S. Comm. on the Judiciary re: Report of Visa Denial
Letter disclosing to the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee an invocation of the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
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8 U.S.C. 1182
Verbatim reproduction of the INA's foreign policy provision.
6/28/2018
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ICE Memo: Constitutional Considerations Relating to Proposed Enhanced Vetting of Aliens in the United States for Counterterrorism Purposes
This memo addresses the constitutional frameworks that limit government agencies’ efforts to engage in "extreme vetting" of non-U.S. persons.
8/2/2023