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 41–50 of 341
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Email with Attachment: ICE Report: Hot Lit Report
Email chain discussing and circulating a "Top 10" report from ICE's District Court Litigation Division (DCLD), with brief references to the Flores and Hamama cases. The report itself provides case names, assigned attorneys, action type, facts, and updates for certain pending ICE cases, though is entirely withheld.
3/7/2018
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Emails between ICE officials re: Request for Information – Executive Order 13780 Section 11 Report
Email chain discussing ICE's contribution to the DHS report, requested in President Trump's March 2017 executive order, on "individuals removed from the United States based on terrorism-related activity . . . or any other national-security-related reason."
3/7/2018
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Email with Attachment: Op. & Order Regarding Jurisdiction, Hamama v. Adducci, No. 17-cv-11910 (E.D. Mich. July 11, 2017)
Email sharing a copy of the district court decision in Hamama v. Adducci.
4/30/2018
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USCIS Chart: USCIS TRIG FY17 Q3 Statistics
Chart summarizing exemptions granted and denied under various Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds authorities.
6/29/2018
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Emails between ICE officials re: Children and Spouse Paper
Email chain referencing a "children and spouse paper," but providing no details. The paper itself was not attached.
4/30/2018
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Emails with Attachment: ICE Memo: Removal of National Security Threat Aliens
Email chain and memorandum discussing the background of INA § 235(c), ICE’s interpretation and implementation of the section, a case study, and the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor’s (OPLA) recommendations the use of the section.
3/7/2018
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Email with Attachments re: Series of Draft Papers on Inadmissibility Grounds
Email chain referencing and attaching a series of draft papers on inadmissibility grounds. Attachments include a document discussing Section 212(a)(2)(I) of the INA and its applicability to certain individuals, a document discusses Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the INA addressing crimes involving moral turpitude, a "Questionnaire for Evaluating Whether an Organization Is a Totalitarian Party," and an "Update on Lawyers Group Analysis of Immigration Ineligibility Categories."
4/30/2018
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Email with Attachment: Cornyn-McCaul Border Bill
Email chain discussing ICE comments on the "Building America's Trust Through Border Security Act," legislation introduced in 2017 by Sen. Cornyn and Rep. McCaul regarding border security, immigration and law enforcement personnel, emergency port of entry and infrastructure spending.
3/7/2018
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USCIS Guide re: Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Guide used in the USCIS Academy's basic course overviewing Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds set out in the INA.
6/29/2018
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USCIS Guide re: Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds
Guide used in the USCIS Academy's basic course overviewing Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds set out in the INA.
6/29/2018