UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 19-2501 (TJK) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION The Southern Poverty Law Center and National Immigration Law Center submitted a re- quest under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, seeking records related to the Internal Rev- enue Service’s criminal investigation of a taxpayer. After the IRS refused to produce the records, they sued. The IRS moved for summary judgment, arguing that the law prohibits it from disclosing the requested records. Plaintiffs cross-moved for summary judgment, arguing that they are entitled to the records under FOIA because they are already in the public domain and because disclosure is not otherwise prohibited by law. For the reasons explained below, the Court will grant the IRS’s motion and deny Plaintiffs’, because the relevant statutes prohibit disclosure of the requested rec- ords under FOIA. Background In April 2018, a federal law enforcement task force executed a search warrant at a slaugh- terhouse in Tennessee as part of an IRS-led criminal investigation into the owner’s possible viola- tions of the tax code. Law enforcement officers seized evidence at the slaughterhouse and arrested employees who were allegedly not lawfully present in the United States. In February 2019, Plain- tiffs filed a suit on behalf of employees of the slaughterhouse against various law enforcement officers involved in the execution of the search warrant (“Bivens suit”).1 A few months later, Plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to the IRS. Plaintiffs requested 8 categories of documents: (1) All records related to the planning and carrying out of the worksite operation conducted at Southeastern Provision LLC in Bean Station, Tennessee on April 5, 2018, including but not limited to: a. Enforcement Action Review Form (EARF); b. Risk Assessment Guide; c. Search Warrant Checklist; d. Search Warrant Plan; (2) All communications between the IRS and any Tennessee state or local governmental agency or Tennessee state or local law enforce- ment agencies, including but not limited to the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Morristown Police Department, related to the worksite enforcement operation conducted at Southeastern Provi- sion LLC; (3) All communications between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security or its component agencies (including Immigra- tion and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and Customs and Border Protection) related to the worksite enforce- ment operation conducted at Southeastern Provision LLC; (4) All communications, not concerning tax returns or tax return in- formation, between the IRS and individuals associated with South- eastern Provision LLC, including managers, supervisors, employees and/ or agents; (5) Copies of all photographs taken during the worksite enforcement operation conducted at Southeastern Provision LLC; (6) Copies of all administrative and/or criminal warrants issued and served on an agent of Southeastern Provision LLC related to the worksite enforcement operation, including but not limited to, In re 1 The Bivens suit in the Eastern District of Tennessee is docketed as Zelaya v. Hammer, 3:19-cv- 00062. 2 the search of: 1617 Helton Road, …
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