UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VICTOR AVILA, et al., : : Plaintiffs, : Civil Action No.: 17-2685 (RC) : v. : Re Document Nos.: 41, 45 : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, : : Defendant. : MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff Victor Avila, Jr. is a United States citizen and a retired Special Agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). Avila Decl. ¶ 2, Ex. 1 to Pls.’ Cross Mot. Summ. J. (“Pls. MSJ”), ECF No. 45; Def.’s Mot. Summ. J. (“Def. MSJ”) at 2 & n.2, ECF No. 41. 1 Agent Avila was assigned to the ICE Attaché office at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Avila Decl. ¶ 4. In February 2011, Agent Avila and ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata were on duty transporting equipment to Mexico City when they were ambushed by members of a Mexican cartel. Id. ¶¶ 12–19. The cartel members chased the agents by car, forced them off the highway, and fired nearly 100 bullets at their vehicle, killing Agent Zapata and seriously wounding Agent Avila. Id. 1 Defendant submitted an Errata to its motion for summary judgment, see ECF No. 42, adding a signed declaration and two exhibits. The Court will consider these documents as part of Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. In the aftermath of the ambush, Agent Avila requested various FOIA documents from ICE and DHS, to little success. Id. ¶ 22. In October 2017, Agent Avila turned to the State Department for answers. He, along with co-plaintiff Judicial Watch, Inc., a non-profit organization (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), jointly submitted a FOIA/Privacy Act request to the State Department seeking “records concerning Victor Avila, Jr.” Pls. MSJ, Ex. 1 to Burke Decl. (“Request Letter”) at 1; see 5 U.S.C. §§ 552, 552a. The letter states that Plaintiffs “are particularly interested in communications among State Department personnel that refer to or relate to Mr. Avila and communications between the State Department and ICE and/or DHS personnel that refer to or relate to Mr. Avila.” Id. The time frame of this request was from January 1, 2011 to the present. Id. The State Department processed Plaintiffs’ request through State’s Office of Information Programs and Services (“IPS”). Stein Decl. ¶ 1, page 57 of Def. MSJ. After acknowledging that it had received the request, the State Department did not communicate further with Plaintiffs. Compl. ¶¶ 7–8. Plaintiffs brought suit on December 15, 2017. Id. By April 2018, the State Department began making rolling productions to Plaintiffs. Def.’s Statement of Undisputed Facts (“Def. St. Facts”) ¶¶ 5–28, ECF No. 41. On June 27, 2018, the State Department reached out to Plaintiffs to see if they would be willing to narrow the search: • Extradition-related documents. Our search has identified a substantial volume of …
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