UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL, : et al., : : Plaintiffs, : Civil Action No.: 19-2965 (RC) : v. : Re Document Nos.: 28, 29 : U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL, : et al., : : Defendants. : MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs American Immigration Council and Tahirih Justice Center filed this suit to require Defendants the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to respond appropriately to Plaintiffs’ Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests. The requests concern a program for using CBP agents to conduct credible fear interviews, which is a part of the asylum-seeking process. At issue are the sufficiency of CBP’s search and the propriety of several withholdings by DHS and USCIS under Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(C). As explained below, CBP’s search was insufficient, more detail would be required to justify the Exemption 5 withholdings, and the Exemptions 6 and 7(C) withholdings are improper. Accordingly, the Court orders CBP to conduct an appropriate search, denies Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ motions without prejudice regarding the Exemption 5 withholdings to give Defendants an opportunity to address deficiencies, and grants Plaintiffs’ motion regarding the Exemption 6 and 7(C) withholdings. The parties are ordered to submit a proposed schedule for further proceedings within two weeks of the issuance of this opinion. See Jud. Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Just., No. CV 17-0832 (CKK), 2019 WL 4644029, at *9 (D.D.C. Sept. 24, 2019) (taking a similar procedural approach). II. BACKGROUND 1 Credible fear interviews are a step in the asylum process where “asylum officer[s]” determine whether “an alien has a credible fear of persecution.” 8 U.S.C.A. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(ii), (B)(ii). Beginning in the spring of 2019, Defendants “began a pilot program in which U.S. Border Patrol agents received training to conduct, and subsequently did conduct, credible fear interviews.” Defs.’ Resp. to Pls.’ Statement of Material Facts (“Defs.’ SUMF Resp.”) ¶ 1, ECF No. 33-1. Credible fear interviews were traditionally conducted by USCIS officers and— according to at least some evidence presented by Plaintiffs—the CBP officers found credible fear at a lower rate than the USCIS asylum officers. See Mem. P. & A. Supp. Pls.’ Cross-Mot. Summ. J. & Opp’n Defs.’ Mot. Summ. J. (“Pls.’ Opp’n & Mem.”) at 2–5, ECF Nos. 29-2, 30 (citing, among others, Molly O’Toole, Border Patrol Agents, Rather than Asylum Officers, Interviewing Families for ‘Credible Fear,’ L.A. Times (Sept. 19, 2019, 5:50 AM), https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-09-19/border-patrol-interview-migrant-families- credible-fear). At least some CBP officers conducting credible fear interviews were instructed not to inform the asylum seekers, or their attorneys, that they were CBP officers, and would not clarify when asked. Defs.’ SUMF Resp. ¶ 3 (undisputed). On August 31, 2020, Judge Leon 1 This section represents the Court’s best understanding of the undisputed facts based on its review of …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals