UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA JASON LEOPOLD, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 18-2415 (RDM) U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiffs Jason Leopold and Buzzfeed, Inc., bring this action under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, seeking to compel U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to release videos, audio recordings, and photographs depicting the agency’s treatment of migrants, migrant children, criminal aliens, immigrations fugitives, and reentrants. The case is now before the Court on Defendants’ motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss the case against DHS, CBP, and USCIS as moot, Dkt. 36, and Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment, Dkt. 38. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will GRANT Defendants’ motion to dismiss the case against DHS, CBP, and USCIS, GRANT Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and DENY Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment. I. BACKGROUND On June 19, 2018, Plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to ICE and CBP seeking the following records for the time period beginning January 20, 2017: (1) All unedited videos, audio, and photographs shot and recorded by ICE and CBP employees and/or contractors working for both agencies of any and all immigration enforcement actions undertaken by the agency related to migrants and migrant children seeking asylum, criminal aliens, immigration fugitives, and re-entrants; (2) All unedited videos, audio recordings, and photographs shot and recorded by ICE and CBP employees and/or contractors working for both agencies of migrant children being separated from their parents or parent and subsequently held in U.S. detention facilities, either those operated by the U.S. government or private prisons and contractors; and (3) A copy of the concluding documents (report of investigation, final report, closing memo, referral letter) concerning investigations undertaken by OPR/IG at CBP/ICE/DHS in 2017 and 2018, thus far relating or referring to immigration migrants, criminal aliens, aliens, asylum seekers, and personnel and/or contractor working for these agencies. Dkt. 1 at 3 (Compl. ¶ 9); Dkt. 1-1 at 1–2 (Ex. A). Plaintiffs sent similarly worded requests to DHS on June 21, 2018, Dkt. 1 at 3 (Compl. ¶ 10); Dkt. 1-2 at 1 (Ex. B), and to USCIS on August 7, 2018, Dkt. 1 at 4 (Compl. ¶ 11). ICE responded to Plaintiffs’ request by email on June 27, 2018. Dkt. 1 at 4 (Compl. ¶ 14). The agency informed Plaintiffs: “In conducting a search for responsive records, the ICE FOIA office has determined that further clarification is needed regarding your request.” Dkt. 1-4 at 1. It offered to provide an Excel spreadsheet in response to part three of Plaintiffs’ request, which Plaintiffs accepted, id.; however, when asked about parts one and two of the request, ICE responded only that it is “not capable of editing any video footage,” id. at 2. ICE did not provide any documents responsive to parts one and two. Dkt. …
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